Publication
Title
Crowd size estimation with passive electromagnetic sensing
Author
Abstract
Crowd size estimation has become of even greater significance than before COVID-19 restrictions. At the same time, wireless technologies are ubiquitous and change rapidly; we hypothesise that we can estimate crowd sizes from electromagnetic (EM) activity, agnostic from the used communication technology. In this experimental study, we investigate crowd size estimation based on the activity that ambient WLAN devices generate inside specific WLAN channels. By recording and analysing this EM activity, we tested if this corresponds to the crowd size at a large music festival with thousands of attendees. We identify and compare trends within a data set of 186 samples over three consecutive days. We demonstrate a significant correlation between our approach and the data of three other crowd estimation systems: entrance and exit counts, MAC address counts, and device-free sensing using sub-GHz attenuation. Our study is the first step to passively and technology agnostic estimate large crowd sizes by capturing the electromagnetic activity inside the 2.4 GHz band with Software Defined Radios.
Language
English
Source (journal)
IEEE International Conference on Communications workshops : [proceedings]. - Piscataway, N.J
Source (book)
2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications Workshops (ICC Workshops), 28 May - 01 June, 2023, Rome, Italy
Publication
Piscataway, N.J : IEEE , 2023
ISSN
2164-7038
ISBN
979-83-503-3307-7
DOI
10.1109/ICCWORKSHOPS57953.2023.10283484
Volume/pages
p. 672-678
ISI
001094861300110
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Passive Environment Sensing through Signals of Opportunity.
Device-free crowd sensing at large music festivals using radio frequency signal features.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 24.11.2023
Last edited 05.11.2024
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