Design and Implementation of an RSSI-Based Bluetooth Low Energy Indoor Localization System

Indoor Positioning System (IPS) is a crucial technology that enables medical staff and hospital managements to accurately locate and track persons or assets inside the medical buildings. Among other technologies, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) can be exploited for achieving an energy-efficient and low-cost solution. This work presents the design and implementation of an received signal strength indicator (RSSI)-based indoor localization system. The paper shows the implementation of a low complex weighted k-Nearest Neighbors algorithm that processes raw RSSI data from connection-less iBeacon’s. The designed hardware and firmware are implemented around the low-power and low-cost nRF52832 from Nordic Semiconductor. Experimental evaluation with the real-time data processing has been evaluated and presented in a 7.2 m by 7.2 m room with furniture and 5 beacon nodes. The experimental results show an average error of only 0.72 m in realistic conditions. Finally, the overall power consumption of the fixed beacon with a periodic advertisement of 100 ms is only 50 µA at 3 V, which leads to a long-lasting solution of over one year with a 500 mAh coin battery.