Person Tracking using Location Based Services

Vinay Nahata Indian Institute Of Information Technology Allahabad,India Puneet Bajaj Indian Institute Of Information Technology Allahabad,India developing and offering numerous applications and services. For automatic location determination, a GPS device can be used to calculate latitude and longitude based on received satellite signals. Less accurate, but more easy because almost everyone has his own mobile phone, is it to determine location based on the nearby GSM antennas.. The problem with using GPS device is that they are costly as they make use of bulky receivers and nanoatomic clocks.That makes it unsuitable when we are striving to make the location base services economical.The information such as Cell-ID provided by GSM networks can be used to achieve the objective of providing location based services with some sacrifice on the accuracy aspect .The overall idea is what best can we achieve without paying anything extra to the service provider except for the nominal cost of GPRS LBS also includes mobile positioning techniques .Hence it can broadly be categorized into two subheads:1.Mobile Positioning 2.Location Based Services

Abstract
Location services are emerging as one of the most important and anticipated tools of the new wireless Web. The ability to use the subscribers geographic location to provide enhanced services is likely to revolutionise the wireless experience for mobile subscribers. For instance, these services enable you to instantly get a map of where you are using your handheld device. Or, by pressing one key, you can retrieve the yellow pages for your location. But there is an entire system behind the convenience that delivers a user's location to the Web server. This paper provides the reader with an easy to understand, step-by-step approach to location determination and management - crucial knowledge for exploiting location as a value-added service enabler for mobile communications.The paper presents a review of the main technologies available for measuring the location of mobiles thereby using them to switch profile of a user based on his/her location and secondly to track the handheld device user monitoring the places where the handheld device user moves along with their time of visiting such places.

Introduction
What is Location Based Services? The term Location Based Services (LBS) refers to mobile services in which the user location information is used in order to add value to the service as a whole. Main service categories for LBS include Emergency and Safety, Communities and Entertainment ,Information and Navigation, Tracking and Monitoring, and M-Commerce.LBS has generated a lot of interest in recent years, as a new source for mobile operators to enhance their service offering, thus potentially increasing revenues and reducing churn. Predictions of LBS usage have generated a lot of interest and attracted many new players

2.1Mobile Positioning
Moblie Positioning refers to the process of estimating the position of a mobile phone.A mobile in a cellular network communicates by transmiting to and receiving radio signals from a base station(sometimes known as a cell site).Positioning in a cellular network is based on the fact that the base stations are situated a known positions.All that is required therefore is to determine that position of handsets relative to these known sites .In this section we review technique used to estimate the position of mobiles to the base stations.

There are various means of mobile positioning, which can be divided into two major categories network based and handset based positioning. The purpose of positioning the mobile is to provide location-based services (LBS), including wireless emergency services.

2.1.1 Network-based Mobile Positioning Technology:This category is

referred to as "network based" because the mobile network, in conjunction with networkbased position determination equipment (PDE) is used to position the mobile device. Raw measurements Mobile positioning systems estimate the position of handsets with reference to one or more known base station positions.This yields a locus constraining the position of the handset to a particular region of space.Typically multiple measurements are made yielding independent loci which are then used in combination to obtain a position estimate.There are four types of raw measurements commonly used in Network based Mobile Positioning systems, proximity, signal strength, time of arrival and angle of arrival.

2.1.1a Proximity
Proximity measurements simply reect that the mobile is in a given region of the area served by the cellular network. This information can take a variety of forms. The most precise case is when a handset is in active communication with the network. In general the handset will connect with the nearest base station and therefore this information constrains the handset to the region served by that base station, 1 (b). In some cases, for instance when the base station concerned supports a micro or pico cell with a very limited transmission range, the fact that the mobile is communicating with that base station provides a relatively precise constraint on the position of the handset, of the order of perhaps 50 to 100 metres. Of course with a sparse distribution of base stations, for instance in rural areas, one base station may cover many tens of kilometres. As a result the positional information provided by the association between base station and mobile is much less precise. When a handset is not in active communication with a base station, in so-called idle mode, its position is typically known to within a location or paging area, see gure 1 (a). The network maintains this information in order to be able to focus its paging attempts when there is an

incoming call destined for the handset. A location or paging area usually represents a small collection of cell sites. Therefore in positional terms, the uncertainty associated with the handsets position may be up to an order of magnitude greater than when the handset is incall. Typically in such cases the network may establish a brief connection with the mobile to identify the nearest base station for greater accuracy. For an omni-directional site, the best estimate of the handset position is the coordinates of the base station as illustrated in gure 1 (b). In cases where the serving base station is part of a multi-sector site, the coverage area of the particular base station is likely to be more restricted as illustrated in gure 1 (c). In this case it is possible to rene the estimated handset position to the notional centroid of the coverage area of the relevant sector. In some cases proximity measures are used in isolation to derive a coarse point estimate of the mobiles position as illustrated. However in some case multiple proximity measurements may be available. One example would be when the mobile was known to be within (overlapping) coverage areas of multiple cells. In such cases, one of several forms of positional constraints or loci may be derived. One example is a binary probability value where any point within the notional coverage area of the particular base station is assigned a probability of 1 and all points outside that region are assigned a probability of zero. Additional measurements with reference to other sites are then similarly the possible areas obtained and the mobiles position is estimated based on the overlap between the possible areas.

