Location Based Services

A location-based service (LBS) in a cellular telephone network is a service provided to the subscriber based on his current geographic location. This position can be known by user entry or a GPS receiver that he carries with him, but most often the term implies the use of a radiolocation function built into the cell network or handset that uses triangulation between the known geographic coordinates of the base station through which the communication takes place. One implication is that knowledge of the coordinates is owned and controlled by the network operator, and not by the end user himself.
The foundation stone of Location Based Services was laid by the Federal Communications Commission of US ruling which required the network operators to provide emergency services by locating the user of the mobile device within 125 meters. These services were launched in the late 1990s and the development in this area seems to be driven more by technical ability than by user need. In the coming days the fruits of Location Based Services are going to be passed on both to the consumers and network operators.

Implementation of Location based Services

The successful implementation of the Location Based Services technology depends upon its ability to meet the position accuracy requirements determined by the respective service, at the lowest possible cost and with minimal impact on network and the equipment. The obvious technology needed in providing Location Based Services is getting to know the location or the position, the geographic data of that location and an application to process the position information along with the geographic data to provide Location Based Service. So we could consider the ingredients needed for Location Based Services as

• Location or positioning
• Geographic data
• Control Center
• Communication System

Applications of Location based Services

The extent to which LBS may revolutionize our day to day life is yet to be ascertained. With the launch of UMTS enabled Location Based Services the affects of LBS are becoming universal. So whether it may be selecting a restaurant for lunch or finding help in emergency situations Location Based Services seem to enforce its importance on our daily life. Some of the fields where network operators are moving in are:

• The ability to pinpoint location is going to revolutionize customer billing in the wireless industry as network operators move from flat-rate billing to location-sensitive billing models. For an example, a family could receive better rates for residential location.
• Fleet management is going be smooth sailing with LBS enabled location systems in place.
• Roadside assistance and driving directions will become more prevalent with the availability of improved location service.
• You can find the location of a near by gas station, restaurant or even a shopping mall if u have need to find any.
• On the leisure and sports sector, golfers would tag their ball with a satellite transmitter before and after each shot. The location data would be shot to a satellite and tracked. When users go back to their home they would be able to track their performance on a Web site, complete with maps of fairways marked with the flight of their ball.
• The use of Location Based Services for crime control can offer tremendous benefits for the safety of an area and its population.

These are some of the fields which are being considered while a deep ocean of other option awaits exploration and implementation. In an effort to encourage the development of these new and effective LBS services at the CTIA Wireless industry trade show the winners of this year’s “Navteq Global LBS Challenge” were announced. Out of a field of some 180 companies 6 innovative applications were singled out for excellence and recognized as winning apps, meeting the criteria of superior usability and utility. The various categories were

• Personal Security
• Find-me Application
• Navigation/POI/Address lookup
• Commercial Advertising & Billing
• Gaming & Location-based imaging
• Tracking

UMTS and Location based Services

With smashing success in Europe and Scandinavian countries it is a known fact that mobile communications industry today is truly a mass market. In such advanced markets quality-of-service, in addition to attractive services, is an ideal tool for market segmentation, hence to penetrate the market even further .Consequently, a 3G system like UMTS must offer well defined LBS services that guarantee to the customer satisfaction and advanced functionality. In the wireless Information Society, there exist a strong user need for customized mobile services, and a technology requirement of ways to enable and deliver customized map supported mobile services. Here UMTS comes and fits into the jigsaw puzzle. In the light of a survey conducted by Integrated Data Communications, Inc. (IDC), two-thirds of Americans want wireless location-based services, with safety and security issues (emergency call, roadside assistance, and driving directions) as the primary reasons for wanting location-based services. Respondents to the survey on Location Based Services are said to be even willing to pay a premium to have location capabilities in their handsets or receive advertising on their handsets to reduce or eliminate telematics service charges. UMTS is expected to offer a powerful environment for location based multimedia services. Personalized applications and ubiquitous access to location-based services are the driving user expectations to imaginative heights. The consumers will use all those services that are of any use to their life, and thus help the service provider to increase his ARPU.

Conclusion

Innovative services that exploit location based technology are growing rapidly worldwide. LBS services have become a necessary adjunct to the UMTS networks to target the large number of users interested in Location Based Services. The LBS serve as a double edged sword by enhancing the customer’s mobile experience on one hand and increasing the networks income on the other hand.