A Win-win Game
Operators can implement cost-effective location based solutions to meet security guidelines and deploy commercial services to generate revenue
In the last one year, India has witnessed a series of blasts—on November 30, 2011 a powerful bomb blast in Imphal injured 3 people; another bomb blast at Jai Hospital in Agra on September 17, 2011 injured at least 15 people; on September 7, 2011 a powerful bomb placed in a briefcase outside the Delhi High Court killed 15 people and injured over 80 people; and on July 13, 2011 terror struck Mumbai when 3 bomb blasts rocked diamond and jewelery-trading districts in Mumbai, leaving 26 people dead and injuring 131 people. In majority of these cases, the bombs were set off using mobile phones, so it’s all the more necessary to have the system of location-positioning of mobile phones in the country.
Inundation of Mobile Phones
The number of mobile phones have been increasing regularly; and presently the number of mobile phones is around 900 mn. This number is bound to increase further with the adoption of machine to machine (M2M) technologies and new innovations. The day is not far off when we will have more mobile phones than people in the country.
Location Determination Methods
On the technology side, things are also evolving. For example, one of the most important features is to use the wireless infrastructure of a mobile operator to identify the location of any mobile device. Governments across the world have been
using this technology for safeguarding their establishment both from internal as well as external threat. So, what is Location Based Services (LBS)?
The 3GPP standards organization has defined LBS architecture as a method for locating devices connected to a mobile network (2G, 3G, and 4G) in a systematic manner that enables users to enjoy an uniform service experience throughout the network. The architecture enables the deployment of multiple location determination methods for the support of location services.
In order to implement LBS, the Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India has come out with a new notification on May 31, 2011, which focused on the amendment of the Unified Access Service License (UASL) agreement for security-related concerns for expansion of telecom services in various zones of the country. The notification announced that mobile operators shall provide location details in the license service area as per the timeframe from the date of issue of this amendment and accuracy (see Table). The LBS should be a part of CDR in the form of longitude and latitude, besides the coordinate of cell sites, which is already one of the mandated fields of CDR. The accuracy of location varies with respect to urban, semi-urban & rural, and remote. Depending upon the location of the customer, the accuracy varies from 50 m to 500 m. Initially, the details will be provided for specified mobile numbers; but within 3 years, the location details shall be part of CDR for all mobile calls. All this will help in giving a big boost to security forces, as they can now narrow their area of uncertainty, which will give a big boost to the internal security system in the country.
Technologies Galore
Technologies used by the operators for LBS include Cell ID, enhanced cell ID, LMU, GPS, and A-GPS solutions. Cell ID is the simplest and most common form of location positioning and identifies which cell site or sector is currently serving the mobile device. The accuracy of cell ID location varies with the density of network cell sites deployment. Greater density yields greater accuracy. Enhanced cell ID helps in determining the mobile location based upon timing advanced and network measurement reports on a cell sector. LMU based location technology can be selectively implemented on a strategic basis in specific geographic areas to supplement performance. GPS and A-GPS solutions use measurements of GPS satellite signals to determine mobile locations. These solutions can be implemented only when mobile phones that are equipped with GPS hardware and software to perform key aspects of location positioning.
There are number of network based location positioning techniques, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Even in terms of cost they vary a lot, as some of them are hardware based, software based, or a mix of hardware and software. It is said that no single technique is perfect and can provide consistent results for all environments, so one should opt for a mix-and-match approach for location technologies to get accurate results.
Hardware based solution can provide high accuracy, but it can lead to a considerable cost for a large country like India, as one has to install LMU on each BTS. This is also a logistic nightmare, as it is not possible to do a large rollout that is impractical and unaffordable. So, the country should opt for a software based solution, which is easy to deploy and is cheap.
Multiple Players
In India, there are 4 players that are active on the LBS front—creativity Software, Commscope, Ericsson, and Polaris Software. While Creativity Software uses predictive matching, Polaris Wireless opts for RF pattern matching, Ericsson uses fingerprinting, whereas Commscope uses multiple technologies.