Key phenomenons: Propagation time Delay between sender and receiver one-way time synchronization accurate clocks synchronization with 2 signals having different velocity additional reference round-trip time no synchronization

2.1.1b Signal Strength

The strength of the signal detected by a radio receiver varies with the position of the receiver (assuming the transmitter position is xed). In free space, with an antenna that radiates uniformly in all directions, the received strength varies purely as a function of the separation between the transmitter and receiver, as a decreasing function of the range. In the cellular networks of interest here, this general trend of decreasing signal strength as the range between base station and mobile increases is maintained, however a variety of mechanisms vary the actual received signal strength around this trend..

2.1.1d Angle Of Arrival

This method involves analysis of the angle of arrival (AOA) of a signal between the mobile phone and the cellular antenna. AOA PDE is used to capture AOA information to make calculations to determine an estimate of the mobile device position

2.1.1c Time of Arrival

This method uses the time of arrival (TOA) of signals between the mobile phone and the cellular antenna. TOA PDE(Postion Determination Equipment) is used to capture time difference of arrival (TDOA) information to make calculations to determine an estimate of the mobile device position.

2.2.2 Handset-based Positioning Technology

Mobile

This category is referred to as "handset based" because the handset itself is the primary means of positioning the user, although the network can be used to provide assistance in acquiring the mobile device and/or making position estimate determinations based on measurement data and handset based position determination algorithms.

SIM Toolkit The SIM Toolkit (STK), as an API between the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) of a GSM mobile phone and an application, provides the means of positioning a mobile unit. Positioning information may be as approximate as COO or more precise through additional means such as use of the mobile network operation called timing advance (TA) or a procedure called network measurement report (NMR). In all cases, the STK allows for communication between the SIM (which may contain additional algorithms for positioning) and a location server application (which may contain additional algorithms to assist in mobile positioning). STK is a good technique to obtain position information while the mobile device is in the idle state. We have employed handset based mobile positioning system making use of GSM SIM to get the cell id of the handheld instrument as no additional PDE is required in this case and could be used by general mobile users.

General Commands (GSM 07.07, Section 5) Call Control Commands (GSM 07.07, Section 6) Network Services Related Commands (GSM 07.07, Section 7) Mobile Equipment Control and Status Commands (GSM 07.07, Section 8) SMS Commands (GSM 07.05) Multiplexing Commands (GSM 07.10) Other Commands Phone-Specific Commands

Some commands that was used in our application to access cell-id and network id. CSQ : Signal quality and network ID CREG : Mode, LAC, CellID The application basically components :1)Smartphone application 2)Webserver 3)User friendly Interface . consists of 3

2.2 Location Based Services

After we have the cell-id in the handheld device,the idea is use this cell-id in our application.But in order to access the cell id ,we need to communicate to the GSM modem that is embedded inside the smartphone.The modem is always either in command mode or the online mode. A set of Hayes command are used to send communicate to the modem.The modem will acknowledge most commands almost immediately. As soon as you type in a command ending with the carriage return character your modem will respond with OK. COM ports communicating with modems must be given several settings by the communications software .The COM port needs to be told the number of bits per character, parity, the number of stop bits to be used, and the speed at which to communicate. AT commands Commands may be entered from the terminal mode of most communications software packages .The following lists the AT control commands that a device is expected to support, however, a device may support more commands than listed. The categories of control commands are:

2.2.1)Smartphone application
The smartphone application has been developed using .NET Compact Framework in C#.The application first connects to GSM modem on a

specific port(generally COM2 or COM9).Once it connects, it starts receiving cell id and location id.The application can also be used to switch profile as per the location.With an XML database sitting on the device itself,it could be used to see what is current location of the user. A particular cell id can be associated with a particular event like flash backlight ,play a sound file, set the ringer volume, etc. Whenever the cell-id changes i.e the smartphone enters/exits a cell,the cellchangeevent is fired and the corresponding event handler fires every event registered with that particular cell id change event.For tracing application, the cellid is sent to the webserver over a GPRS connection.

user has visited along with time shown that forms the essence of a tracking system.

