An Ultra-Low Power, Small Size and High Precision Indoor Localization System Based on MEMS Ultrasonic Transducer Chips

IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2022 Apr;69(4):1469-1477. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2022.3148314. Epub 2022 Mar 30.

Abstract

The development of Internet of Things (IoT) requires demanding accurate and low-power indoor localization. In this article, a high-precision 3-D ultrasonic indoor localization system with ultralow power is proposed. A new piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) chip with a slotted membrane is designed and fabricated as a receiver, breaking the dilemma of low resonant frequency and wide field of view required for indoor localization. The system works based on the time difference of arrival (TDoA), and an improved quantum genetic algorithm (QGA) is used to estimate the location. The results show that the system achieves centimeter-level positioning precision, which is among the best solutions nowadays. Due to the high performance and small size endowed by the PMUT, the receiver footprint reaches as small as 0.25 cm2 and power consumption could reach as low as 0.1 mW, which are far better than that of current indoor localization systems.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Equipment Design
  • Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems*
  • Transducers
  • Ultrasonics*