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Chapter 7a: Location

Based Services
(LBS)

SKR4307: Mobile
Application
Sem. I 2022/2023
1. Mobile Services

• Past
 Most of this income is coming
from SMS
• Later
 MMS, IM, email and Mobile
Internet (WAP Protocol)
• Now
 Tracing user & applications – LBS
• “WHILE THE FIRST LOCATION-BASED SERVICES (LBS) APPEARED IN THE
EARLY 1990S (E.G., ACTIVEBADGE), LBS BECAME A FAST-DEVELOPING
RESEARCH FIELD ONLY IN THE EARLY 2000S, MAINLY DUE TO THE
DISCONTINUATION OF THE SELECTIVE AVAILABILITY OF GLOBAL
POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) BY THE U.S.”
https://doi.org/10.1080/17489725.2018.1508763
2. What is LBS?
• “IT services for providing information that has been created,
compiled, selected, or filtered taking into consideration the current
locations of the users or those of other persons or mobile objects”
 Kupper A. (2005) Location-Based Services: Fundamentals and Operation
Wiley

• “LBS are information services accessible with mobile devices

through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of
the location of the mobile device.”
 Steiniger S, Neun M and Edwardes A (2006) Foundations of Location Based
Services Lesson 1 CartouCHe1 - Lecture Notes on LBS, V. 1.0 2
… cont.

• Primarily function in positioning and

navigation – helping multiple applications
connect with users on a real-time basis.
 LBS – be accessed through smart devices with a
geographical positioning feature serving in diverse
ways.
 Not just about maps and travel;
• Help with security and safety when crime and
natural disasters strike.
2.1 Navigation
System
Architecture
2.2 Uses of LBS

• Store locators – quickly find the nearest store location (retail customer).
• Proximity-based marketing – companies can push ads only to
individuals within the same geographic location.
 Delivers ads to potential customers within that city who might act on the
information.
• Travel information – deliver real-time information, e.g., traffic updates
and weather reports (user can plan accordingly)
• Roadside assistance – track exact location in the event of a blown tire or
vehicle accident.
... cont. – uses of LBS

• Mobile workforce management – to check in at a location using their

mobile device.
 E.g., logistics-dependent companies that employ individuals out in the field or
at multiple locations.

• Fraud prevention – matching a customer's location through a

smartphone to a credit card transaction.
 Tying the smartphone's location to a credit card allows you to flag transactions
made across several geographic locations over a short time.
The implementation of LBS requires the specification of each component along with a
close consideration of the existing infrastructure and other requirements for a specific
use case.

1
2 3. LBS
Components

Source: Falkowski et al., 2018

Toward a design approach for industrial indoor location-based services (i²lbs)
1. Localization:
 Positioning technology (e.g. GPS satellites) or a combination of multiple
positioning technologies and a reference system, which maps the input
signal to a formalized position.
 E.g., reference systems include 2D-maps (e.g. building plan), 3D-maps
(e.g. virtual model of a shop floor) or a database (e.g. list of available
conference rooms).
2. Service provision:
 Achieved by an IT service, i.e. a software application along with all the
data required for the service.
3. Communication:
 Adequate communication network (e.g. LTE or WiFi) and a user interface
(e.g. smart phone or computer).
4. LBS Types
4.1 Maps and
Navigation

• Methods of locating
devices
 Cell ID (Cell-of-Origin)
 Global Positioning System
(GPS)
 Wi-Fi
 Bluetooth
4.2 Tracking Services
• Provided through GPS via satellite
• Ground stations is undeniably the most empowering development the
general populace can access to way find and navigate.
• Common benefits:
 Customer service commitment
 Accounting for expenses
 Increased customer confidence
 Improved bottom line
…
4.3 Information Services

• Integrated to gather, store and process

information and convert it for knowledge-
oriented information – improve societal and
organizational efficiency.
• E.g.,
 Transaction Process Service (TPS)
 Office And Office Automation
 Enterprise Collaboration Service (ECS)
 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
 Expert Service
 …
4.4 Application
• Integrate LBS services through
apps for better productivity and to
easily track movement and reach of
services.
 Google Maps – Navigation and
wayfinding
 TripAdvisor – Travel
 Uber/Grab – Transportation
 Instagram – Social networking app-
enabled with a chat feature
 Pokemon Go – Augmented Reality
(AR) game
 Foursquare – Local search and
discovery
 5. LBS Platform
Architecture

Source:
Multi-level High Precision LBS Architecture Based on GNSS CORS Network, A Case Study of HNCORS
5.1 How LBS
Works?

