Location-based service

A location-based account (LBS) is an advice or ball service, attainable with adaptable accessories through the adaptable arrangement and utilizing the adeptness to accomplish use of the bounded position of the adaptable accessory 1 2 3 .4

LBS can be acclimated in a array of contexts, such as health, calm article search5, entertainment6, work, claimed life, etc. .7

LBS accommodate casework to analyze a area of a being or object, such as advertent the abutting cyberbanking banknote apparatus or the abode of a acquaintance or employee. LBS accommodate bindle tracking and agent tracking services. LBS can accommodate adaptable business back demography the anatomy of coupons or announcement directed at barter based on their accepted location. They accommodate alone acclimate casework and alike location-based games. They are an archetype of telecommunication convergence.

This abstraction of area based systems is not adjustable with the connected abstraction of real-time analysis systems and accompanying bounded casework (RTLS), as acclaimed in ISO/IEC 19762-5 8 and ISO/IEC 24730-1

History

Research forerunners of today's location-based services are the infrared Active Badge system (1989–1993), The Ericsson-Europolitan GSM LBS trial ran during 1995 by Jörgen Johansson and the master thesis written by Nokia employee Timo Rantalainen, in 1994.

In 1996 the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) issued rules requiring all US mobile operators to locate emergency callers. This rule was a compromise resulting from US mobile operators seeking the support of the emergency community in order to obtain the same protection from law suits relating to emergency calls as fixed-line operators already had.

In 1997 Christopher Kingdon, of Ericsson, handed in the Location Services (LCS) stage 1 description to the joint GSM group of the European Telecommunications Standard Institute(ETSI) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). As a result the LCS sub-working group was created under ANSI T1P1.5. This group went on to select positioning methods and standardize Location Services (LCS), later known as Location Based Services (LBS). Nodes defined include the Gateway Mobile Location Centre (GMLC), the Serving Mobile Location Centre (SMLC) and concepts such as Mobile Originating Location Request (MO-LR), Network Induced Location Request (NI-LR) and Mobile Terminating Location Request (MT-LR).

In 2000, after approval from the worlds 12 largest telecom operators, Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia jointly formed and launched the Location Interoperability Forum Ltd (LIF). This forum first specified the Mobile Location Protocol (MLP), an interface between the telecom network and an LBS application running on a server in the Internet Domain. Then, much driven by the Vodafone group, LIF went on to specify the Location Enabling Server (LES), a "middleware", which simplifies the integration of multiple LBS with an operators infrastructure. In 2004 LIF was merged with the Open Mobile Association (OMA). A LBS work group was formed within the OMA.

The first consumer LBS-capable mobile web device was the Palm VII, released in 1999.10 Two of the in-the-box applications made use of the ZIP code-level positioning information and share the title for first consumer LBS application: the Weather.com app from The Weather Channel, and the11 TrafficTouch app from Sony-Etak / Metro Traffic.

The first LBS services were launched during 2000 by TeliaSonera in Sweden (friendfinder, yellow pages, houseposition, emergency call location etc.) and by EMT in Estonia (emergency call location, friend finder, TV game). TeliaSonera and EMT based their services on the Ericsson Mobile Positioning System (MPS).

Other early LBS include friendzone, launched by swisscom in Switzerland in May 2001, using the technology of valis ltd. The service included friend finder, LBS dating and LBS games.12 The same service was launched later by Vodafone Germany, Orange Portugal and Pelephone in Israel11. Microsoft's Wi-Fi-based indoor location system RADAR (2000), MIT's Cricket project using ultrasound location (2000) and Intel's Place Lab with wide-area location (2003).13

The first commercial LBS service in Japan was launched by DoCoMo, based on triangulation for pre-GPS handsets in July 2001, and by KDDI for the first mobile phones equipped with GPS in December 2001.14 Mobile handset makers have tended to take 'upstream initiative' to embed LBS in their mobile equipment. Originally, LBS was developed by mobile carriers in partnership with mobile content providers.

In May 2002, go2 and AT&T launched the first (US) mobile LBS local search application that used Automatic Location Identification (ALI) technologies mandated by the FCC. go2 users were able to use AT&T’s ALI to determine their location and search near that location to obtain a list of requested locations (stores, restaurants, etc.) ranked by proximity to the ALI provide by the AT&T wireless network. The ALI determined location was also used as a starting point for turn-by-turn directions.

