Map estimation using GPS-equipped mobile wireless nodes

Large accidents and disasters in crowded regions such as business districts and universities may create a large number of patients, and first responders need to recognize the presence and location of buildings for their efficient rescue operations. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to estimate the two-dimensional (2D) shapes and positions of buildings, simultaneously using GPS logs and wireless communication logs of mobile nodes. The algorithm is easy to implement since it only needs general wireless devices such as smartphones. The results from the experiments conducted assuming rescue operation scenarios have shown that the proposed method could quickly generate a map with 85% accuracy. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.