Evaluation of time-based ranging methods: Does the choice matter?

Positioning is useful in a number of applications, for instance smart home, smart factory and health care applications. Time-based ranging methods for positioning are the state-of- the-art but require precise timestamping. Sophisticated ranging methods compensate sources of errors, for instance clock drift caused by a crystal or an asymmetrical measuring principle, to provide precise timestamping. So far, no comprehensive study of different time-based ranging methods using the same hardware and the same evaluation setup was carried out. Consequently, we discuss, implement and evaluate five time-based ranging methods, including Two-Way Ranging, Double Two-Way Ranging, Asymmetrical Double-Sided Two-Way Ranging, Symmetrical DoubleSided Two-Way Ranging and Burst Mode Symmetric DoubleSided Two-Way Ranging. We evaluate accuracy, precision, robustness and run time for the ranging methods and answer the question if the choice of the time-based ranging method matters.