Creativity Software: It utilizes predictive matching (patent pending) technology called Accuracy+ and supports 3G PP and 3G PP2 standards like GSM, 3G, and CDMA. The solution will support LTE in the future. LBS is a multi-vendor solution, which provides high accuracy and a low total cost of ownership. Speaking about the solution, Denis Maurin, CTO, Creativity Software says, “The solution developed is purely software based and encompasses the 3 layers necessary for a complete solution: The infrastructure layer where the location is calculated based on signal levels or timing information; middleware layer for connection with different mobile network entities; and an application layer covering both commercial and security applications.”
Polaris Wireless: Its core technology is based on RF Pattern Matching (RFPM) and is a software based wireless location solution for operators, government agencies, and application providers. Currently, the solution supports 2G GSM and 3G UMTS air interfaces for control plane and user plane implementations using standard interfaces. For 4G LTE, the solution supports both user and control planes. Commenting on the solution, Manlio Allegra, CEO & co-founder, Polaris Wireless says, “It is deployed on a standard computer server (in-network or hosted) and requires no hardware additions to the base stations.”
Ericsson Technology: It supports GSM, WCDMA, and LTE and comply with 3GPP and OMA specifications. Using advanced solution one gets 50-m accuracy, however there is a dependency on the site-to-site distance. The solution is primarily software based wherein fingerprints are collected in terms of radio and other parameters and stored, which is later on compared. Emphasizing on the solution, Vinish Kathuria, head, consumer & business applications, Ericsson India says, “The company provides an end-to-end solution that includes LBS infrastructure, location middleware, and location based applications.”
Commscope: It offers a wide range of location based solutions: Cell ID, enhanced cell ID, round-trip timing, assisted GPS, hybrid technologies (mix of RTT and A-GPS), mobile location by dynamic clustering (a form of RF pattern matching), indoor location proximity detection (ILPD), mobile range estimation (MREL), total flight time ratio pattern matching (TFTRPM), and uplink time difference of arrival (U-TDOA). Commenting on the solution, Conrad Labonte, director, business development, network solutions, wireless, APAC, Commscope says, “Primarily, the solution is a mix of hardware and software that varies from technology to technology and supports GSM/UMTS (2G and 3G) and are capable of working in a CDMA environment. The locations based solution offerings of Commscope supports LTE with ECID, A-GPS, and OTDOA.”
LBS Trials in India
Most of the operators have either undertaken pilots or undergoing pilots in respective cities in different circles. Some of them have gone for limited trials to understand what would be the desired result.
Creativity Software has completed 2 pilots—one for a major operator and second for a new entrant. The different regions covered during the pilot include South Mumbai, Andheri, Panvel, Pune, and Ludhiana with different terrains, including urban, sub-urban, and rural environment. In all cases, the Creativity Soft- ware results conform to the DOT mandate till 2014 in terms of accuracy requirement. Commenting on the technology, Maurin says, “Although challenging, the DOT mandate is achievable; and we look forward to working with all Indian mobile operators to implement the solution that we have demonstrated as being compliant.”
Polaris Wireless has tested its technology through blind trials in Bengaluru environment of which over 70% of calls where within 50 m and over 90% of calls where within 100 m (DOT mandate is 30% and 60%, respectively), proving that the company has best in class performance in urban environments. Their performance has not been impacted by the wireless device being indoors/outdoors. Recently, the company has tied up with Canvasm, a division of Tech Mahindra to explore location opportunities in India.
On the trial front, Kathuria says, “As our usual business practice, we are in talks with all operators and we have done some successful trials.” Commscope has conducted field trials in one of the geographies based on DOT guidelines and is also currently in process of conducting a major trial in India. The results of the trials were mapped with one of the cities in India that were very optimistic.
Labonte says, “It is very clear that the current requirements from DOT can be met technically under certain conditions with the selection of the best technology as per the topography. Since the measurements are done over radio whose pattern changes from terrain to terrain, we have
to be very accurate in technology selection based on the terrain.”
