Locating People in a Confined Space Using iBeacon Technology

Current location or monitoring systems are a set of several technologies that allow you to monitor the movement of different people or objects in both indoor and outdoor areas. These include Global Position System, Radio-frequency identification, Near-Field Communication, Bluetooth Low Energy beacon, Video Surveillance Systems, Intruder and Hold-up Alarm Systems, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, QR codes, etc. All these technologies have their technical limits. Not every system is usable both in normal operating mode (e.g. attendance monitoring, logistics processes) and in mode triggered by an emergency or situation (e.g. due to the spread of an infectious disease such as COVID-19). A long-term research activity of the authors of the article is the development of a technical solution that would allow monitoring and tracing of persons or objects (entities), not only outdoors but also closed environments (e.g. with low level of GPS signal). This solution would also be usable in both normal and specific modes. One of the possible technical solutions is the iBeacon technology, which works on the principle of Bluetooth Low Energy and which, in addition to commercial applications, can also be used in the field of security and safety. The article focuses on determining the position of an entity in inner space using iBeacon technology, using various approaches, such as determining position by assigning distance to a specific level of RSSI signal, determining position based on the ratio of RSSI signal level of opposite sensors, or determining position based on the “fingerprinting” method.