Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

GPS Meets PCS

Posted by timothy on from the big-brother-on-call-waiting-can-you-hold dept.

The Donald writes: "According to an article at News.com, Sprint PCS will be starting to implement E911 calls in Rhode Island sometime in October. The FCC required that all cell phone providers have an improved E911 system in place by October first. This is the first step in making the E911 a reality, with Sprint being the first major company to actually put a phone on the market that will work with E911; instead of just filing papers with the FCC saying the implementation is just to hard. The Samsung N300 phone will use GPS to track the people down. I like the idea, I just hope the phone will display the GPS information, and there is a way to opt-out for all of the location based advertisements you will get with your GPS enabled phone."

10 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. Re:GPS and Cell phones? by grammar+nazi · · Score: 4, Interesting
    My question is who will issue the speeding tickets? Will the phone company call you and say, "Your cel phone GPS recorded that you are presently driving 90 in a 55. We have alerted the local law enforcement of your violation." or will the police station handle the phonecall once they have been notfied?

    Perhaps the new Verizon/Disney/AOL/U.S.Justice.Dept will handle the entire issue by adding the fine to your monthly bill!

    --

    Keeping /. free of grammatical errors for ~5 years.
  2. Idea after being mugged last year... by Geek+Dash+Boy · · Score: 4, Interesting
    After getting mugged last year, I wrote down an idea for installing panic buttons in my blog.

    I was 1.5 blocks from my apartment in Brooklyn when the guy grabbed my left arm and pressed a knife into my ribs.

    As I reached into my right back pocket to get my wallet, my arm was pressing against my phone (Sprint PCS). It would have been very easy to activate some sort of panic button.

    He only took about $60, but what if I were getting the shit kicked out of me, or raped, or whatever...

    --
    I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
  3. Why not cell triangulation? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    GPS relies on direct line-of-site to at least three GPS satellites. With many mobile calls eminating from inside a building, line-of-site to satellites will be obstructed and phones will not be able to properly report location.

    A more reliable solution should include triangulation from cell phone towers, and then a 'lookup' to provide Global Position coordinates.

  4. Re:only for 911?? by Twiki · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Symbol Technologies has a device called a MG+ (see link below) that is designed for mobile data access and tracking of vehicles, specifically some type of company fleet. It's basically a RIM modem (aka BlackBerry) with an optional GPS attached.

    The company I work for develops custom Proof of Delivery applications for use with these devices, and having been out with some of the drivers I know the majority of them use cell/radio phones to communicate with their home base. If a normal cell phone had basic GPS functionality in it, we could probably save our clients a decent amount of money.

    All we need now is a cell phone with a RIM modem and a GPS. That'd be perfect.

    MG+ Link - http://www.symbol.com/products/mobile_computers/mo bile_stationaryvmt_gateway_p.html

    --
    mySig
  5. Can't wait... by gibbonboy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I work at a 911 center, and all advertising concerns aside, I can't wait for this to happen. Most cell-911 callers have absolutely no idea (plus or minus 20 miles) where they are; some don't even know what state they're in! It may help to convince some people to activate the keypad lock on their phones (no "rump dialling"), if they know they can be located. The phone companies just see this as a profit-eater, and want to use every means necessary to delay its implementation.

    --
    "Never pet a burning dog."
  6. Does PCS *need* GPS for positional data? by Shanep · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In Australia, with GSM, you call 000 or the international GSM emergency number (I forgot it), and it will automatically call the Fire/Ambo/Police number through your network provider (Telstra, Optus, Vodaphone or a reseller), if you have no signal to your own provider it will allow usage of any provider you have signal with for your emergency call. Even without a SIM card inserted in the phone. This is a legal requirement and seems to be a feature built in to GSM itself.

    Due to the very precise time division multiplexing used with GSM, the distance you are from the base station you are currently subscribed can be gleaned down to a metre. If they can force your phone to switch to 2 other cells after an emergency call, they could probably pin point you without GPS. With the hidden Network menus in Motorolla StarTac GSM and Nokia phones, you can see how far you are from the base station in metres.

