A WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK-BASED NARROW BEAM STEERING ANTENNA ARRAY FOR INDOOR POSITIONING SYSTEMS

Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS) have become increasingly vital in various applications such as healthcare, logistics, and consumer services, where GPS signals are unavailable. This paper presents a novel approach to IPS by integrating a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)-based narrow beam steering antenna array. The proposed system leverages the capabilities of beamforming to enhance the angular resolution and signal accuracy, which are essential for precise localization in indoor environments. The system design utilizes multiple sensor nodes equipped with phased array antennas that can electronically steer narrow beams to improve the system's localization performance. The central localization unit processes the data obtained from these nodes to determine the precise position of the target. Simulation results demonstrate significant improvements in positioning accuracy, with up to a 30% reduction in localization error compared to traditional WSN-based positioning methods. The narrow beam steering technique minimizes interference and enhances the system’s resilience to multipath propagation, providing a robust solution for indoor localization. The study also explores the challenges in antenna design, power consumption, and network synchronization, while offering insights into future improvements. This research shows that integrating WSNs with narrow beam steering antennas is a promising solution for high-precision indoor positioning.