The Challenge of Dynamic Environments in Regard to RSSI-Based Indoor Wi-Fi Positioning—A Systematic Review

Among indoor positioning technologies, Wi-Fi fingerprinting using the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) is the most convenient and cost-effective method for indoor positioning. Instability and interference in wireless signal transmission cause significant variations in the RSSI, especially in a dynamic environment (DE). These factors hamper the accuracy of fingerprint-based indoor positioning system (IPSs), as these systems may struggle to reliably match observed signal patterns with stored fingerprints. Thus, ensuring positioning accuracy is critically important when designing and implementing Wi-Fi IPSs. Currently, there is a lack of surveys that provide a detailed and systematic analysis of the impact of DEs on the accuracy and reliability of Wi-Fi indoor positioning. This systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to examine three aspects of Wi-Fi indoor positioning based on the RSSI: the impact of a DE on indoor positioning accuracy, the importance of constructing radio maps for indoor localization, and the role of machine learning (ML)/deep learning (DL) models in predicting indoor position with minimal error despite the DE. This review was conducted according to a structured and well-defined methodology to search for and filter relevant studies on Wi-Fi indoor positioning using the RSSI. Through this systematic process, 128 papers (2018–2024) were identified as relevant and then extracted and thoroughly analyzed to effectively answer the specified research questions. Additionally, this review highlights gaps in existing research, suggests directions for future studies, and provides practical recommendations for enhancing Wi-Fi-based indoor positioning in DEs.