Paper
Indoor/Outdoor Seamless Positioning Using Lighting Tags
and GPS Cellular Phones for Personal Navigation
Hiromune NAMIE*a)， Hisashi MORISHITA*
Abstract The authors focused on the development of an indoor positioning system which is easy to use, portable andavailable for everyone. This system is capable of providing the correct position anywhere indoors, including onboard ships,
and was invented in order to evaluate the availability of GPS indoors. Although the performance of GPS is superior outdoors,
there has been considerable research regarding indoor GPS involving sensitive GPS, pseudolites (GPS pseudo satellite),
RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tags, and wireless LAN .However, the positioning rate and the precision are not highenough for general use, which is the reason why these technologies have not yet spread to personal navigation systems. In
this regard, the authors attempted to implement an indoor positioning system using cellular phones with built-in GPS andinfrared light data communication functionality, which are widely used in Japan. GPS is becoming increasingly popular,
where $GPGGS sentences of the NMEA outputted from the GPS receiver provide spatiotemporal information including
latitude, longitude, altitude, and time or ECEF xyz coordinates. As GPS applications grow rapidly, spatiotemporal data
becomes key to the ubiquitous outdoor and indoor seamless positioning services at least for the entire area of Japan, as wellas to becoming familiar with satellite positioning systems (e.g. GPS). Furthermore, the authors are also working on the ideaof using PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), as cellular phones with built-in GPS and PDA functionality are also becoming
increasingly popular.
Keyword Lighting Tag, Indoor Positioning, Seamless Positioning, GPS, Cellular Phone

1.

Introduction

Recently, Japan has seen a dramatic expansion in the use of
car navigation systems Since the E-911 (information about
emergencies) law came into effect in April 2007 in Japan, thepopularity of cellular phones (including PDAs) with built-in
GPS (Global Positioning System) has been on the rise.
Figure 1 shows the external appearance of the display of acellular phone with built-in positioning and mapping
functionality, including GPS, as well as Internet browsing
functionality. In recent years, personal navigation systems havebeen in high demand in the same way as car navigation
systems. However, in contrast to cars, which can only run onroads, people are much more flexible due to their ability toaccess almost any available space (indoors, underground, etc.)
on foot.
Although the performance of GPS is superior outdoors, there
has been considerable research regarding indoor GPS involving
sensitive GPS, pseudolites (GPS pseudo satellite), RFID
(Radio Frequency IDentification) tags, and wireless LAN.
However, the positioning rate and the precision are not highenough for general use, which is the reason why thesetechnologies have not yet spread to personal navigation
systems. A location method for indoor mobile robots using
RFID was presented recently[1]. In this regard, it has been
*The

Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering,

The National Defense
Yokosuka, 239-8686a) nami@nda.ac.jp

Academy,1-10-20,

Hashirimizu,

Fig. 1. External appearance of a cellular phone with built-infunction for positioning and mapping through the Internet.
stated in some papers that knowledge of the velocity and theposition is required in industrial applications (e.g. humanoid
robots)[2]-[5].
In this paper, the authors present the experimental
implementation of an indoor/outdoor seamless positioning
system using cellular phones with built-in GPS functionality,
infrared light data communication, and Lighting Tags.

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Journal of IPNTJ, Vol.2 No.1 pp.7-12© The Institute of Positioning, Navigation and Timing of Japan 2011

Journal of IPNTJ, 2011 Vol.2 No.1

2.

Cencept of Seamless Positioning

2.1
Seamless Positioning
Figure 2 shows a conceptual diagram of the outdoor andindoor seamless positioning system using Lighting Tags andcellular phones with built-in GPS and infrared light
communication functionality. In outdoor situations, suchphones utilize a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System)
implementation, such as GPS, while in indoor situations,Lighting Tags are used. In both situations, the same
spatiotemporal position data is used, and seamless positioning
can be easily achieved.
When a user carrying a cellular phone walks underneath afluorescent light with a Lighting Tag, the precise
spatiotemporal data, which is surveyed in advance, is received
instantaneously, which allows the position of the user to be
fixed automatically, in a manner similar to GPS. This system
can provide seamless positioning, and it is possible toimplement it as a universal service.
2.2Core Spatiotemporal Data and Cellular Phone
GPS becomes increasingly popular for use outdoors.
$GPGGA (Figure 3) sentences of the NMEA (National Marine
Electronics Association)-0183 outputted from GPS receivers
provide 4-dimensional spatiotemporal information including
latitude, longitude, altitude, and time or ECEF (Earth-Centered
Earth-Fixed) xyz coordinates. As GPS applications growrapidly, spatiotemporal data becomes key to the ubiquitousFig. 2. A conceptual diagram of the outdoor and indoor
seamless positioning system using Lighting Tags and cellular
phones with built-in GPS and infrared light communication
functionality.