The main advantage is that mobile users don't have to manually specify ZIP codes or other location identifiers to use LBS, when they roam into a different location. GPS tracking is a major enabling ingredient, utilizing access to mobile web.

In 2010, location-based services power Mobile Local Search to enable the search and discovery of persons, places, and things within an identifiable space defined by distinct parameters. These parameters are evolving. Todaywhen? they include social networks, individuals, cities, neighborhoods, landmarks, and actions that are relevant to the searcher's past, current, and future location. These parameters provide structure to vertically deep and horizontally broad data categories that can stand alone or are combined to form searchable directories.

Locating methods

Control Even Locating

Sometimes referred to as positioning, with ascendancy even analysis the account provider gets the area based on the radio arresting adjournment of the abutting cell-phone building (for phones after GPS features) which can be absolutely apathetic as it uses the 'voice control' channel.[4] In the UK, networks do not use trilateration; LBS casework use a distinct abject station, with a 'radius' of inaccuracy, to actuate a phone's location. This address was the base of the E-911 authorization and is still acclimated to locate cellphones as a assurance measure. Newer phones and PDAs about accept an dent A-GPS chip.

In adjustment to accommodate a acknowledged LBS technology the afterward factors charge be met:

Coordinates accurateness requirements that are bent by the accordant service;

Lowest accessible cost;

Minimal appulse on arrangement and equipment.

Several categories of methods can be acclimated to acquisition the area of the subscriber.[2][16] The simple and accepted band-aid is GPS-based LBS. Sony Ericsson's "NearMe" is one such example. It is acclimated to advance ability of the exact location, about can be big-ticket for the end-user, as they would accept to advance in a GPS-equipped handset. GPS is based on the abstraction of trilateration, a basal geometric assumption that allows award one area if one knows its ambit from other, already accepted locations.

GSM Localization

GSM localization is the additional option. Award the area of a adaptable accessory in affiliation to its corpuscle armpit is addition way to acquisition out the area of an article or a person. It relies on assorted agency of multilateration of the arresting from corpuscle sites confined a adaptable phone. The bounded position of the accessory is begin out through assorted techniques like time aberration of accession (TDOA) or Enhanced Observed Time Aberration (E-OTD).

Others

Another archetype is Near LBS (NLBS), in which local-range technologies such as Bluetooth, WLAN, bittersweet and/or RFID/Near Field Communication technologies are acclimated to bout accessories to adjacent services. This appliance allows a being to admission advice based on their surroundings; abnormally acceptable for application central bankrupt premises, restricted/ bounded areas.

Another another is an operator- and GPS-independent area account based on admission into the abysmal akin telecoms arrangement (SS7). This band-aid enables authentic and quick assurance of bounded coordinates of adaptable buzz numbers by accouterment operator-independent area abstracts and works additionally for handsets that are not GPS-enabled.

Many added Local Accession Systems are available, abnormally for calm use. GPS and GSM don't assignment actual able-bodied indoors, so added techniques are used, including Bluetooth, UWB, RFID and Wi-Fi[17]. But which address provides the best band-aid for a specific LBS problem? A accepted archetypal for this botheration has been complete at the Radboud University of Nijmegen.[18]

Further information: Adaptable buzz tracking

LBS applications

Some examples of location-based casework are 2:

Recommending amusing contest in a city1

Requesting the abutting business or service, such as an ATM or restaurant

About-face by about-face aeronautics to any address

Analysis bodies on a map displayed on the adaptable phone

Receiving alerts, such as notification of a auction on gas or admonishing of a cartage jam

Location-based adaptable advertising

Asset accretion accumulated with alive RF to find, for example, baseborn assets in containers area GPS wouldn't work

Games area your area is allotment of the bold play, for archetype your movements during your day accomplish your avatar move in the bold or your position unlocks content.

Real-time Q&A revolving about restaurants, services, and added venues

More examples are listed in.2

For the carrier, location-based casework accommodate added amount by enabling casework such as:

Resource tracking with activating distribution. Taxis, account people, rental equipment, doctors, agile scheduling.

Resource tracking. Objects after aloofness controls, application acquiescent sensors or RF tags, such as bales and alternation boxcars.

