CNT4403 Localization

Localization

The process of determining a physical location. It serves as a critical input for many real-world processes and systems.

Indoor Localization

A class of schemes designed to determine location in environments where GPS is ineffective, such as indoors. These systems rely on indoor transmitters and metrics like RSSI from WiFi or Bluetooth signals.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

A system of 31 satellites orbiting approximately 12,550 miles above Earth, used to determine location. It functions by calculating the distance from a receiver to multiple satellites.

Trilateration

A geometric method used to determine a position. In GPS, it involves calculating a receiver's location based on its measured distance from three or more satellites.

GPS Weaknesses?

One big problem with GPS is that it assumes you have a clear line-of-sight to the sky so you can see the satellites. Because of this, GPS does not work well in cities or inside buildings. There are also problems with people trying to mess with the system. There are three specific ways people try to trick the system: Distance Fraud, Mafia Fraud, and Terrorist Fraud.

Distance Fraud

An attack where a malicious prover attempts to falsify its distance to a verifier. The prover achieves this by faking the timing of its responses, such as by anticipating challenges, to make the calculated distance seem smaller than it is.

Mafia Fraud

An attack involving a malicious third party that tampers with an interaction between an honest prover and verifier. The attacker uses a relay device to forward signals, making a distant prover appear to be physically close to the verifier.

Terrorist Fraud

An attack where a malicious prover and a malicious third-party attacker collaborate. The prover provides the attacker with information that allows the attacker to respond quickly to a verifier's challenges, fooling the verifier into believing the prover is nearby.

Secure Distance Bounding

A technique that combines random challenges with Round-Trip Time (RTT) measurements to securely determine the distance to a prover. It relies on the speed of light as a physical constant to ensure an adversary cannot fake a response faster than physically possible.