Amazon Sidewalk Location Resolution
This application note describes how each Amazon Sidewalk location resolution mechanism works: what the device contributes, how Amazon Sidewalk resolves it into a position, and what drives accuracy and failure. For the device-side API and how a device selects and sequences mechanisms, see the Amazon Sidewalk API User Guide.
Amazon Sidewalk resolves location through the following mechanisms:
| Level | Mechanism | Resolved by |
|---|---|---|
| L1 | BLE gateway location | Amazon Sidewalk, from the gateway’s known position |
| L2 | FSK gateway location | Amazon Sidewalk, from the gateway’s known position |
| L3 | WiFi scan | AWS IoT Wireless, from an access-point database |
| L4 | GNSS scan | AWS IoT Wireless, from satellite data |
The L-number identifies the mechanism; it is not a ranking of power cost.
Where Resolution Happens
For every mechanism the device contributes a signal or a measurement and the position is resolved off-device. Mechanisms fall into two families, by where that resolution happens.
Resolved by AWS IoT Wireless (L3, L4). For a WiFi or GNSS scan, Amazon Sidewalk forwards the scan to the AWS IoT Wireless position-estimate service, which returns the coordinates.
Resolved within Amazon Sidewalk (L1, L2). For all other mechanisms Amazon Sidewalk computes the position itself:
- A BLE or FSK uplink is resolved from the receiving gateway’s known position.
When resolution fails, no location is produced for that attempt.
Each of the following pages covers one mechanism.