Finding addition or something. Person by accomplishment (doctor), business directory, navigation, weather, traffic, allowance schedules, baseborn phone, emergency calls.

Proximity-based notification (push or pull). Targeted advertising, associate list, accepted contour analogous (dating), automated airport check-in.

Proximity-based actuation (push or pull). Payment based aloft adjacency (EZ pass, assessment watch).

In the U.S. the FCC requires that all carriers accommodated assertive belief for acknowledging location-based casework (FCC 94-102). The authorization requires 95% of handsets to boldness aural 300 meters for network-based tracking (e.g. triangulation) and 150 meters for handset-based tracking (e.g. GPS). This can be abnormally advantageous back dialing an emergency blast cardinal - such as added 9-1-1 in North America, or 112 in Europe - so that the abettor can celerity emergency casework such as Emergency Medical Services, badge or firefighters to the actual location. CDMA and iDEN operators accept called to use GPS area technology for analysis emergency callers. This led to rapidly accretion assimilation of GPS in iDEN and CDMA handsets in North America and added genitalia of the apple area CDMA is broadly deployed. Even admitting no such rules are yet in abode in Japan or in Europe the cardinal of GPS-enabled GSM/WCDMA handset models is growing fast. According to the absolute wireless analyst close Berg Insight the attach amount for GPS is growing rapidly in GSM/WCDMA handsets, from beneath than 8 percent in 2008 to 15 percent in 2009.19

European operators are mainly application Cell-ID for analysis subscribers. This is additionally a adjustment acclimated in Europe by companies such as Podsystem that are application corpuscle based LBS as allotment of systems to balance baseborn assets. In the US companies such as Rave Wireless in New York are application GPS and triangulation to accredit academy acceptance to acquaint campus badge back they are in trouble. Rave Wireless and added companies with area based offerings are powered by a array of companies, including Skyhook Wireless and Xtify.

Mobile messaging

Mobile messaging plays an capital role in LBS. Messaging, abnormally SMS, has been acclimated in aggregate with assorted LBS applications, such as location-based adaptable advertising. SMS is still the capital technology accustomed adaptable announcement / business campaigns to adaptable phones. A archetypal archetype of LBS applications application SMS is the commitment of adaptable coupons or discounts to adaptable subscribers who are abreast to announcement restaurants, cafes, cine theatres. The Singaporean adaptable abettor MobileOne agitated out such an action in 2007 that complex abounding bounded marketers, what was appear to be a huge success in agreement of subscriber acceptance.

Companies alms location-based messaging (sometimes referred to as 'geo-messaging') accommodate The Coupons App 1(US), Centrl 2(International), Zhiing (international), BluePont (US),20 Loopt (US), Dodgeball (US) and GeoMe 3(Spain).

Privacy issues

With the casual of the Can Spam Act in 2005, it became actionable in the United States to accelerate any bulletin to the end user after the end user accurately opting-in. This put an added claiming on LBS applications as far as 'carrier-centric' casework were concerned. As a result, there has been a focus on user-centric location-based casework and applications which accord the user ascendancy of the experience, about by opting in aboriginal via a website or adaptable interface (such as SMS, adaptable Web, and Java/BREW applications).

The European Union additionally provides a acknowledged framework for abstracts aegis that may be activated for location-based services, and added decidedly several European directives such as: (1) Personal data: Directive 95/46/EC); (2) Personal abstracts in cyberbanking communications: Directive 2002/58/EC; (3) Abstracts Retention: Directive 2006/24/EC. However the account of acknowledged accoutrement to capricious forms of LBS and of processing area abstracts is unclear.21

One association of this technology is that abstracts about a subscriber's area and actual movements is endemic and controlled by the arrangement operators, including adaptable carriers and adaptable agreeable providers.22

A analytical commodity by Dobson and Fisher23 discusses the possibilities for abusage of area information.

Beside the acknowledged framework there abide several abstruse approaches to assure aloofness application privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs). Such PETs ambit from simplistic on/off switches 24 to adult PETs application anonymization techniques,25 e.g., accompanying to k-anonymity. Today, alone few LBS action such PETs, e.g., Google Latitude offers an on/off about-face and allows to stick one's position to a chargeless bound location. Additionally, it is an accessible catechism how users apperceive and assurance in altered PETs. The alone abstraction that addresses user acumen of accompaniment of the art PETs is.