HYLOC - A Hybrid Localization and Communication System for Vehicles in Mixed Terrain Environments

Abstract

Accurate and timely location data of vehicles in Smart Cities is an essential requirement for efficient Intelligent Transportation Systems. However, in mixed terrain environments, like the Holy City of Makkah, single localization mechanism becomes insufficient due to rocky hills, long tunnel, deep valleys, and high-rise buildings. Due to the same reasons, Internet connectivity becomes disrupted on the move. As a result, accurate localization and subsequent update of location data on a remote server become cumbersome. In this paper, we present a hybrid localization and communication system (HYLOC) for vehicles in mixed terrain environments. HYLOC uses multiple localization techniques and communication mechanisms to localize and send location data to remote server in minimum time. Reducing location data report time at remote servers hosting geo-data processing application increases their efficiency and response time. This paper shows how HYLOC improves localization and reduces reporting time using experiment and analysis.