A predictive location tracking algorithm for mobile devices with deficient signal sources

Abstract

Location estimation and tracking for the mobile devices have attracted a significant amount of attention in recent years. The network-based location estimation schemes have been widely adopted based on the radio signals between the mobile device and the base stations. The location estimators associated with the Kalman filtering techniques are exploited to both acquire location estimation and trajectory tracking for the mobile devices. However, most of the existing schemes become unapplicable due to the insufficiency of signal sources. In this paper, a Predictive Location Tracking (PLT) algorithm is proposed to alleviate this problem. The predictive information obtained from the Kalman filter is employed to provide the additional signal inputs for the location estimators. The proposed PLT scheme can offer persistent accuracy for location tracking of the mobile devices, especially with inadequate signal sources. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed PLT algorithm can achieve better precision, comparing with other existing schemes, in mobile location estimation and tracking.