Time-of-Arrival-Based Indoor Smartphone Localization Using Light-Synchronized Acoustic Waves

Abstract

We describe SyncSync, a time-of-arrival (ToA)-based localization method for smartphones. In general, ToA measurements show better precision than time-difference-of-arrival (TDoA) measurements, although ToA systems require a synchronization mechanism between anchor and mobile nodes. For this synchronization, we employ modulated LED light with an acoustic wave for time-of-flight distance measurements. These are detected by the smartphone's video camera and microphone. The time resolution in consumer video cameras is typically only a few tenths of a second, but by utilizing a CMOS image sensor's rolling shutter effect we obtain synchronization resolutions of a few microseconds, which is sufficient for precise acoustic ToA measurements. We conducted experiments to confirm operation of the system, and obtained ToA localization errors within 10mm. The characteristics of the error distributions for both TDoA and ToA measurements were explained by dilution of precision.