An Indoor Positioning and Navigation System (IPNS) is a technology framework designed to locate people or objects inside buildings where traditional satellite-based systems like GPS are ineffective. While GPS works well outdoors, its signals weaken or become inaccurate within enclosed structures such as airports, hospitals, malls, factories, and office complexes. Indoor positioning systems address this limitation by using alternative technologies to determine precise real-time locations within confined environments.
Indoor positioning relies on a combination of wireless communication, sensors, and software algorithms. Technologies commonly used include Wi-Fi triangulation, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), infrared, and magnetic field mapping. Each method offers varying levels of accuracy, cost efficiency, and infrastructure requirements. For example, BLE beacons are widely used in retail environments due to their affordability and ease of deployment, while UWB is preferred in industrial settings where centimeter-level accuracy is required.