Elevation accuracy improvement in mobile devices by implementing artificial neural networks

Abstract

An important feature of mobile devices relates to positioning, mainly relying on the global navigation satellite system sensor. In optimal conditions, this sensor provides horizontal positioning sufficient for most location-based services. The elevation, on the other hand, still lacks sufficient accuracy and reliability – mostly due to mobile device inadequacies that stem from technological limitations and environmental and physical conditions, which impact the observations quality. We suggest augmenting the elevation measurements of this sensor with measurements from supplementary embedded mobile device sensors, such as barometers and accelerometers, and with data from external mapping and environmental databases, namely topography and weather. We developed an artificial neural network deep-learning model that identifies parameter values for producing the highest predictive accuracy of the elevation value while relying on a comprehensive set of measurements. Our findings indicate very promising results, whereby we enhanced the elevation accuracy of testing data by 428%, while significantly reducing the elevation variance. These results show that using supplementary measurements and data improves elevation values while significantly reducing errors commonly associated with mobile device global navigation satellite system sensors. The proposed method has the capacity to improve outdoor kinematic positioning for location-based services, with a focus on urban and concealed areas.