An Analysis of the Positioning Accuracy of iBeacon Technology in Indoor Environments

Positioning and location tracking are two major needs of the modern era; in which logistics, industry automation, smart buildings/cities and the Internet of Things concepts are trending topics and are constantly evolving. Introduction of the Global Positioning System (GPS) solved the issue well for outdoor scenarios, however, it is not a reliable solution for indoors, where satellite communication (line-of-sight in general) cannot be maintained. Additionally, there are usually many obstructions (i.e. walls), which block or distort the signals or many signal sources causing interference and noise. Thus, indoor positioning requires different and smarter approaches. iBeacon, is new device-to-device communication technology that relies on Bluetooth Low Energy. In this work, we tested accuracy of a known method used to estimate the distance between two devices communicating through the iBeacon technology. Moreover; effects of the output power, placement of the devices, existence of walls and the possible radio interference, on the accuracy of that distance estimation are investigated.