Setting up a phase-based positioning system using off-the-shelf components

In recent years, localization research could be split into two distinct areas: developing dedicated hardware or utilizing communication infrastructure. As an example, radar systems, belonging to the first category, offer high accuracy, but suffer from big costs and long developing times. Bluetooth or WLAN are examples for the second category. These systems are usually very cheap, since they are reusing infrastructure, with the drawback of low accuracy. Recently, the first commercial Ultra-Wideband IC became available. Many research is devoted with regard to these chips. These modules bridge the opposite requirements for low costs and high accuracy. Another technology with similar objectives, which is barely been acknowledged, are phase measurements. This paper presents the steps taken to build a fully working phase-based positioning system utilizing off-the-shelf components and introduces the necessary background knowledge. Specifically, the hardware and software design is described.