State and Path Analysis of RSSI in Indoor Environment

Received signal strength (RSS) ranging is not suitable in indoor environment due to complicated multipath signal propagation, leading to inaccurate distance estimation. This paper shows the experiments which collect RSSI signals in indoor environment for analysis. The objective of these experiments is to discover possible solution to reducing indoor lognormal shadowing effect. Two assumptions were made for the status of signal strength between two radio transceiver: the states of transmitter and receiver, and the path of signal propagation. Experimental results show that the state of transmitter or receiver at a location does not exist. Instead, signal strength and the level of attenuation are determined by individual combination of transmitter and receiver locations. More specifically, it is determined by the paths between transmitter and receiver’s locations.