3.Other possible areas where LBS can be used

1) The Application can be used as SPY location in companies. All the information of the movement and places where marketing employee visited can be stored and updated on the server automatically through GPRS and if a person visits the particular undesirable places at office hours,it could be well tracked bt the application nd updated on the webserver. 2) Automatic attendance system As soon as the person reaches his office with his handheld smartphone, his location is matched with company location by the application and server is updated about the employesss location and can be marked present for the day. 3) Some more usage of daily life, like switching b/w profiles at particular places making sound recorder ON at particular places automatically, to track the conversation going on at that particular location.This can be done again using different sets of AT commands Further fetching the details of nearby restaurants, theatre and similar details can be availed. 4)Location-based Billing. Subscribers are able to choose a number of zones, of variable sizes, within which any calls made will be charged at a discounted rate. This service is based on the presumption that the bulk of a users calls are made from just a few locations. The service is designed to encourage customers to switch from fixed line operators to wireless operators

2.2.2)Webserver
The smartphone user sends the cell-id over a GPRS connection to this webserver that has a database which maps each cell with a location. The webserver runs a webservice that could be accessed over web across any platform. The cell ID database now contains more than 10.000 cells in 14 (mostly European) countries. It estimates the location of GSM cells based on all measurements of people that have traversed through that cell. This location information can be used to supply people with an estimate of their location based on cell ID only, so without GPS or operator who charges several eurocents per request. The location information can be used to trigger different location-based services, including the new home finder, the friend finder, easy meeting point,etc.

What are webservices? Web services are software components that expose a service over the web. Technically it is an application that exposes a web-accessible API i.e., you can invoke this application programmatically over the Web Using SOAP protocol. It allows applications to share data and functionality. It can be called across platforms and operating systems regardless of the programming language used by applications. Webservices enable 100% interoperatibility.

4.LBS: Market Perspective , Trends and Challenges

There is growing voice that in order to gain competitive edge in LBS area research and development is urgent in the area of system and application technology. The current technology does not allow for interoperation between networks of different operators. And this leaves limitations in scope of service and kinds of content. There is also a need for LBS platform development. Therefore some point out that it is necessary to develop various LBS services

2.2.3 User friendly Interface

After all the hard work,the location of the smartphone user is shown in a user friendly interface .It says everything about which places

regardless of telecom network, system or content by supporting LBS standard interface. As per analysis, CELLID as a Positioning Services Technology will succeed in the short run. In the long run, more accurate technologies such as Assisted GPS (A-GPS) and Enhanced Observer Time Difference (E-OTD) will take over. Prediction of LBS usage have generated lot of interest and attracted many new players developing and offering numerous application and services. The lack of standards and preferred technologies in area such as Position determination Technology, services platforms, mobile terminals, graphical presentation opens the opportunities for many newer technologies. But still, the partnership between these entities would still need to be worked out. To offer LBS is tough challenge for mobile operator. Many different areas exist where thorough consideration is required, that might have a crucial effect on the bottom line.Challenges include the choice of Position determination technology, the use of a third party platform vs. the in-house design and implementation of an application platform, the selection of services to offer and selection of business models to use etc. In order to enable launch of attractive services for LBS, mobile operator seems to recognize the need to share the LBS revenues with other players. The business model used by application developer in LBS market include a combination of one time set-up fees, revenue sharing and monthly payment for additional services such as technical support and upgrades, customer care, etc. On the subscriber side, operators are also experimenting various charging schemes, including charging per additional time/traffic , charging for premium services and a monthly subscription. Due to low use of LBS today, and the low revenues associated with it, it is impossible for the different players to rely on revenue sharing with the operators. This trend is likely to change in future if and when revenues from LBS actually increase as predicted.

cost factor is carried out. The general architecture of a location-enabled GSM/GPRS network is presented. The process of making location request and returning the appropriate information to the end user location-enabled GSM/GPRS network is explained. Further, end user application is presented which make use of location and show how location is a powerful enabling factor for any 3rd party tracking and other mobile application. Location based services are extensively used by companies such as NTT DoCoMo, Autodesk, Orange and Mapinfo. An overview of market perspective & recent development in locationbased services is presented. Finally challenges and future trends for location based industry are also touched upon. Work in GSM networks is going on to improve accuracy and data rate using EDGE i.e. reliable GPRS, Nanotechnology used in Cells (antennas) to calculate time and many upcoming technologies are joining the hands of GSM, to provide free and reliable services which will make our life easier, healthier and automated..Our application was just a step forward in that direction .

6 References:
[1]Location Awareness and Location BasedServices-Part Position and Terminology John Pagonis & Jonathan Dixon,Symbian Ltd. [2]Anonymous Usage of Location Based Services Through Spatial and Temporal Cloaking Macro Grutester and Dirk Grunvald,University of Colorado [3]Location Based Services in Telephony -Xiaotao Wu and Schulzrine,Columbia University Internet Henning

5.Conclusion
In this paper,we presented a complete description of our tracking application along with a detailed insight into Location Based Services .This paper initially begins with introducing the location based services and its significance to cellular operators and mobile phone user. technologies in terms of performance, implementation trends and

[4]Location-Based Services for Mobile Telephony:a Study of Users Pivacy ConcernsLouise Barkuus and Anind Dey Proceedings of the INTERACT 2003,9TH IFIP TC13 International Conference of Human Computer Interaction [5]Data Store Issues for Location-Based Servces John Krumm,Steve Shafer,Microsoft Research

[6]Snap Track, Location Technologies for GSM,GPRS and WCDMA Networks snap Track Incorporated 2001 [7]Northstream Location Services:Consideration andChallenges Based

[8] Whitepaper Enhance your position LBS & MMS,May 2002 [9]http://www.mobileinfo.com/LocationBasedSe rvices/identification_methods.htm