outdoor and indoor seamless positioning services at least for
the entire area of Japan, as well as to becoming familiar withsatellite positioning systems (e.g. GPS). Furthermore, theauthors are also working on the idea of using PDAs (Personal
Digital Assistants), as cellular phones with built-in GPS and
PDA functionality are also becoming increasingly popular.
Cellular phones with built-in infrared light data
communication (IrDA: Infrared Data Association) functionality
have already spread in Japan. Users often exchange their phone
numbers and e-mail addresses using IrDA. If IrDA devices canconnect and upload data about their current location, they canobtain spatiotemporal position data anywhere underground andindoors.
2.3
Lighting Tag
We propose a novel system for indoor/outdoor seamlesspositioning using cellular phones with built-in GPS
functionality in combination with infrared light communicationand fluorescent lights with Lighting Tags (NEC and NEC
Engineering Corp. c_).
Figure 4 shows the external appearance of a Lighting Tag(height: 44.0 mm × width: 55.0 mm × depth: 25.0 mm, weight:
130 g) and a USB infrared light receiver (height: 38.7 mm ×
width: 16.0 mm × depth: 10.5 mm).
The Lighting Tag transmits ID according to the infrared date
communication. The electric power is acquired from theinverter type fluorescent lamp lighting, and the ID transmitteris driven. Electrical work is unnecessary for usage. Because the
ID transmitter does not use the electric wave, it is not
influenced by the electric wave interference. We can use thembetween 0 and 65 degrees of temperature and between 20 and
85 percentage of humidity without the dewfall.
The receiver is already small enough for practical purposes,
while the infrared light emitter consists of 8 identical infrared
light-emitting parts and can be turned on or off according to thesituation, respectively. The power is supplied byelectromagnetic induction (voltage: 3.3 V, average power:
50-100 mW), where the white circle, consisting of a magnet
and a coil (circle in Figure 4), is placed around an inverter-type
fluorescent light (FHF: Fluorescent lamp High Frequency,
frequency: 45-100 kHz). The Lighting Tags have collision
avoidance logic. If some Lighint Tags emit at the same time,
tags comes to be going to emit at the different time next
respectively.

$GPGGA,015340.00,3515.4490,N,13943.2215,E,1,9,0.8,6.17,M,3
6.15,M,,*64$GPGGA,015341.00,3515.4489,N,13943.2216,E,1,9,0.8,6.17,M,3
6.15,M,,*6A$GPGGA,015342.00,3515.4488,N,13943.2216,E,1,9,0.8,6.17,M,3
6.15,M,,*6F$GPGGA,015343.00,3515.4488,N,13943.2216,E,1,9,0.8,6.17,M,3
6.15,M,,*69

Fig. 3. A $GPGGA sentence in the National Marine
Electronics Association (NMEA) format.

Fig. 4. External appearance of the Lighting Tag and the USB
infrared light receiver.

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Journal of IPNTJ, 2011 Vol.2 No.1

3.

Experimental Reception Indoors

3.1
Experimental Outline
Figure 5 represents an experimental ID reception from aLighting Tag using the infrared light communication function
at a fixed point indoors. The Lighting Tags were placed on theceiling, whose typical height is about 3.0 m. The authors
carried a laptop PC with the USB infrared IrDA receiver andattempted to receive the ID of the tag. The typical distancefrom the Lighting Tag to the receiver was about 1.5 m. Next,
they attempted to obtain the ID while standing near a wall (0.5m and 1.5 m from the wall) in order to study the influence ofthe reflection of infrared light from the wall.
Figure 6 shows the ID received by the PC from the Lighting
Tag using IrDA communication. It shows the ID and thesystem time of the PC when the ID was received. The data canbe obtained at a rate of more than once per second. If thecapacity of the data transmission of this system is improved, it
will be possible to transfer spatiotemporal data in a mannercompatible with GPS/GNSS.
3.1.1
Automatic Reception
Figure 7 shows a conceptual image of automatic ID

Fig. 5. Experimental ID reception from a Lighting Tag byusing infrared light data communication.

