Drawing on the authors' more than six years of R&D in location-based information systems (LBIS) as well as their participation in defining the Java ME Location API 2.0, Location-Based Information Systems: Developing Real-Time Tracking Applications provides information and examples for creating real-time LBIS based on GPS-enabled cellular phones

Advances in electronic location technology and the coming of age of mobile computing have opened the door for location-aware applications to permeate all aspects of everyday life. Location is at the core of a large number of high-value applications ranging from the life-and-death context of emergency response to serendipitous social meet-ups. For example, the market for GPS products and services alone is expected to grow to US$200 billion by 2015. Unfortunately, there is no single location technology that is good for every situation and exhibits high accuracy, low cost, and universal coverage. In fact, high accuracy and good coverage seldom coexist, and when they do, it comes at an extreme cost. Instead, the modern localization landscape is a kaleidoscope of location systems based on a multitude of different technologies including satellite, mobile telephony, 802.11, ultrasound, and infrared among others. This lecture introduces researchers and developers to the most popular technologies and systems for location estimation and the challenges and opportunities that accompany their use. For each technology, we discuss the history of its development, the various systems that are based on it, and their trade-offs and their effects on cost and performance. We also describe technology-independent algorithms that are commonly used to smooth streams of location estimates and improve the accuracy of object tracking. Finally, we provide an overview of the wide variety of application domains where location plays a key role, and discuss opportunities and new technologies on the horizon. Table of Contents: Introduction / The Global Positioning System / Infrared and Ultrasonic Systems / Location Esimation with 802.11 / Cellular-Based Systems / Other Approaches / Improving Localization Accuracy / Location-Based Applications and Services / Challenges and Opportunities / References

Introduces researchers and developers to the most popular technologies and systems for location estimation and the challenges and opportunities that accompany their use. For each technology, the authors discuss the history of its development, the various systems that are based on it, and their trade-offs and their effects on cost and performance.

Location-based services (LBS) are a new concept integrating a user's geographic location with the general notion of services, such as dialing an emergency number from a cell phone or using a navigation system in a car. Incorporating both mobile communication and spatial data, these applications represent a novel challenge both conceptually and technically. The purpose of this book is to describe, in an accessible fashion, the various concepts underlying mobile location-based services. These range from general application-related ideas to technical aspects. Each chapter starts with a high level of abstraction and drills down to the technical details. Contributors examine each application from all necessary perspectives, namely, requirements, services, data, and scalability. An illustrative example begins early in the book and runs throughout, serving as a reference.· This book defines the LBS field and identifies its capabilities, challenges, and technologies.· The contributors are recognized experts from academia and industry.· Coverage includes navigation systems, middleware, interoperability, standards, and mobile communications.· A sample application, the "find-friend" application, is used throughout the book to integrate the concepts discussed in each chapter.

Local Positioning Systems: LBS Applications and Services explores the possible approaches and technologies to location problems including people and asset tracking, mobile resource management, public safety, and handset location-based services. The book examines several indoor positioning systems, providing detailed case studies of existing applications and their requirements, and shows how to set them up. Other chapters are dedicated to position computation algorithms using different signal metrics and determination methods, 2D/3D indoor map data and location models, indoor navigation, system components and how they work, privacy, deployment issues, and standards. In detail, the book explains the steps for deploying a location-enabled network, including doing a site-survey, creating a positioning model and floor maps, and access point placement and configuration. Also presented is a classification for network-based and ad-hoc positioning systems, and a framework for developing indoor LBS services. This comprehensive guide will be invaluable to students and lecturers in the area of wireless computing. It will also be an enabling resource to developers and researchers seeking to expand their knowledge in this field.

Describes the relevant detection and estimation theory, sets out key design challenges and examines practical design trade-offs and experimental results.