• Satellites provide the LBS

 GPS (NAVSTAR) – US
 Galileo – EU
 GLONASS – Soviet Union
5.2 Satellite-based Positioning

• Cover huge geographical areas.

• Standalone infrastructure and terminal-based
• Advantages
 High accuracy
 World-wide coverage
• Disadvantages
 Positioning requires line-of-sight between
satellite and receiver
 High power consumption at the receiver
 High operation costs
5.3 GPS-based
Localization
• Widely publicized location-sensing
system
• Provides alteration framework for
determining geographic positions
• Established as NAVSTAR
 Only fully operational global navigation
satellite system (GNSS)
 Consists of at least 24 satellites orbiting at
approx. 11,000 miles
 Started in 1973, fully operational in 1995
… cont. – GPS-based localization

• Two levels of service:

 Standard Positioning Service (SPS)
• Available to all users, no restrictions or direct charge
• High-quality receivers have accuracies of 3m and better horizontally

 Precise Positioning Service (PPS)

• Used by US and Allied military users
• Uses two signals to reduce transmission errors
5.4 Network Based (e.g., GSM/Cellular)
• Focuses on positioning services within the coverage area of a cellular
network.
• Advantages
 Good yield (in most cases even indoors).
 Some positioning methods require either no or only minor modifications at mobile
devices (firmware upgrade).
• Disadvantages
 High signalling overhead.
 Moderate accuracy.
• E.g., Cell-Id, Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD), Assisted
GPS (A-GPS).
5.5 Indoor Positioning (e.g., WLAN)
• Deployment in buildings, university
campuses, and company premises
• Stand-alone and integrated infrastructures
(e.g., RFID vs. WLAN)
• Advantages
 Low power consumption
 High accuracy
• Disadvantages
 Proprietary systems, i.e., no standardization
• E.g., WLAN positioning Ultrasound
positioning, RFID positioning
6. LBS – Communication Model

• Positioning Layer –
Responsible for calculating
positions of device or user.
• Application Layer – Offer the
services requested by
applications.
• Middleware Layer – Reduce
the complexity of service
integration.
6.1 LBS Platform Consideration

i. Data Capture & Collection

 Digital Maps
 Point of interest (POI) information
 Dynamic Data

ii. Point of Interest Information (POI)

 Concierge application use business and landmark info
 POI Data collected from multiple vendors merge into single DB
 Each record in POI DB is geo coded
… cont.

iii. Dynamic data

 Capabilities server LBS engines
because they allow dispatches to
react almost instantaneously to
changing conditions

iv. Location Engine

 Geo coding & reverse geo coding
 Routing
 Proximity searches
Source: Ardagna et al., 2020
6.2 Emerging Interface Technologies – LBS

• Smartphones are not the only mobile client in LBS.

• Mobile and wearable devices are introduced for LBS applications
 Smartwatches (Wenig et al. 2017)
 Digital glasses (e.g. Google Glasses and Epson Moverio BT-200) (Rehman
and Cao 2017)
 Mobile projectors (e.g. smartphones with in-built projector) (Wolf et al. 2016)
 Head-mounted displays (HMDs)
 Haptic devices (Pielot et al. 2011)
 Public displays (Coenen, Wouters, and Moere 2016)
6.3 LBS – Providers and Users
• Providers
 Network / Infrastructure
• GPS, GIS, RFID, WLAN, Celcom, TM, Broadband, Fibre optic

 Device providers
• SAMSUNG, HTC, OPPO, APPLE, …
• Technologies (GPS, International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), International
Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), Unique Device Identifier (UDID), Identifier for
Advertisers (IFA).