    --
    War crimes, torture, lies, illegal spying... Would someone give Bush a blowjob, already, so he can be impeached?
  7. Triangulating position by lsilvand · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Here in Finland they have been using the WGS84 system for triangulating your (the GSM phones) location when you call emergency services.
    You can also make use of it by sending a textmessage and in about 30 seconds time you'll get a message back giving your coordinates. No more getting lost in the woods!
    Here's a message I got back when getting my position at home:
    PARAINEN (town)
    Skräbböle (part of town)
    22.16'55'' E,
    60.17'11'' N

    No ICBM's please!

    Linus

  8. Re:I don't see why you need GPS at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It works good enough - no need to change it. And that 100/200 metres figure is only the worst case - it can be as low as 20 metres. Some GSM network in Sweden wanted to use this to send you (unasked) ads about the restaurants & shops that you will be passing in 2 minutes. To do that they didn't only wanted to know in what street you are, but also in which direction you walked, and how fast (no need to send a SMS message when you'rein a car). Luckily it was denied by a judge.

    If you're dying isnide you apartment, then you're GPS-enabled phone isn't going to work either - it doesn't work in buildings.

  9. GPS and location determination by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
    Having worked with wireless location determination and GPS for wireless, here are some additional pieces of information. I'm too lazy to login.


    There are several ways of doing location determination currently in wireless world. As stated in previous posts, cell-based location triangulation is already possible and readily used. There are several catches with cell based determination.

    1. some providers didn't bother entering the long/lat into the Mobile Switching Center(MSC), therefore third party E911 companies like SignalSoft have to do it on their end. The government already has access to all that data, so whether you like it or not, uncle sam(big brother) already can pinpoint your location to 1000' give or take a couple yards depending on where you are.


    2. Triangulation through MSC usually uses angle of arrival, time of arrival or arc of arrival. All these methods have a high degree of uncertainty due to interference and large structures. Alot of trials have been done with a combination of GPS and network determination. In European trials, the accuracy could get down to 10' for ideal conditions.


    In 1999, a new GPS chipset was created(sorry no links to it) which read bounced signals to improve accuracy down to a couple feet. Some companies have already thought about installing MCS in malls for the purpose of wireless advertising. There have been alot of debate about location services and there still isn't any standard. Some networks are ready for GPS deployment in the largest cities, so big brother can already locate you with a high degree accuracy. If you live in the country, GPS deployment probably won't be available for a while. On the otherhand, when it is available in the country, it will be far more accurate than in the city.


    In 1999, qualcomm started an initiative to incorporate GPS technology into CDMA chipset. All of the major protocols have similar initiatives. There are no standards on the hardware side about privacy.


    The positive side of the whole E911 initiative is people's lives will be saved by this technology. The bad side is it may take a while for the wireless industry to come to a standard for handling gps data. Since 2000, commercial GPS is more accurate than 1000' as stated. For those who don't know GPS technology, it works by reading signals from GPS satellites. All the satellites are set to atomic time. GPS chipsets read the signal from each satellite and triagulates location from a minimum of three datasets. The government decreases the accuracy of GPS by varying the time by some delta. In 2000, the government figured out how to block sensitive locations and reduced the delta. During the gulf war, the military used off the shelf GPS units. To my knowledge, gps accuracy can down to a couple of yards depending on where you are. Even close to large sky scrapers, location determination can get down to a coule yards.

  10. SPCS Cell location- not GPS but still useful by sodergren · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you have a Sprint TP2200 (and probably other touchpoint models), try this:

    ##33284 (scroll down to SAVE)
    select SERVICE SCREEN and hit Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the
    debug screen.

    Last two lines are labeled LT and LG- those are
    the lat/lng of the cell your phone is talking to.

    Don't know how accurate it is; the cell my phone
    picks up at home is (according to these numbers)
    in the middle of the Detroit River.