Obtaining the Users Position

Dr. Miguel A. Labrador

Department of Computer Science & Engineering
labrador@csee.usf.edu
http://www.csee.usf.edu/~labrador

Outline
Positioning systems and techniques
Outdoor
GPS system
Cellular-based systems

Indoor
Java ME Location API 2.0

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Copyright Dr. Miguel A. Labrador

Global Positioning System (GPS)

Three major components
Space segment
Control segment
User segment

Space segment consists of the orbiting satellites

24 satellites in six orbital planes centered on the Earth are needed so
at least six satellites can be detected from almost anywhere
6 more have been added to provide redundant signals, improve precision,
improve reliability and availability of the system

Control segment consists of several ground stations used to track

and monitor the space segment
Main control station in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Updates the atomic clocks on board of all satellites and the
ephemerides or table with the exact position of the satellites in the
sky

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Global Positioning System (GPS)

Ephemerides are later broadcast by the satellites and used by GPS
receivers along with the signals elapsed time to calculate their own
position

User segment is made up of all GPS receivers

GPS satellites continuously broadcast a navigation message
1500 bits broken down in 5 subframes 300 bits long, 10 words 30 bits
long each
Words 1 and 2 always contain the same information
Telemetry Word (TLM): used by the receiver for synchronization
Hand-Over Word (HOW): also for synchronization; enables the receiver to
identify the subframe

Words 3 to 10 contain the rest of the NM

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The Java ME Platform

Frame = 5 subframes = 1500 bits at 50 bps = 30 seconds total
0
Subframe #1

30
TLM

HOW

60

300
Clock Correction Data, GPS Week Number
600

Subframe #2

TLM

HOW

Ephemeris of transmitting Satellite

900

Subframe #3

TLM

HOW

Ephemeris of Transmitting Satellite

1200

Subframe #4

TLM

HOW

Messages, Ionospheric Data, Coordinated

Universal Time (UTC)
1500

Subframe #5

TLM

HOW Almanac Data, Health Status, Almanac Reference Time

TLM = Telemetry Word HOW = Hand-Over Word

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Copyright Dr. Miguel A. Labrador

GPS System
Almanac contains coarse orbit and status information about
every satellite in the constellation
Each NM contains 1/25th of the almanac
Receiver needs 12.5 minutes to receive the entire almanac from a
particular satellite
Almanac is very important because it helps GPS receivers to locate
satellites at power up

Satellites transmit NM at a very low transmission rate of 50 bps

Transmit a NM every 30 secs
Main responsible for the time delay to obtain the first GPS fix
Time To First Fix (TTFF)

Satellites use CDMA technology to transmit the NM

Same two frequencies of 1.57542 GHz (L1 signal) and 1.2276 GHz
(L2 signal)
Encoding codes are known to all GPS receivers

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Copyright Dr. Miguel A. Labrador

Lateration
Process of calculating the users position using distances
between entities
Finding the position of the user consists of finding the distance
between the GPS receiver and the satellite and solving a
systems of equations using Pythagoras theorem

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Lateration
Problem of this method is in the calculation of the distance
between GPS receiver and the satellites
Calculated measuring the time it takes the satellite signal to reach
the receiver and multiplying it by the speed of light
The NM contains the exact time at which the signal was sent
In order to make GPS receivers affordable, clocks are not very
precise
Synchronization problem introduce errors in distance calculations
1 microsecond error introduces an error of 300 meters!

To eliminate this error, it is included in the calculations as an

additional unknown variable
Four equations with four unknowns
A fourth satellite is needed

Satellites are needed to be far from the user and separated from each
other
Dilution of Precision (DOP) used to select most appropriate satellites

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Copyright Dr. Miguel A. Labrador

The GSM Cellular Network

Cellular networks play a crucial role in LBIS
Transport network
Estimation of the users position

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The GPRS Architecture

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Cellular Positioning Technologies

Cell Identification or Cell ID

Simplest localization method

HLR contains enough information to locate a user in the GSM network
Cell ID returns position of the BTS serving the user
Accuracy depends on cell size
Although fast and useful for some applications, not very accurate for
many other

Enhanced Cell ID
BTS measures RTT and estimates distance
Reduces the radio of the circle only

Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD)

BTSs periodically send beacon signals that MS use to measure
distance to anchors and apply lateration
Terminal-based positioning mechanism

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Cellular Positioning Technologies

Uplink-Time Difference of Arrival (U-TDoA)
Similar to E-OTD but more complicated
Calculations are performed by the BTSs based on signals transmitted by
the MS
MS is not transmitting all the time
Only one BTS is serving the MS
Location Measurement Units (LMU) are included in the network to
compile measurements and perform calculations

Assisted GPS (A-GPS)

Easier and cheaper to implement in a GSM network
GPS-enabled phone and cellular network collaborate

Improved accuracy
Better indoor coverage
Shorter TTFF
Less power consumption

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Cellular Positioning Technologies

Assisted GPS (A-GPS)
Relies on assistant servers located in several parts of the GSM
network
Servers either provide information that the MS needs to perform the
calculations, or perform the calculations using information provided by
the MS
Server provides MS with information it cannot obtain
Almanac, more accurate clock information, accurate coordinates of the
server or BTS
Almanac allows the MS to lock to the GPS satellites faster

Server can receive partial information from MS and use its

computational power and good satellite signals to compute position on
behalf of the MS

