Support Vector Regression for Bluetooth Ranging in Multipath Environments

Ranging solutions for Internet of Things (IoT) localization applications seek to provide high accuracy with low cost of implementation. Among candidate IoT technologies that may fit this criterion, Bluetooth is a desirable choice as Bluetooth low energy (BLE) support is ubiquitous in modern smartphones, providing low implementation costs and low power consumption. Recent advancements in BLE ranging technology employ the Multicarrier Phase Difference technique which takes two-way channel frequency response (CFR) measurements. However, accurate ranging with these measurements is challenging due to many closely spaced multipath components from squaring the one-way CFR, a single or low number of snapshots, and model imperfections that arise in practical scenarios. To overcome these challenges, we propose a data-driven support vector regression (SVR) approach. Using real-world BLE measurements, our proposed SVR method demonstrates decimeter-level accuracy with single antenna devices, whereas multiple signal classification (MUSIC), a popular model-based method, requires multiple antennas to obtain comparable performance. Moreover, we show robustness in different multipath environments, including indoor, outdoor, and nonline-of-sight conditions, we determine generalization capabilities with training size, and we analytically establish the reduction in computational complexity compared to MUSIC.

Automated summary

Ranging solutions for IoT localization applications aim to achieve high accuracy at low cost using Bluetooth low energy (BLE) technology. However, accurately measuring the distance with BLE poses challenges due to multipath components and model imperfections. To address this, we propose a data-driven SVR method that achieves decimeter-level accuracy with single antenna devices, outperforming the model-based MUSIC method which requires multiple antennas. Our method also proves robust in various multipath environments and offers computational complexity reduction compared to MUSIC.