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KAIST, Developing National Positioning Infrastructure with Wi-Fi-Based Precision Technology… A Step Toward “Location Sovereignty”
<(From Left) Prof. Dong-Soo Han, Dr. Kyuho Son, Dr. Byeongcheol Moon, Dr. Sumin Ahn, Ph.D candidate Seungwoo Chae>
A Korean research team has developed a technology that enables precise indoor positioning using only a smartphone. Developed over eight years by KAIST researchers, this technology is expected to help secure critical time in missing-person searches and is being recognized as a “location sovereignty” solution that could reshape the current location service ecosystem dominated by global big tech companies such as Google and Apple.
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 2nd pf April that a research team led by Professor Dongsoo Han of the School of Computing has developed a core technology that can build a nationwide high-precision positioning infrastructure in a short time and at low cost by combining smartphone Wi-Fi signals with real-world address data. This achievement is the result of eight years of research, during which the team filed around ten patents to enhance the technology’s completeness.
The key feature of this technology is its use of Wi-Fi signals collected by smartphones in everyday life. It can provide precise location information anywhere in the country without requiring large-scale equipment or additional infrastructure. It also maintains high accuracy in environments where GPS is weak, such as indoors, underground, or in dense high-rise areas.
In particular, this research is seen as a challenge to the location service ecosystem currently led by global platform companies. Today, most location data worldwide is accumulated and managed by a small number of big tech firms, and Korea also relies heavily on these platforms.
Most importantly, this research establishes a foundation for independently building and managing location data generated domestically. Amid ongoing debates over exporting high-resolution national maps (1:5,000 scale spatial data detailing buildings and roads), the importance of data sovereignty is growing. This technology is drawing attention as an alternative that could reduce dependence on global big tech and realize “location sovereignty.”
The research team proposed a method that automatically combines Wi-Fi signals collected during smartphone app usage with the actual address of the location. This allows the construction of a unique “signal pattern map” (signal fingerprint) for each place, with accuracy improving as more data accumulates.
In a real-world demonstration in Daejeon, using a gas meter reading app, an average of about 30 Wi-Fi signals were detected per household in apartment complexes. This confirmed that city-scale location data can be rapidly built using this approach.
<Status of Radio Map Construction in Daejeon Using a Gas Meter Reader App>
<Address-Based Automation of Wireless Signal Collection and AI-Based Location Labeling Techniques for Collected Wireless Signals>
This technology is expected to significantly reduce location errors—previously up to hundreds of meters—in emergency situations such as missing-person searches, helping secure critical response time. It can also be applied to “location-based authentication,” allowing payments only at specific locations, thereby helping prevent financial crimes such as identity theft or unauthorized remote transactions.
Furthermore, precise location data is a key infrastructure for future AI industries, including autonomous driving, robotics, and logistics. This achievement is expected to enhance competitiveness across these sectors.
<Research Use Image (AI-Generated Image)>
Professor Dongsoo Han stated, “Positioning infrastructure is not just a convenience technology but a core asset directly linked to national data sovereignty,” adding, “It is time for the government, telecom companies, and platform providers to collaborate in building an independent national positioning infrastructure.”
This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the National Research Foundation of Korea, the National Fire Agency, and the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) (Grant No. RS-2025-02313957).
2026.04.03 View 1338 -
GSIS Graduates Its First Doctor
The Graduate School of Information Security at KAIST (GSIS) granted its first doctoral degree to Il-Goo Lee at the university’s 2016 commencement on February 19, 2016.
Lee received the degree for his dissertation entitled “Interference-Aware Secure Communications for Wireless LANs.”
He explained the background of his research:
“As we use wireless technology more and more in areas of the Internet of Things (IoT), unmanned vehicles, and drones, information security will become an issue of major concern. I would like to contribute to the advancement of communications technology to help minimize wireless interference between devices while ensuring their optimal performance.”
Based on his research, he developed a communications technique to increase wireless devices’ energy efficiency and the level of their security, and created a prototype to showcase that technique.
He plans to continue his research in the development of the next generation WiFi chip sets to protect the information security of IoT and wireless devices.
Since its establishment in March 2011, KAIST’s GSIS has conferred 50 master’s and one doctoral degrees.
2016.02.18 View 14689 -
Indoor Localization System for Mobile Devices Developed by KAIST Research Team
The technology will be available to smart phone users around the world through Goole Apps Store.
The wireless fidelity (WiFi)-based indoor localization can be installed on smart phones for commercialization, a technology developed by a research team at KAIST. The KAIST research team, led by Professor Dong-Soo Han, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, explained that the technology offers smart phone users, e.g., Google’s Android phone and Apple’ iPhone, a unique way to recognize their location through WiFi Open Radio Map. WiFi Open Radio Map is built with WiFi Location Fingerprint that contains wireless local area network (LAN)’s signal strength and wireless access points (AP) number, and with location information.
Through using the Map, WiFi-based indoor localization recognizes the location of smart phones and sends the location information to the phones. Since the technology uses WiFi signal information only to recognize the whereabouts of phones, it can be widely used in the future, without installing extra machines and equipment for detection, for a complicated, large indoor environment, where the Global Positioning System (GPS) is not available.
Currently, Professor Han has established WiFi Open Radio Map inside and outside of a few buildings at KAIST and developed several location based application services to perform a beta testing. He plans to open and distribute the technology to smart phone users through Google and Apple Apps Store in early 2010. Collaborations with major smart phone makers such as SK Telecom, Korea Telecom, and Samsung as well as outdoor/indoor localization manufactures and suppliers will also be sought, according to Professor Han.
Professor Han is invited to an international conference, Eighth Annual IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications, slated for early April 2010, in recognition of his work. At the conference, he will give a presentation on WiFi based indoor localization technology and conduct its demo version.
2010.02.10 View 17055