Towards Mobile Phone Localization without War-Driving

Abstract—This paper identifies the possibility of using electronic compasses and accelerometers in mobile phones, as a simple and scalable method of localization without war-driving. The idea is not fundamentally different from ship or air navigation systems, known for centuries. Nonetheless, directly applying the idea to human-scale environments is non-trivial. Noisy phone sensors and complicated human movements present practical research challenges. We cope with these challenges by recording a person’s walking patterns, and matching it against possible path signatures generated from a local electronic map. Electronic maps enable greater coverage, while eliminating the reliance on WiFi infrastructure and expensive war-driving. Measurements on Nokia phones and evaluation with real users confirm the anticipated benefits. Results show a location accuracy of less than 11m in regions where today’s localization services are unsatisfactory or unavailable.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: INFOCOM
• Authors: Ionut Constandache, Romit Roy Choudhury, Injong Rhee
• Keywords: Communications, Electronic Maps, INFOCOM 2010, Noisy Phone Sensors, Phones