Localization
Indoor positioning system is a technology that is quite similar to the well-known GPS (Global Positioning System). Due to the fact that the signals of the GPS satellites cannot be received inside buildings, an alternative source of position data is needed if you want to determine the position of a person or object inside a building.
There are different approaches to this, which are calles RTLS (Real Time Locating System) or IPS.
Background knowledge Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS)
Locating vehicles, containers and even people via GPS is now a widely used technology that makes many areas of life easier. One limitation of GPS is that it only works outdoors, where the signals from the satellites can be easily received. If you want to locate people or objects inside buildings, you have to find alternative technologies.
A particularly flexible technology is the use of local radio cells as used in metraTec's Indoor Positioning System (IPS). This technology is also called RTLS (Real Time Locating System). In this case a system of transmitters and receivers is installed inside a building and works like a private satellite network so that the position can be determined directly. The special feature of metraTec's IPS is that not necessarily the entire building or warehouse needs to be equipped with the system, but only the relevant areas. This reduces infrastructure costs and leads to fewer problems with data protection, as sensitive areas such as common-rooms can be excluded from monitoring.
To ensure the interoperability of the system, the metraTec IPS works with open standards as far as possible. The communication between beacon and receiver works according to the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, which also allows coexistence with WLAN. The IPS Engine software returns the location results according to the ISO 24730-1 API, so any software implementing this API can work directly with the results.
If you need further information or have questions about localization, please feel free to contact us.