The active magnetic tracking with scalable coverage: indoor navigation for smartphones

Abstract. In this paper we explore how to use the magnetic tracking technique for indoor navigation. The six degrees of freedom (6 DoF) magnetic tracking technology is selected because it is less influenced by the environment and has the highest accuracy among other techniques. A new method is proposed, called the alternating direct current (ADC) method, which permits one to get a double update rate, reduce the influence of Earth's magnetic field by a factor of 2 and reduce the power consumption by a factor of 3. The theoretical basis of the new magnetic tracking method is given, including a mathematical modeling of the local field, a mathematical model of the measurement of the positioning field by a 3-D transducer based on the Hall effect sensors, and the mathematical model for the estimation of the measurement errors. A new, net-like source of the positioning local magnetic field is proposed for indoor navigation with a scalable coverage area. A mathematical model of the distributed positioning field is given. The results of simulations are shown.