Talk:Location-based service

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[edit] The following text was formerly at Location Based Services

Location Based Services (LBS) are client-server applications that provide location-specific data to mobile devices.

The most basic of these is used in mobile phones, which can prefix the local area code to phone numbers. A similar local mapping of "0", "911", "411" and other location-independent numbers, is also a Location Based Service.

A GPS locator does not provide a LBS, because the broadcast data doesn't change based on the user's location.

The introduction of LBS into the mobile consumer arena took hold during the Internet boom. If the user location is known, web applications can tailor services appropriately.

The first platform to offer this possibility to developers was the Palm VII, released in 1999. The Mobitex network provided the wireless PDA's current zipcode to the application web server. The first two LBS applications came in the box with the Palm VII -- Weather.com, and the Etak/Metrotraffic application known as TrafficTouch. Both provided geo-contextualized data without user intervention.

[edit] Discuss

I want to ask to everyone that read this article: is there LBS that used in wi-fi or wimax?? this LBS not uses a GPS/satellite, but the proses is done in the router. is that possible?? hope there is some one help me.. please contact : labuffer_pra@yahoo.com thank you.

Follow up on Discuss, there is more on LBS, Intel is heavily researching this field and other universities are already working on some projects, most of them not limited to mobile phones. More work should be done on this subject to fully explain it. Also please check the External Links and the validity of the out side sources or projects.

There are now products from the major players in the Indoor Wireless Network space WiFi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiFi) like Cisco, Aruba Networks, Symbol, PanGo Networks, AeroScout, Ekahau, NewBerry, etc. which enhance the functionality of the WiFi access point to allow "location". The Access point is the fixed component of a WiFi network that is wired to the campus LAN. In a typical WiFi location application, the signal strength (RSSI) of the WiFI client device (such as a laptop, or handheld computer) is collected and compared between all of of the Access points that can detect the signal of the client, using triangulation software similar to the way a GPS functions. Today, accuracy of RSSI-based indoor WiFi location is between 6 and 12 meters depending on the building layout, and specific vendor implementations. Many of the WiFi location software vendors also manufacture their own proprietary "beacon" tag which is basically a small battery operated WiFi transmitter that you can attach to something that you wish to track. This tag transmits every so often and a graphical display shows you where the asset is currently located. Most WiFi beacon tags are RFID class 4 active tags. Some just transmit layer 2 packets at pre-programmed intervals, others are actual WiFI clients with an IP address and can respond to events, support external sensors (temperature, contact closure, push button, telemetry data, etc). The software packages that collect and display the location information gathered from the WiFi access points is getting more sophisticated each year; currently allowing asset tracking, sorting, inventory, and support complex rules engines that can generate alerts based on asset movement, proximity, battery level, and other characteristics. Kb4ffe 19:20, 4 January 2007 (UTC)