An Android Smart Phone Interface for a Dynamic Direction of Arrival System

Abstract

The Global Positioning System (GPS) remains well suited for mobile applications in open areas where the reception of beacon signals from satellites remains in (or near) a line-of- sight path; however, positioning inaccuracies and other operational difficulties are com- mon once in the interior of buildings and urban canyons of large cities where coverage is obstructed. As a result, this work focused on the investigation and development for a new method of multiple target tracking in comparatively smaller areas to complement the shortcomings of GPS. These small networks, termed Local Positioning Systems (LPS), were implemented via Android OS mobile phone devices in coordination with a ded- icated direction-of-arrival (DOA) server through a polarization reconfigurable antenna. The phones were able to connect to the server, access DOA information for themselves and other devices in the area, and then display the information in a practical manner on the screen. Both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi communication links were used in order to improve the feasibility of the application. The advantages of this methodology over traditional GPS include near real-time tracking of targets and a higher location resolution, which has the potential to aid applications varying from military to commercial in nature.