 Third-Party providers
6.4 Users – Customers and Businesses
• As a business want to be able to:
 Provide Real-time information
 Consumers Share Experiences
 Publicize Business Location
 Offer Customer Rewards
 Monitor Customer Comments
• As a Customer want to:
 Be alerted of local deals
 Receive discounts and coupons
 Locate local businesses / Services
 Track our children
 Find places of interest
6.5 Deploying LBS Challenging

• Things that are slowing it

down
• Aspects to work on:
 Control (Legal)
 Security (Technological)
 Trust (Social)
 Privacy (Ethical) *
6.5.1 Deploying LBS challenging
• Control (Legal)

• Commonly GPS and other LBS devices are used to control and offer various types of
services to the user.

• Personally, it controls one’s own direction of moving in guiding the right way. In case
of child tracking, parents have exclusive right to look after their children, as it is not
possible for the young ones to make their own decision.

• So, it is their legal right to monitor their children thereby reflecting a sense of caring.

• In case of law enforcement, special laws provide legal rights to police or security
departments to keep an eye on criminals or suspects.
6.5.2 Deploying LBS challenging
• Trust (Social)

• In social life trust is the most essential part in human relationship.

• However, the use of LBS is being practiced in low trust conditions.

• Monitoring someone with the help of tracking system really affects personal
relationship but as far as tracking criminals by cops or tracking children by
parents are concerned, it is for the welfare of the individual & society.
6.5.3 Deploying LBS challenging
• Privacy (Ethical)

• As a human being, everyone has the right to privacy or being free from intrusion or
disturbances in one’s personal life.
• But in case of LBS or any other telecommunication technologies dealing with
transformation of various kinds of information, it becomes essential to provide
adequate security to these kinds of data for not being misused by any unauthorized
person.
• Tracking and monitoring someone without his/her consent is purely unethical so
needs high level of security.
• But again as in case of law and order where tracking devices are used to monitor
criminals becomes essential for the sake of society as a whole. Here, social security
is counted higher than Individual safety and security.
6.5.4 Deploying LBS challenging
• Security (Technological)

• To maintain privacy, security system should be strong.

• Every technology has both positive and negative impact on human life and LBS also has
shortcomings by locating accurate information data or even easily given access to
unauthorized person.

• On one hand LBS enhances both national and personal security but create another problem
for the privacy of individual by not providing a foolproof security system to that highly
sensitive information stored in its database.

• For obtaining security, one needs to do a little compromise on his/her privacy but to what
extent is a question.
6.6 Privacy in LBS
• Why privacy is a concern with LBS?
• Identification requirements of LBS
 Anonymous LBSs
 Identity-driven LBSs
 Pseudonym-driven LBSs

• Solutions
 Anonymization
 Cryptographic Techniques
 Transformation of Location request data
6.7 LBS positioning evaluation

• Basic location techniques

 Cell of Origin (COO): This technique is used if the positioning system has a
cellular structure.
 Time of Arrival (TOA): Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA).
 Angle of Arrival (AOA): If we use antennas with direction characteristics.
6.8 Technical Challenges
• Maintaining battery performance
• Varying accuracy
• Multiple providers (GPS , WIFI etc)
• Continuous change
• Responsiveness
7. Obstacles in LBS
Adoption
• Privacy concerns.
• Security concerns
• Two-thirds of advertising
companies aren’t using LBS
(2011 data).
• Being solved – mobile apps
• General awareness is only
around 30%.
• Device user experience
 7.1 The ‘Key
Research
Challenges’
Seven (7) broad areas:
 Positioning
 Modelling
 Communication
 Evaluation
 Applications
 Analysis of LBS-generated
data
 Social and behavioral
implications of LBS.

https://doi.org/10.1080/17489725.2018.1508763
References
1. https://www.slideshare.net/RohanaAmarakoon/location-based-servic
es-in-telecommunication-networks?qid=766ee776-cbc5-4731-8d34-
9a9c25d3ff35&v=&b=&from_search=2
2. https://www3.nd.edu/~cpoellab/teaching/cse40815/Chapter10.pdf