Localization and Identification of a Person in an Indoor Environment Using a Low-Cost ZigBee Based Gateway System

The European population is becoming older and older, causing AT and AAL topics to become more and more important. A ZigBee based low-cost home automation system named CARDEA has been developed at the University of Parma, with the aim to permit elderly people to live their lives autonomously and independently. In this paper is presented a new feature: a gateway monitoring system which allows to detect crossing of a doorway or a predefined gateway and, if the person is carrying a wearable ZigBee sensor, to identify he/she. This technology could be helpful to control movements of a not completely self-sufficient person, to supervise the access to a particular location or to keep track of the person’s habits to possibly relate them to his/her health state