How to use location-based services

From Shareideas

Sample uses

• Locate people and vehicles working on the field
• Track relevant targets like children, elderly people, etc
• Provide directions to all but specifically to people with special needs like the blind

What are location-based services (LBS)?

(Source: Wikipedia) Location-based services (LBS) are offered by some mobile phone service providers as a way to send custom advertising and other information to cell-phone subscribers based on their current location. The service provider acquires the user’s location from a GPS chip built into the phone or using radiolocation and triangulation based on the signal-strength of the closest radio base station (network nodes). In the UK for instance, networks do not use triangulation only radiolocation; LBS serices use a single base station, with a 'radius' of inaccuracy, to determine a phone's location.

One example of a location-based service might be to allow the subscriber to find the nearest emergency service such as a hospital. This can be used for commercial purposes if the location of the user is known to businesses, like restaurants, for example. The ability of a restaurant to send an invitation to by passers is commonly used in some countries. This service needs to be subscribed otherwise this might be regarded as unsolicited commercial email or spamming. These services were launched in the late 1990s, and (as of 2004) the development in this area seems to be driven more by technical ability than by user need.

How to use location-based services?

You need a special subscription with the telecommunications service provider and either a GSM transponder per target or a GPS receiver connected to a GSM transmitter. In the first case, the tracking is made through triangulation of signals received by nearby radio base stations (nodes of the service provider’s network). The strength of signals received is measured to remotely determine the approximate location of the target. This solution is only available with some providers as the technology to retrieve and process such data from the network is quite complex and expensive. Accuracy depends on numerous factors like the number of network nodes available, network coverage, radio propagation variables, obstacles, etc.

The GPS solution is easier and more accurate. The GPS receiver determines the targets geographic position locally and this information is transmitted via the wireless network to a central server. The rate that this information is sent can be configured and is linked with the needs to track more or less accurately the target. More periodic updates represent a higher communication cost.

The data collected by the network can be delivered to a local workstation and either displayed as text (for instance presenting a geographical position) or graphically in a map on the screen. Mapping software applications are widely available covering different parts of the world and providing different features.