TAXONOMY

Positioning systems can be classified in different categories

CATEGORY	DESCRIPTION
PHYSICAL	position is computed as a numerical value
SYMBOLIC	position is computed as a logical value (e.g. city name)
ABSOLUTE	position is computed with a single reference system
RELATIVE	position is relative to some element of the infrastructure
CENTRALIZED	one nodes computes positions of the other nodes
DECENTRALIZED	each nodes compute is own position

CHARACTERISTICS

There are several characteristics to aim for a positioning system

• ACCURACY the error range of a measurements
• PRECISION the trust degree of a measurements
• SCALABILITY how much the positioning system can handle in terms of area of coverage and number of nodes
• COSTS cost of maintenance deployment time, client capabilities
• LIMITATIONS deployment environment that can host the positioning system (e.g. indoor/outdoor)

The deployment dictates what feature is requested from the positioning system together with application requirements and user constraints

flowchart LR
A[application requirements]
B[user constraints]
C[deployment environment]
D((positioning system\n capabilities))
A & B & C --> D

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