Experimental Demonstration for Indoor Localization Based on AoA of Bluetooth 5.1 Using Software Defined Radio

The new direction-finding feature incorporated in version 5.1 of the Bluetooth Core Specification accelerates the development of applications in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT) for indoor localization and asset tracking. We evaluate the position of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmitter based on the angle of arrival (AoA) mechanism proposed by the Bluetooth standard using Software Defined Radio (SDR). The system is comprised of a phased array antenna, an analog section for the conversion of Radio Frequency (RF) signals to the baseband, followed by a digital section for AoA estimation. The experimental results validate the proposal with precise estimates and a high resolution for the AoA. The proposed approach can be used for digital beamforming to increase the operating range or decrease the level of power consumed by BLE devices in IoT applications.