High-Precision Localization in Mobile Wireless Networks

定位是移动的无线网络中的关键业务之一。全球定位系统（GPS）已被广泛用于定位移动的网络节点。然而，GPS需要卫星的视线，并且在视线不可用时（例如，在室内或在市中心峡谷中）停止工作。此外，GPS往往会消耗大量电力，这对于智能手机和智能手表等电力受限的设备来说是一个很大的问题。与GPS相关的问题促使许多研究人员设计各种不同的定位方法，在GPS不能很好地工作的情况下。尽管现有的非GPS定位方案可以完全或部分地避免GPS的使用，但它们仍然存在定位精度低、计算复杂度高等严重问题。在这个项目中，我们计划探索各种非GPS技术，以实现室内和室外环境中的高精度移动的定位。**具体来说，我们计划针对GPS无法正常工作的场景研究三种类型的定位机制：基于精确连接/距离的定位，基于标记的在线定位和基于众包指纹的定位。精确连接/基于距离的定位是一种通用方法，可应用于室内和室外环境。基于标志的在线定位在市中心的峡谷中工作得很好，那里有许多标志，卫星的视线经常被摩天大楼阻挡。基于众包指纹的定位是为非农村环境中携带电力受限设备的行人量身定制的。**我们的短期目标之一是为移动的无线网络提出适当的本地化机制。实验结果预计将导致一系列高影响力的出版物在一流的期刊和会议论文集。在可能的情况下，将通过与行业伙伴的合作将拟议的方法商业化。另一个短期目标是通过拟议的计划培养本科生和研究生，为他们未来的学术或行业职位做好准备。我们的长期目标是发展一流的研究实验室，专注于通信网络的研究领域。我们希望，在NSERC和其他资助机构的支持下，我们的实验室最终将成长为一个在国家/国际层面具有竞争力的网络研究中心。

Localization is one of the key operations in mobile wireless networks. The Global Position System (GPS) has been widely used to locate mobile network nodes. However, GPS requires the line of sight to the satellites and stops working when the line of sight is not available (e.g. indoors or in a downtown canyon). In addition, GPS tends to consume much power, which is highly problematic for power-constrained devices such as smartphones and smartwatches. The problems associated with GPS have motivated many researchers to devise a variety of different localization methods for the scenarios in which GPS does not work well. Despite the fact that the state-of-the art non-GPS schemes can completely or partially avoid the use of GPS, they still suffer from several serious problems such as low localization precision and high computation complexity. In this project, we plan to explore varied non-GPS techniques to achieve high-precision mobile localization in both indoor and outdoor environments.******Specifically, we plan to work on three types of localization mechanisms for the scenarios in which GPS does not work well: Refined Connectivity/Distance-based Localization, Sign-based Online Localization, and Localization Based on Crowdsourced Fingerprints. Refined Connectivity/Distance-based Localization is a generic method that can be applied to both indoor and outdoor environments. Sign-based Online Localization works well in a downtown canyon, where there are many signs and the line of sight to the satellites is often blocked by skyscrapers. Localization Based on Crowdsourced Fingerprints is tailored for pedestrians carrying power-constrained devices in a non-rural environment.******One of our short-term objectives is to come up with the appropriate localization mechanisms for mobile wireless networks. The experimental results are expected to result in a series of high-impact publications in top-notch journals and conference proceedings. When possible, the proposed methods will be commercialized through the collaboration with industry partners. The other short-term objective is to train both undergraduate and graduate students through the proposed program, preparing them for their future academic or industry positions. Our long-term goal is to develop a first-class research lab that focuses on the research area of communication networks. We hope that, with the support from NSERC and other funding agencies, our lab will ultimately grow into a network research center that is competitive at the national/international level.