Phase Difference Based Precise Indoor Tracking of Common Mobile Devices Using an Iterative Holographic Extended Kalman Filter

The 3D indoor localization of low-cost standard mobile devices represents an important research topic. Since the implementation of ultra-wideband localization systems requires elaborated hardware, a localization concept based on phase-difference-of-arrival (PDOA) evaluation of narrow band communication signals at spatially distributed antennas is favorable in many applications. Typically, PDOA measurements are used to estimate the angle-of-arrival (AOA) at several receivers, which are then combined via multiangulation. However, AOA estimation requires far field conditions, thereby limiting measurement sensitivity, and distorts measurements in a non linear fashion. To overcome these limitations, this paper proposes the iterative holographic extended Kalman filter (IHEKF), which directly evaluates the phase differences between spatially distributed antenna pairs. The IHEKF requires neither a specific waveform nor emitter–receiver synchronization and, therefore, represents a good candidate for localization within communication systems such as 5G/6G. Since the evaluation of phase differences is affected by phase ambiguity, the IHEKF is designed so that closely spaced antenna pairs are evaluated first and then more distant antennas are included successively to improve accuracy. The IHEKF’s capabilities are demonstrated via a 24 GHz narrow band measurement setup with strong multipath propagation, providing outstanding localization accuracy in the millimeter range without consuming any notable RF signal bandwidth.