Patent ID: 8022875

Claim:
An indoor localization method to be implemented using an indoor localization system that includes a plurality of beacons deployed in an indoor space and each periodically transmitting a localization signal, and a radio badge carried by a tracked target moving in the indoor space for receiving the localization signals from a variable number of the beacons dependent on a current location of the tracked target in the indoor space, said indoor localization method comprising: (a) during a training phase, forming a plurality of signal vectors respectively from the localization signals received by the radio badge at each of predetermined locations in the indoor space, and generating a signal ID value from the signal vectors for each of the beacons from which the radio badge has received the localization signals; (b) during a tracking phase, again forming a plurality of signal vectors respectively from the localization signals received by the radio badge at the current location in the indoor space; (c) if the number of the signal ID values generated in the training phase and corresponding to one of the predetermined locations is smaller than the number of the signal vectors formed in the tracking phase and corresponding to the current location, supplementing each deficient signal ID value corresponding to said one of the predetermined locations using a predetermined value; and (d) calculating a plurality of distances between the signal vectors formed during the tracking phase and corresponding to the current location and the signal ID values corresponding to the predetermined locations, acquiring reference values by dividing a sum of said distances by the number of the signal vectors formed during the tracking phase, acquiring a plurality of target values from a subset of the reference values including a predetermined number of the smallest reference values, and obtaining an estimated position of the radio badge by weighted average processing using the target values; wherein, in step (c), if the number of the signal vectors formed in the tracking phase and corresponding to the current location is smaller than the number of the signal ID values generated in the training phase and corresponding to said one of the predetermined locations, supplementing of each deficient signal vector corresponding to the current location is not conducted.