From CSI to Coordinates: An IoT-Driven Testbed for Individual Indoor Localization

Diana Macedo, Miguel Loureiro, Óscar G. Martins, Joana Coutinho Sousa, David Belo and Marco Gomes ()
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Diana Macedo: Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Miguel Loureiro: Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Óscar G. Martins: Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Joana Coutinho Sousa: NOS Inovação, 1000-029 Lisboa, Portugal
David Belo: NOS Inovação, 1000-029 Lisboa, Portugal
Marco Gomes: Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

Future Internet, 2025, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: Indoor wireless networks face increasing challenges in maintaining stable coverage and performance, particularly with the widespread use of high-frequency Wi-Fi and growing demands from smart home devices. Traditional methods to improve signal quality, such as adding access points, often fall short in dynamic environments where user movement and physical obstructions affect signal behavior. In this work, we propose a system that leverages existing Internet of Things (IoT) devices to perform real-time user localization and network adaptation using fine-grained Channel State Information (CSI) and Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measurements. We deploy multiple ESP-32 microcontroller-based receivers in fixed positions to capture wireless signal characteristics and process them through a pipeline that includes filtering, segmentation, and feature extraction. Using supervised machine learning, we accurately predict the user’s location within a defined indoor grid. Our system achieves over 82 % accuracy in a realistic laboratory setting and shows improved performance when excluding redundant sensors. The results demonstrate the potential of communication-based sensing to enhance both user tracking and wireless connectivity without requiring additional infrastructure.

Keywords: joint communication and sensing; IoT localization; user tracking; Wi-Fi sensing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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