Fig. 6. ID received by the PC from the Lighting Tag using
infrared light communication.

reception from a Lighting Tag using infrared light data
communication. It presents a situation where the user walks
beneath the Lighting Tags on the ceiling, and the operation of
the system is automatic, similarly to satellite car navigation. In
car navigation, the reception of radio waves from satellites isalways automatic, and generally goes unnoticed by the users.
3.1.2
Manual Reception
Figure 8 shows a conceptual image of manual ID reception
from a Lighting Tag using infrared light, representing asituation where the user walks beneath the Lighting Tags on
the ceiling while attempting to acquire the position in a manner
similar to using a cellular phone. If the carrier signal of thecellular phone is weak, the user always moves the cellular
phone in search for better reception. In the same way, if theuser cannot receive an ID using infrared light communication,

they orient the receiver toward the Lighting Tag.
3.1.3
Results of the Reception Experiments
Table 1 shows the area where automatic and manual ID
reception from the Lighting Tag is possible by using IrDA
communication. The data on the left and the right side of thetable represent the automatic and the manual mode,
respectively.
The table shows that both automatic and manual ID
reception is possible within a range of more than 10 m at rightFig. 7. A conceptual image of ID reception from Lighting
Tags by using automatic infrared light data communication,
similarly to the case of car navigation.

Fig. 8. A conceptual image of manual ID reception from aLighting Tag using infrared light communication.

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Journal of IPNTJ, 2011 Vol.2 No.1

Fig. 9. Area where automatic and manual ID reception fromthe Lighting Tag using infrared light data communication ispossible.
Table 1. Area Where Automatic and Manual ID Reception
from the Lighting Tag Using Infrared Light Data
Communication is Possible.

Fig. 10. Area of ID reception from the Lighting Tag using
infrared light data communication near a wall.

Dist

Left

Rt

Aver

Rad

Left

Rt

Aver

Rad

1m

41°

47°

44°

0.6 m

68°

61°

64°

0.9 m

Table 2. Area of ID Reception from the Lighting Tag Using
Infrared Light Data Communication near a Wall.
0.5 m from the Wall
1.5 m from the WallDist
Left Rt Aver Rad Left Rt Aver Rad