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Indoor Positioning Systems

Outdoor positioning systems are difficult to use indoors
Indoor positioning systems have been developed to fill this need
The smooth integration of them is still and active area of research

Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs)

WLAN access points transmit beacon signals like BTSs in cellular
networks
Proximity sensing adopts the position of the closest AP
Lateration techniques can also be used

Fingerprinting
Based on off-line measurements of the signal strength in specific
reference points within the space of interest
Stored in a database and utilized by the system to find the MSs location

Ultrasound-based systems
Use RF and ultrasound signals to estimate distances
Need US hardware and restricted to very few meters

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Skyhooks Hybrid Positioning System (XPS)

XPS is a software-based positioning systems that combines WiFi AP locations, GPS data, and cellular tower locations to
provide 10-20 meter accuracy positions in indoor and outdoor
environments
Mobile Location Client (MLC) and XPS Location Server (XLS)
MLC can perform all calculations
Mobile-based location provider model

MLC can also off load the calculations on the XLS

MLC send GPS, Wi-Fi AP, and Cell ID data to XLS
XLS has access to a huge DB with AP and cell tower locations and
powerful algorithms to make the calculations
Location-provider model
iPhone and iPod use Skyhooks system
http://www.skyhookwireless.com

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The Location API 2.0

JSR 293 recently approved (October 2008)
Improves certain features and include new ones with respect to
JSR 179 (Location API version 1.0)
Two major packages
javax.microedition.location
Improvements to classes needed to request and obtain a location
Location, LocationListerner, LocationProvider, ProximityListener,
GeographicArea

javax.microedition.location.services
New classes and interfaces related to LBS, such as geocoding, map,
and navigation

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The Location API 1.0

Most important objects included are the LocationProvider,
Criteria, and Location objects
LocationProvider is the provider of location data
All interactions with the underlying positioning technology are handled
through this object
Since there may be several positioning technologies, several
LocationProviders may exist

Criteria contains the requirements of the application

Accuracy, speed, and course of the MS is needed

Location is the object that contains the location data

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The Location API 1.0

Location object includes
QualifiedCoordinates class that contains estimated latitude, longitude,
altitude of the current position
Estimated horizontal and vertical accuracies
Nice to know how good the estimation is

Speed and course of the MS

Time at which the position was calculated
Positioning method utilized

Two methods
getLocation method to obtain the location one time
LocationListener method to obtain the location at predefined intervals

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getLocation Method
try {
// Create a Criteria object to define desired selection criteria
Criteria cr = new Criteria();
cr.setHorizontalAccuracy(20);//Requests an estimated accuracy of 20 meters
cr.setSpeedAndCourseRequired(true);//Requests speed and course of MS
//Requests a LocationProvider that meets these Criteria
LocationProvider lp = LocationProvider.getInstance(cr);
// Get the location, 60 seconds timeout
Location loc = lp.getLocation(60);
Coordinates coord = loc.getQualifiedCoordinates();
if (coord != null) {
// Include code that uses coordinates here
// ...
}
}
catch (LocationException e) {
// Could not retrieve location
}
catch (InterruptedException e) {
// Location retrieval interrupted
}

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Location Listener Class

public class LocListener implements LocationListener {

LocListener locListener = new LocListener();
int interval = 4;// Interval between location updates is 4 s
int timeout = 2;// Timeout after location request is 2 s
// Maximum age allowed for a duplicate location value to be returned is 2 s
int maxAge = 2;
lp.setLocationListener(locListener, interval, timeout, maxAge);
. . .
public void locationUpdated(LocationProvider provider, Location location) {
// This code will be triggered with updated
// location data at the defined interval
}
. . .
}

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The Location API 2.0

Modifies the following features
Criteria and LocationProvider
ProximityListener
Landmark and LandmarkStore

Includes the following new features

Landmark Exchange Formats

Geocoding
Map User Interfaces
Navigation

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Criteria and LocationProvider

Eliminates ambiguity when Criteria includes conflicting
requirements
Different devices may choose different positioning systems

Criteria object now includes priorities, from 1 to N (lowest

number, highest priority)
An array of prioritized location method constants defined in the
Location object can be used to specify the desired fallback
order of positioning technologies to be used by the
LocationProvider
A tracking application may wish to use GPS, and if GPS is not
available use cell signal-based positioning, and if cell signal-based
positioning is not available use Cell ID, and so forth

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Criteria and LocationProvider

int[] preferredLocationMethods = new int[3];
//First preference of positioning technology
preferredLocationMethods[0] = MTE_SATELLITE;
//Second preference
preferredLocationMethods[1] = MTE_TIMEDIFFERENCE;
//Third preference
preferredLocationMethods[2] = MTE_CELLID;
//Get the LocationProvider for preferred location technologies
LocationProvider lp =
LocationProvider.getInstance(preferredLocationMethods, parameters);

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ProximityListener
Proximity detection has been greatly enhanced in version 2.0
An interval and timeout value can be defined by the application
when the ProximityEnterAndExitListener, which has replaced
the ProximityListener of version 1.0, is registered
Now, a new locationUpdated() method is called at a particular
interval, so that the application can tell how frequently the device is
checking proximity to the registered location

The specification now supports the detection of departure from

a specific area
The new specification allows the registration of different types of
geographic areas, including circular, rectangle, and polygon
geographic areas

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Copyright Dr. Miguel A. Labrador

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