🦑10 ways smartphones can get your location
1. The GPS
Global positioning system was developed by the US Department of Defense and first appeared in mobile phones in the 1990s. It is still The most well-known method for outdoor positioning. GPS sends location and time data directly to the user's mobile phone via satellite. If the mobile phone can obtain the signals of three satellites, it can display the user's position on the flat map, and if it is four satellites, it can also display your altitude.
Other countries have also developed systems similar to GPS, but they do not conflict with GPS. In fact, these systems can make outdoor positioning easier. Russia's GLONASS has been put into use, and China's Compass is also in the trial phase. Galileo in Europe and Quasi-Zenith satellite systems in Japan are also under development. Mobile phone chip manufacturers are developing processors that can use multiple satellites to obtain positioning information faster.
2. Assisted GPS technology
Although GPS works well, it may take a long time, and you will not be able to accurately locate when you are indoors or in buildings that reflect satellite signals. AssistedGPS is a combination of tools to help solve this problem. One of the reasons for the longer GPS waiting time is that when a satellite is found, the mobile phone needs to download the satellite's position information in the next four hours to track the satellite.
After the information reaches the mobile phone, the complete GPS service will be activated. Operators can now send these data via cellular or wireless networks, which is much faster than satellite links. Positioning technology company RXNetworks CEO Guylain Roy-Mac Habee said that this can help shorten the GPS startup time from 45 seconds to 15 seconds or less, which is currently unpredictable.
3. Synthetic GPS The
The above-mentioned assisted GPS technology still needs an available data network and time to transmit satellite information. Synthetic GPS uses computing power to predict satellite positioning days or weeks in advance. Through the cached satellite data, Want Want Mobile can identify the satellite position within two seconds.
4. Cell ID
However, the aforementioned GPS acceleration technology still needs to find three satellites to locate. Operators already know how to locate mobile phones without GPS. Operators use a technology called CellID to determine the Cell base station users are using and the distance between them and neighboring base stations. After determining the base station that the mobile phone is using, using the base station identification number and location database, the operator can know the location of the mobile phone. This technology is more suitable for urban areas with wide coverage of base stations.
5.Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi and CellID positioning technology are somewhat similar, but more accurate, because Wi-Fi access points cover a smaller area. There are actually two ways to determine the location through Wi-Fi. The most common method is RSSI (Signal Strength Indication), which uses the signal detected by the user’s mobile phone from a nearby access point and reflects it to the Wi-Fi network database. The signal strength is used to determine the distance, and the RSSI uses the distance of the known access point to determine the user distance.
6. The inertial sensor
If you are in a place where there is no Wi-Fi, inertial sensors can still track your location. Most smartphones currently have three inertial sensors: a compass (or magnetometer) to determine the direction; an accelerometer to report your speed in that direction; and a gyroscope to determine the steering action. These sensors can determine your location without external data, but only for a limited time, such as a few minutes.
The classic example is when driving into a tunnel: if your mobile phone knows where you are before entering the tunnel, it can judge your location based on your speed and direction. These tools are usually combined with other positioning systems.
7. Barometer
On the sidewalk or street outdoor navigation is either straight, either turn left or turn right. But for indoors, GPS is difficult to make correct positioning. One of the methods to determine altitude is the barometer, which uses the principle that the higher the altitude, the thinner the air.
Some smartphones already have a chip that can detect air pressure. However, to use the air pressure function, the phone needs to download local weather data as a reference number for measuring air pressure, and the air conditioning flow in the building will also affect the accuracy of the sensor. The barometer is best used in combination with other tools, such as GPS, Wi-Fi, and short-range systems.
8. The Ultrasonic
Sometimes detect whether a person enters a certain area can explain what they are doing. This can be achieved by short-range wireless systems, such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). NFC (Near Field Communication) began to appear in mobile phones and can be used for checkpoints, but the main purpose of manufacturers installing NFC is to pay.
Shopkick, a customer loyalty company, has begun to use a short-distance system to determine whether a customer walks into a store. Instead of using radio frequency, Shopkick uses an ultrasonic device inside the store door. If the customer is running the Shopkick application, when they enter the store door, the application will tell Shopkick. After a shopper enters the store, the phone will immediately show that they can earn points, redeem gift cards and other prizes.
9. Bluetooth signal
Using a beacon signal sent by the Bluetooth in a particular region (e.g. at a retail store) can achieve very precise positioning. These beacons, which are smaller than mobile phones, are placed every few meters and can communicate with all mobile devices equipped with Bluetooth 4.0 (the latest version).
Broadcom's Abraham said that venue owners can use signals from a dense network of transmitters to determine the location of the space. For example, a store can determine that a customer is close to a specific product on a shelf and offer discounts.
10. Ground Transmitter
Australian startup Locata is trying to GPS brought to the surface to overcome the limitations of GPS. The company made a positioning transmitter with the same principles as GPS, but installed on buildings and base station towers. Because this kind of transmitter is fixed and provides a stronger signal than satellites, Locata can provide very accurate positioning. The company’s CEO Nunzio Gambale said that the Locata network is also more reliable than GPS.
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