1.5 m

-

-

40°

1.0 m

-

-

59

2.0 m

1m

90°

90°

90°

1.0 m

90°

90°

90°

1.0 m

2m

33°

37°

35°

1.1 m

54°

53°

53°

1.6 m

2m

90°

90°

90°

2.0 m

75

85

80

1.9 m

3m

24°

35°

29°

1.4 m

41°

45°

43°

2.0 m

3m

53°

42°

47°

2.2 m

71

60

65

2.7 m

4m

20°

34°

27°

1.8 m

32°

41°

36°

2.3 m

4m

45°

45°

45°

2.8 m

43

50

46

2.9 m

5m

19°

32°

25°

2.1 m

27°

38°

32°

2.6 m

5m

41°

38°

39°

3.1 m

39

46

42

3.3 m

6m

17°

26°

21°

2.2 m

25°

29°

27°

2.7 m

6m

35°

33°

34°

3.3 m

34

36

35

3.4 m

7m

14°

22°

18°

2.1 m

22°

24°

23°

2.7 m

7m

32°

33°

32°

3.7 m

29

29

29

3.3 m

8m

7°

19°

13°

1.8 m

16°

20°

18°

2.4 m

8m

28°

25°

26°

3.5 m

24

23

23

3.1 m

9m

10°

10°

10°

1.5 m

15°

8°

11°

1.7 m

9m

25°

25°

25°

3.8 m

20

19

19

3.0 m

10 m

4°

4°

4°

0.7 m

4°

3°

3°

0.6 m

10 m

25°

23°

24°

4.0 m

19

15

17

2.9 m

11 m

21°

21°

21°

3.9 m

12

10

11

2.1 m

12 m

14°

22°

18°

3.7 m

No Data

13 m

2°

3°

3°

0.0 m

No Data

Automatic

Manualangles to the face of the tag.
Figure 9 shows the area where automatic and manual ID
reception from the Lighting Tag is possible by using infrared
light communication. The Lighting Tag is located on theceiling in the upper part of Figure 9, and there is a receiver inthe lower part of the Figure 9. The smaller area corresponds toautomatic reception, while the larger area corresponds tomanual reception. The maximum radius of the area is 2.2 m at
a distance of 6 m from the Lighting Tag in automatic mode,and 2.7 m at a distance of 7 m in manual mode. If the typicalceiling height is 3 m, the typical distance from the Lighting
Tag to the receiver is about 1.5 m. The radius of the area where
ID reception is possible is 1.0 m in automatic mode and 2.0 m
in manual mode. From these figures, it can be inferred that thearea where reception is possible in manual mode is twice aslarge in terms of radius and 4 times as large in terms of width.
3.2
Effects of Reflection from Walls on Reception
Next, we attempted to obtain an ID from two positions neara wall (0.5 m and 1.5 m from the wall, respectively) in order toaccount for the reflection of infrared light .
Table 2 shows the area where manual ID reception from theLighting Tag using infrared light is possible. The data on theleft side of the table corresponds to a distance of 0.5 m fromthe wall, and that on the right side of the table corresponds to a

distance of 1.5 m. The table shows that the ID can be received
manually from a distance of more than 13 m from the tag at aright angle to the face of the tag.
Figure 10 shows the area where manual ID reception fromthe Lighting Tag using infrared light is possible at a distance of
0.5 m or 1.5 m from the wall. The figure is the same as the one
presented in Figure 9. The larger and the smaller area encircled
by the wavy line corresponds to a distance from the wall of 0.5
m and 1.5 m, respectively. The maximum radius of the area
where ID reception is possible is 4.0 m at a distance of 10 mfrom the Lighting Tag and 0.5 m from the wall, and 3.4 m at a
distance of 6 m and 1.5 m from the wall. It was confirmed thatthe area where ID reception is possible becomes wider near thewall due to the reflection of infrared light, which allows for an
ID to be received by reflection even in areas where this waspreviously impossible.

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Journal of IPNTJ, Vol.2 No.1 pp.7-12© The Institute of Positioning, Navigation and Timing of Japan 2011

Journal of IPNTJ, 2011 Vol.2 No.1

4.

Mobile Reception Experiment

4.1
Passageway
The authors attempted to receive the IDs automatically while
walking beneath the Lighting Tags installed on the ceiling in
the passageway.
Figure 11 shows the results of the mobile ID reception
experiment, where the height of the ceiling is about 3 m andthe width of the passageway is about 2.5 m. The Lighting Tags
were installed in a straight line at intervals of about 1.5 m near
the fluorescent lights on the ceiling.
Tables 3 and 4 show a sample of the results of theexperiment regarding the automatic reception of the IDs fromthe Lighting Tags while walking along the passageway. The
bold characters in Table 3 indicate the point where the user
turned around in the passageway. The typical distance from theLighting Tag to the USB infrared receiver is about 1.5 m, inwhich case an ID can be received roughly once per second.

4.2
ArcadeNext, the authors attempted to receive the IDs automaticallyusing infrared light while walking beneath the Lighting Tags
installed on the ceiling of the arcade, which is presented in
Figure 12. The height of the ceiling of the arcade is about 4.5m, and the width is about 3.0 m. Furthermore, the Lighting
Tags were installed in a straight line at intervals of about 1.5 m
on the ceiling (Figure 13). The typical distance from theTable 4. A Sample of the Results of the Experiment
Regarding the Automatic Reception of the IDs from theLighting Tags While Walking Along the Passageway (OneWays).
ID
Time
ID
Time
0102002A 15:57:26 010200A9 15:57:32
0102016B 15:57:28 010200A9 15:57:33
0102016B 15:57:28 010200A9 15:57:33
0102016B 15:57:29 0102004F 15:57:35
1020091
15:57:30 0102004F 15:57:36
1020091
15:57:31 0102013F 15:57:37
1020091
15:57:31

Fig. 11. A mobile experiment of ID reception from theLighting Tag using infrared light data communication in thepassageway.
Table 3. A Sample of the Results of the Experiment
Regarding the Automatic Reception of the IDs from theLighting Tags While Walking Along the Passageway (BothWays).
ID
Time
ID
Time
0102013F 15:56:03 0102002A 15:56:16
0102004F 15:56:04 0102002A 15:56:22
0102004F 15:56:05 0102002A 15:56:22
0102004F 15:56:05 0102002A 15:56:23
010200A9 15:56:07 0102016B 15:56:24
010200A9 15:56:07 0102016B 15:56:24
010200A9 15:56:08 0102016B 15:56:25
1020091
15:56:09 1020091
15:56:27
1020091
15:56:10 1020091
15:56:27
1020091
15:56:10 010200A9 15:56:29
0102016B 15:56:12 010200A9 15:56:30
0102016B 15:56:12 0102004F 15:56:31
0102016B 15:56:13 0102004F 15:56:32
0102002A 15:56:14 0102004F 15:56:32
0102002A 15:56:15 0102013F 15:56:34
Journal of IPNTJ, Vol.2 No.1 pp.7-12

Fig. 12. The exterior appearance of the arcade in this mobile
experiment.

