Radio Propagation Models of RSS

Hence there are two propagation models that used to find the effective propagation path
loss, then translate this path loss into a distance estimate. The first model is the free
space propagation model which has a line of sight path between a transmitter and a
receiver. Another model is a Two-Ray ground model.

In the first model, according to Friis equation, the receiver’s signal power is a function
on an inverse distance square is obtained as:

The term that represents the path loss PL is:

More suitable if this formula is converted to logarithmic expressions so the path gain in
decibel become as:

From the above equation, we can estimate the distance between the transmitter and the
receiver.

In the second model, as the Figure below illustrates the reflection path adds to the free
space model. This model gives more accrue estimation of the received power of long
distance than the free space model. A receiver receives two rays, one from direct path
and another from a ground reflection path. The below equation uses to calculate the
received power of two rays propagation:

The path loss for two rays model can be expressed in dB as:
 Radio Propagation Models of RSS

where ht and hr are the heights of the transmitter and the receiver. Now to estimate the
position of a target has coordinates (x0, y0), RSS technique applies the multi-lateration
as TOA.

For 2D we used at least three base stations BS1, BS2, BS3 which have coordinates
(x1, y1), (x2, y2), (x3, y3), respectively, each base station located in the centre of the
cycle and the intersection of these BSs becomes the target’s location

As the equation mentioned before the inverse relationship between the signal power
and the distance for electromagnetic waves can be expressed as:

and the path loss due to increase in distance is different with different environments that
lead to a received power depend on the path loss exponent (n) in the following
equation:

where P(𝑑0) is the received power at the reference distance 𝑑0,d is the distance
between the target and the receiver and n is the path loss exponent.

To obtain the distances 𝑑1,2, 𝑑3 these equations are applied:

 Radio Propagation Models of RSS

The coordinates of the target can be estimated from these distances which represent
the radius of the circles. In general, the actual Euclidean distance from the unknown
node (x0, y0) to the ith reference points is:

Since 𝑑𝑖 and (𝑥𝑖,𝑦𝑖) are known, the remaining unknowns are (𝑥o,𝑦o), which needs at
least another equation to be solved; however with two equations there will be two
possible solutions, in order to have a unique solution three equations are required, the
intersection of these equations will determine the location of the mobile as shown in the
Figure below
 Radio Propagation Models of RSS
Example:

Let's say we have a device, such as a smartphone, and we want to estimate its location
in a room using Wi-Fi access points as signal sources. We have a total of four Wi-Fi
access points (AP1, AP2, AP3, and AP4) installed at known locations within the room.

1. Measuring RSSI: The device measures the Received Signal Strength Indicator
(RSSI) from each of the four access points. The RSSI value represents the strength of
the signal received from each access point and can be obtained using the device's Wi-
Fi receiver.

- RSSI from AP1: -65 dBm

- RSSI from AP2: -72 dBm

- RSSI from AP3: -68 dBm

- RSSI from AP4: -75 dBm

2. RSSI-to-distance model: We need to establish a relationship between the RSSI

values and the distance between the device and the access points. This can be done by
calibrating the system using known distances and RSSI values. For simplicity, let's
assume we have already calibrated the system and have an established model:

- RSSI = A - (10 * n * log10(d)), where A is the reference RSSI at a reference distance,

n is the path loss exponent, and d is the distance.

3. Distance estimation: Using the established RSSI-to-distance model, we can estimate

the distances between the device and the access points based on the measured RSSI
values.

- Distance to AP1: d1 = 10^((A - RSSI1) / (10 * n))

- Distance to AP2: d2 = 10^((A - RSSI2) / (10 * n))

 Radio Propagation Models of RSS
- Distance to AP3: d3 = 10^((A - RSSI3) / (10 * n))

- Distance to AP4: d4 = 10^((A - RSSI4) / (10 * n))

4. Trilateration: Trilateration is a technique used to estimate the location based on the

distances to multiple access points. In this example, we have distances to four access
points.

To estimate the location coordinates (x, y) of the device by solving the system of
equations formed by the distances and the known locations of the access points.

