Location Services
Geolocation is the use of network attributes to identify (or estimate) the physical position of a device.
- A mobile device operates a location service to determine its current position
- can make use of two systems:
- Global Positioning System (GPS)
- means of determining the device’s latitude and longitude based on information received from orbital satellites via a GPS sensor
- not all mobile devices are fitted with GPS sensors
- can be slow
- most smartphones use Assisted GPS (A-GPS)
- obtain coordinates from the nearest cell tower and adjust for the device’s position relative to the tower
- uses cellular data
- most smartphones use Assisted GPS (A-GPS)
- GPS satellites are operated by the US government
- satellites are also operated by:
- the European Union (Galileo)
- Russia (GLONASS)
- or China (BeiDou)
- Indoor Positioning System (IPS)
- works out a device’s location by triangulating its proximity to other radio sources
- cellular radio towers, Wi-Fi access points, and Bluetooth/RFID beacons
- works out a device’s location by triangulating its proximity to other radio sources
- Global Positioning System (GPS)
- can make use of two systems:
- only available to an app where the user has granted specific permission to use it
- Some mobile devices are additionally fitted with a magnetometer sensor
- enables more accurate compass directions