Indoor Positioning System

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Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS) locate and track objects in buildings. These may be pre-tagged objects, or discovered objects. Examples of tagged objects are patients or equipment in a hospital. Examples of discovered objects are people in burning buildings or soldiers on a battlefield. [1]

Global Positioning Systems are not suitable to establish indoor locations, since their microwaves can be scattered by roofs, walls and other objects. An IPS uses other radio technology, infrared, or ultrasound, to overcome this limitation. Infrared and ultrasound are useful in environments where wireless radio frequencies may interfere with critical equipment. [2]

[edit] Common technologies

Ultrasound Identification (USID)
Radio-frequency identification (RFID)
Infrared (IR)
Wi-Fi
Ultra-wideband (UWB)

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[edit] See also

Real Time Location System (RTLS)
Real-time locating (RTLS)