- (x1, y1) = Location of AP1

- (x2, y2) = Location of AP2

- (x3, y3) = Location of AP3

- (x4, y4) = Location of AP4

The system of equations would be:

- sqrt((x - x1)^2 + (y - y1)^2) = d1

- sqrt((x - x2)^2 + (y - y2)^2) = d2

- sqrt((x - x3)^2 + (y - y3)^2) = d3

- sqrt((x - x4)^2 + (y - y4)^2) = d4

By solving this system of equations, we can obtain the estimated location (x, y) of the
device within the room.
 Radio Propagation Models of RSS
Angle of Arrival (AOA)

Angle of arrival (AOA) method makes use of incident angles of WLAN signal to a WLAN enabled receiver (e.g.
mobile phone or notebook which can detect Wi-Fi) and the intersection of angle direction lines to estimate
the position. AOA assumes the mobile device can detect the incident angle of WLAN signal or know the
direction of access point that broadcast the WLAN signal. The direction (angle) of an incident WLAN signal is
known as orientation.
Orientation is in degrees in a clockwise direction from the North. When pointing to the North, the orientation
is 0 . A single AOA measurement restricts the estimation along a line to the source. AOA requires at least two
access points from two different locations; the position of the user can be estimated at the intersection of the
lines of bearing from the two access points.

Figure below shows the AOA positioning method by measuring angles from two access points.
As early WLAN-enabled receivers fail to detect the incident angle of a WLAN signal, instead of using incident
angles φ1 and φ2, we can use θ1, θ2 because alternate angles are equal in two parallel lines. θ1, θ2 can be
measured if we know the positions of access points.
That’s why AOA also is called direction of arrival (DOA). AOA methods require at least two known access
points AP1, AP2 and two measured angles θ1, θ2 to derive the 2D position of a user, X

In most of the cases, triangulation approach with AOA method will be used together to estimate the position
to increase the positioning accuracy. Figure 3.4 shows 2D positioning case using three access points (APs).
The position of these three APs’ location are denoted as (x1, y1), (x2, y2), (x3, y3) and the user position is (x, y).

Using the propagation loss algorithm

𝑃𝑟 = 𝑃𝑜 − 10𝑛𝑙𝑜𝑔(𝑑) − 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠

Assume the distances between the access points and user location to be d1, d2, and d3, where d0 is the
reference distance. We can calculate the distance d1, d2, and d3 as follows
 Radio Propagation Models of RSS

𝑃𝑜 −𝑃1 −𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠
𝑑1 = 𝑑𝑜 10 10𝑛

𝑃𝑜 −𝑃2 −𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠
𝑑2 = 𝑑𝑜 10 10𝑛

𝑃𝑜 −𝑃3 −𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠
𝑑3 = 𝑑𝑜 10 10𝑛

Initially, 𝑃𝑜 is the initial received signal strength at the reference distance of 𝑑𝑜 .

We can use the triangulation approach with AOA to estimate the position of user. After calculating the
distance, we find the angle θ1, θ2 and θ3 between the user position and APs, and then we are able to calculate
the possible position matrix of the user as follows:

Averaging the value of position matrix, we can estimate the user position as follows:

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Consider a scenario where we have a device and three base stations (BS1, BS2, and
BS3) deployed in a cellular network. The device wants to estimate its location using the
angles of arrival of signals from these base stations. Let's assume the following setup:

- Device location: Unknown

- Base station locations:

- BS1: (0, 0)

- BS2: (100, 0)

- BS3: (50, 100)

 Radio Propagation Models of RSS

The device measures the angles of arrival of signals from the base stations and obtains
the following angle measurements:

- Angle from BS1: 45 degrees

- Angle from BS2: 90 degrees

- Angle from BS3: 135 degrees

Let's assume we have distance information available:

- Distance from BS1: 50 meters

- Distance from BS2: 100 meters

- Distance from BS3: 120 meters

We can now apply trilateration to estimate the device's location. The trilateration
equations for the device's location (x, y) would be:

- Distance from (x, y) to BS1 = 50 meters

- Distance from (x, y) to BS2 = 100 meters

- Distance from (x, y) to BS3 = 120 meters

Using the known locations of the base stations and the distances, we can formulate the
equations:

- sqrt(x^2 + y^2) = 50 (from BS1)

- sqrt((x - 100)^2 + y^2) = 100 (from BS2)

 Radio Propagation Models of RSS
- sqrt((x - 50)^2 + (y - 100)^2) = 120 (from BS3)

By solving this system of equations, we can determine the estimated location (x, y) of
the device. In this example, the solution would be:

- Estimated location (x, y) = (75, 50)

Therefore, based on the given angle measurements and distance information, the
estimated location of the device would be (75, 50).

Note that this is a simplified numerical example, and in practical scenarios, various
factors such as calibration, signal processing techniques, multipath effects, and noise
must be considered for accurate localization using Angle of Arrival.