Commenting on the LBS deployment cost Rajan S Mathews, DG, COAI says, “Based on the technical standards for accuracy levels as defined by the government, the scale of implementation, the execution of the project, and the complexities involved, there is no one solution at present that meets the DOT mandate and the costs to implement such a system have been estimated at approximately $5 bn.” “Location details as sought by DOT are not practically possible even if the requisite expenses are incurred,” he adds. In a private conversation all the vendors have agreed that LBS deployment cost per large operator would be in the range of $25-30 mn, which would significantly reduce the burden on the operators and the cost is a fraction of what COAI is thinking as it is based on software implementation and not hardware implementation. The pilots or trials demonstrated by the vendors in the specific circle have come to the conclusion that DOT specification is achievable, irrespective of the circle and the terrain.
The LBS technologies have been deployed in many countries, thereby giving enough confidence to the operators that such an accuracy requirement can be met. Creativity Software has successfully deployed national security solution in numerous countries and DOT requirements are broadly in line with what many countries have deployed. Polaris Wireless have deployed countrywide network in 14 networks inclusive of GSM and UMTS in regions of Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Ericsson has deployed LBS solution for 115+ operators and claims to have approximately 45% market share in LBS. Commsope has deployed the solution in the world’s most demanding markets: North America, Canada, and Middle East.
LBS Applications: For One and All
Apart from meeting the DOT specification, with respect to security-related concerns, LBS can also be used by the operators to launch location enabled applications, which would help both enterprise and
Apart from meeting the DOT specification, with respect to security-related concerns, LBS can also be used by the operators to launch location enabled applications, which would help both enterprises and consumers
consumers. Operators can also do a quick launch of commercial services, thereby generating ROI for the company. Following applications can be deployed in LBS: Family-friend finder, location based advertisement, fleet management, asset tracking, road traffic information, and public safety applications such as emergency calling, anti-crime, and anti-terrorism related initiatives.
The current deployments can support the internal security system and operators can plan social support services similar to the US E911 emergency services. With the kind of economical and social growth in India, people need emergency services and this can be of great help. Commenting about applications Allegra says, “Consumer applications are increasingly focused on combining location with social media in order to create a richer user experience. In the enterprise segment, companies are increasingly relying on location technology for machine to machine (M2M) applications such as fleet management and asset tracking or workforce management in the field.”
Speaking about applications Maurin says, “Some of the services readily available are: Mobile location advertising (advertise-wise), friend finder and social networking (buddy-wise), family and child finder (family-wise), fleet management (transport-wise), workforce man-
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agement (workforce wise), emergency finder (emergency-wise), and Zone billing (zone-wise).”
On applications Kathuria says, “Some applications on the enterprise side could be fleet management, sales force management, location based advertisement, and road traffic information. On the consumer side, the applications could be family finder, friend finder, and navigation.”
“Operators can deploy a plethora of services on LBS, which can be potential revenue generators for operators as the market grows. Voice is becoming a commodity and data and VAS will be the differentiators for customers over the time and will provide the competitive edge to the operators,” says Labonte. With the coming of applications, operators can earn a lot of revenue as voice revenues are on a decreasing trend and operators need to focus on VAS.
Futuristic Developments
The focus of any new technology in LBS is to improve accuracy and reduce cost. Vendors are continuing to enhance the algorithms, so that they can take advantage of new technologies like LTE, devising some new positioning methods. Vendors are also focusing on enhanced algorithms for pattern matching.
In addition to the continuous evolution and improvement of core technologies, Polaris Wireless is working to introduce vertical or ‘z’ axis location into their offerings, as this is gaining importance for both public safety and commercial location based applications. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in its 2010 Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry, has stated that vertical-axis location information could greatly enhance accuracy and have a particular benefit in buildings in terms of identifying the floor where the emergency caller is located. All this will definitely help in better accuracy in time to come, so that one can catch hold of terrorists and also use the technology for their own benefit.