| System |
Architecture |
Coverage |
Cost |
|
| Cambridge, AT&T Laboratories |
Active Badge |
IR | Limited IR range. Fluorescent lights and sunlight can disrupt IR. Indoor use only. |
|
| Cambridge, AT&T Laboratories |
Bat |
Ultrasound time of flight triangulation | Indoor only | |
| University of California at Berkeley |
*TinyOS |
RF |
Indoor. External antenna gives range of about 60-70feet |
|
| Georgia Institute of Technology |
Smart Floor/Carpet |
Pressure sensors in carpet to recognise
individuals footfall. Recognition further enhanced with computer vision of
individuals' body structure and movements. |
Tested indoor |
|
| Institute for Complex Engineered Systems |
Table-based lookup for triangulation of user's location using a wireless LAN |
Wireless LAN |
||
| MIT |
*Cricket |
RF to send information and ultrasound to measure distance by time of flight concurrently. Using Listeners that hear and analyze information from Beacons spread throughout the building. |
Indoor |
less than US$10 for each device |
| System |
Architecture |
Coverage |
Cost |
|||
| activeRF |
WhereNet |
activeTag communicates wirelessly using RF with a receiver known as activeNode. Real-time XY location.
|
Indoor and outdoor coverage ranges from 50m to 300m. |
|||
| Bluesoft Inc. |
Bluesoft LF |
|
802.11b and Bluetooth networks |
|||
| Ekahau |
Ekahau Positioning Engine |
Uses existing wireless LAN infrastructure and received signal strength intensity (RSSI) |
Indoor and outdoor depending on the wireless LAN
up to 1m and gives coordinates (x,y,z) where z is which floor
|
US$595 to track 2 PC/PDA clients |
||
| Microsoft |
MSR RADAR |
Using RF signal strength information
from multiple base stations and in conjunction with a Radio Map (building
floor layout information) of the building. Built over an IEEE 802.11 standard-based RF wireless LAN. |
Indoor |
|||
| RFTechnologies |
^PinPoint |
RF |
up to 200feet from Antenna (±10feet) |
|||
| Versus Technology Inc. |
Versus Information System (VIS) |
IR/RF |
||||
| WhereNet |
^WhereLan |
RF |
Indoor coverage up to 100m and outdoor coverage up to 300m |
| System |
Architecture |
Coverage |
Cost |
|
| Cambridge, AT&T Laboratories | Active Badge | IR |
Limited IR range. Fluorescent lights and sunlight can disrupt IR. Indoor use only. | |
| Versus Technology Inc. |
IR |
| System |
Architecture |
Coverage |
Cost |
|
| activeRF |
WhereNet |
activeTag communicates wirelessly using RF with a receiver known as activeNode. Real-time XY location. |
Indoor and outdoor coverage ranges from 50m to 300m. |
|
| RFTechnologies |
^PinPoint |
RF |
up to 200feet from Antenna (±10feet) |
|
| University of California at Berkeley | *TinyOS |
RF |
Indoor. External antenna gives range of about 60-70feet | |
| Versus Technology Inc. |
Versus Information System (VIS) | IR/RF |
||
| WhereNet |
^WhereLan |
RF |
Indoor coverage up to 100m and outdoor coverage up to 300m |
| System |
Architecture |
Coverage |
Cost |
|
| Cambridge, AT&T Laboratories |
Bat |
Ultrasound time of flight triangulation |
Indoor only |
less than US$10 for each device |
| MIT |
*Cricket |
RF to send information and ultrasound to measure distance by time of flight concurrently. Using Listeners that hear and analyze information from Beacons spread throughout the building. |
Indoor |
Wireless LAN Systems - Bluetooth and 802.11b
| System |
Architecture |
Coverage |
Cost |
|
| Bluesoft Inc. |
Bluesoft LF |
802.11b network - synchronized TDOA is used to locate
|
802.11b and Bluetooth networks |
|
| Ekahau |
Ekahau Positioning Engine |
Uses existing wireless LAN infrastructure and received signal strength intensity (RSSI) |
Indoor and outdoor depending on the wireless LAN up to 1m and gives coordinates (x,y,z) where z is which floor |
US$595 to track 2 PC/PDA clients |
| Institute for Complex Engineered Systems |
Table-based lookup for triangulation of user's location using a wireless LAN |
Wireless LAN |
||
| Microsoft |
MSR RADAR |
Using RF signal strength information
from multiple base stations and in conjunction with a Radio Map (building
floor layout information) of the building. Built over an IEEE 802.11 standard-based RF wireless LAN. |
Indoor |
| System |
Architecture |
Coverage |
Cost |
|
| Georgia Institute of Technology |
Smart Floor/Carpet |
Pressure sensors in carpet to recognise
individuals footfall. Recognition further enhanced with computer vision of
individuals' body structure and movements. |
Tested indoor |
* Made from off-the-shelf components therefore much cheaper than the other systems but trade-off with high density of devices in area.
^ These are commercial products that are usually catered for industrial purposes such as resource management and manufacturing process optimization.