Fig. 13. The exterior appearance of the Lighting Tags
installed in the arcade in this mobile experiment.

© The Institute of Positioning, Navigation and Timing of Japan 201111

Journal of IPNTJ, 2011 Vol.2 No.1

Lighting Tags to the USB infrared light receiver was about 3.0
m, in which case the typical radius of the area where ID
reception is possible is about 1.4 m according to table I. It waspossible to receive an ID from three Lighting Tags at the sametime at any fixed point in the center of the arcade since thereception areas seemed to overlap.

5.

[6] H. Namie, H. Morishita, O. Suzuki, C. Fan, H. Hojo and A.
Yasuda, “New Seamless Positioning by Using a Cellular Phone
with a Built-in GPS,” The Proceedings of the 2007 IEICE
General Conference, B-2-34, p.282 (2007-3)(in Japanese)[7] URL http://qr.quel.jp/ (in Japanese)

Acknowledgment

Conclusion

In this paper, the authors present the results of experiments
regarding the ID reception using Lighting Tags for basic
research in order to realize indoor positioning using cellular
phones with built-in GPS and infrared light data
communication functionality.
The Lighting Tags were installed on the ceiling, and theauthors carried a laptop PC with a USB infrared light receiverin order to receive an ID. Next, an experiment of ID reception
near a wall (0.5 m and 1.5 m from the wall) was performed inorder to account for the reflection of infrared light. The authors
attempted to obtain an ID automatically while walking beneaththe Lighting Tags on the ceiling in a passageway and an
arcade.
The ID was received instantaneously and automaticallywhen the receiver passed beneath the Lighting Tag. [Thisinfrared light data communication system allows thetransmission of more data in addition to an ID.] If
spatiotemporal data conforming to GPS/GNSS is used insteadof an ID, this system can provide seamless positioning, and it ispossible to implement it as a universal service.
In the future, the authors intend to perform a positioning
experiment simulating underground shopping areas andbuildings. It is thought that in order to be realized, this system
must be capable of not only outputting IDs, but also of utilizing
spatiotemporal data compatible with GPS/GNSS and the rapid
preparation of indoor electronic maps.
It is expected that serviceable areas will grow wider for
many users in the future. The authors express their hope thatthe present research will help promote the practical use of a
global indoor seamless positioning system. Indoor positioning
must be improved in order for it to be accessible to mainstream
users and become ubiquitous.

The authors express their grateful appreciation to the following
graduate research students at the National Defense Academy, theDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering who tested
various aspects of the system: Junji Tsujino and Kaori Kimura, 52nd
term; Shinya Matsushita, Masahiro Kikuchi and Hiroshi Nakajima,
53rd term; Kyosuke Sawa and Kota Nakaju, 54th term.
This research was carried out through a research grant provided by
the Scholarship & Education Foundation of Defense Academy (Japan).
The authors wish to express their appreciation for the grant.

biography
Hiromune Namie is a lecturer at the National Defense Academy(NDA), Yokosuka, Japan. He received his doctorate in engineeringfrom Tokyo University of Mercantile Marine in 2000. He is a secretaryof the Steering Committee of the GPS/GNSS Society, the Japan
Institute of Navigation (JIN-GPS). and an assistant secretary of the
Joint Research Committee on Advanced Utilization of Positioning and
Geographical Spatial Information, the Institute of Electrical Engineers(IEE) of Japan. His research interests are related to the wide-spread useof high- precision RTK-GPS and indoor positioning and theirapplications. He has been the administrator of the Internet e-mailinglist ”GNSS ML” since 1996 in Japan.
Hisashi Morishita is a professor at the National Defense Academy(NDA), Yokosuka, Japan. He received his doctorate in engineering at
the University of Tsukuba in 1990. He is a Senior member of IEEE.
His research interests are related to mobile communication, antenna
and the analysis of electromagnetic fields.

（Manuscript received Sep. 6, 2010）
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Journal of IPNTJ, Vol.2 No.1 pp.7-12© The Institute of Positioning, Navigation and Timing of Japan 2011