Probability-based clustering and its application to WLAN location estimation

Wireless local area networks (WLAN) localization based on received signal strength is becoming an important enabler of location based services. Limited efficiency and accuracy are disadvantages to the deterministic location estimation techniques. The probabilistic techniques show their good accuracy but cost more computation overhead. A Gaussian mixture model based on clustering technique was presented to improve location determination efficiency. The proposed clustering algorithm reduces the number of candidate locations from the whole area to a cluster. Within a cluster, an improved nearest neighbor algorithm was used to estimate user location using signal strength from more access points. Experiments show that the location estimation time is greatly decreased while high accuracy can still be achieved.