Cell Phone GPS Tracking Guide

GPS tracking, cell phone GPS and mobile phone tracking tools are securing attention from consumers, cellular phone companies and software programmers. The most popular mobile phones feature GPS position features to track mobile phone position.

To abide by Federal Communications Commission rules, cell phone companies must be able to provide authorities with smartphone latitude and longitude to an precision of 50 to 300 meters. Cell Tower Triangulation does not always meet this requirement. By way of comparison, commercially available GPS systems are able to obtain precision down to 3-10m. This is dependent upon many factors, as GPS signals tend to be particularly weak and they are affected by many variables. With Mobile Location Services (MLS), the GSM cell network provider utilizes triangulation techniques to try to pinpoint the position of the cell phone, its accuracy is proven to be much worse than that of GPS. MLS is further impacted by factors similar to GPS in the sense of the interference affecting signal strength and the density of GSM towers to assist in the triangulation calculation. In remote areas position accuracy may be off as much as a mile.

GPS Hot Start means whenever the GPS enabled cell phone keeps its last known location, the satellites that had been in range before, together with the almanac data in memory, and makes an attempt to lock onto the same satellites and determine a new location based upon the previous information. This is almost always the quickest GPS lock but Hot Start only works if the phone is in the same general area as when the GPS was last turned off. GPS Warm Start is the term for whenever the GPS enabled mobile phone keeps its last calculated position, and almanac used, but not which satellites were in view. It resets and attempts to connect to satellite signals and calculates a brand new position. The GPS receiver narrows the choice of which satellites toseek because it saved its last known location and also the almanac data helps identify which satellites are in range. The Warm Start will take longer compared to Hot Start although not as much as a Cold Start. With GPS Cold Start, the device deletes all the previous inf

ormation, and tries to locate satellites and obtain a GPS lock. This normally takes more time since there is no known reference information. The GPS enabled mobile phone receiver has to attempt to lock onto a satellite signal from any accessible satellites.

In order to get better GPS lock times cellphone manufacturers and network providers designed Assisted GPS technology. It downloads the ephemeris helping triangulate the mobile phone basic position. GPS Receivers will get a quicker lock in return for a few kilobytes of data transmission. Assisted GPS, also referred to as A-GPS or AGPS, helps the performance of standard GPS in cell phones connected to the cell network. In the United States Sprint, Nextel, Verizon Wireless, and Alltel all use A-GPS. Which is a means of utilizing the cell network to accelerate finding of GPS satellites.

A-GPS assists location tracking functions of smartphones (and other connected devices) in two ways:

One method is by helping to obtain a faster “time to first fix” (TTFF). Assisted GPS acquires and archives data about the location of satellites using the cell network and so the location details does not need to be downloaded via the satellite.

The other approach is by assisting locate smartphones when GPS signals are weak or impeded. Since GPS satellite signals may be interfered with by tall structures, and do not pass through building interiors well A-GPS utilizes distance to cellular towers to estimate location when GPS signals are not available.

In the event that satellite signals are not available, or precision is less important than battery life, making use of Cell-ID is a viable substitute to GPS cell phone tracking. The position of the device may be determined by the cell network cell id, that pinpoints the cell tower the phone is using. By knowing the position of the tower, then you can know roughly the spot where the cell phone is. However, a tower can cover an enormous area, from a couple of hundred meters, in higher populationdensity zones, to several kilometers in lower density zones. This is why location CellID precision is lower than GPS accuracy. Nevertheless monitoring via CellID still gives you a really viable substitute.

Another method of formulating device position is Triangulation or Mobile Location Services (MLS). Cell Tower Triangulation uses signal analysis data to compute the time it takes signals traveling from the mobile phone to no less than 3 cell towers to determine location.

Cell Phone GPS Tracking Guide

Cell Phone GPS Tracking Basics

Solutions Designed for Emergency Response Can Be Employed for Tracking Smartphones. Cell tracking, cell phone GPS and cell phone tracker software applications are undoubtedly drawing curiosity from potential buyers, cellphone companies and program developers. The most up to date cell phones contain GPS locator functionality to track mobile phone location.

GPS receivers, regardless of whether inside of a handset, or simply a dedicated Portable gps tracking system, determine position by accurately timing the signals passed on by GPS satellites. This critical information provides the moment the message was transmitted, highly accurate orbital details (technically called the ephemeris), along with the general system state and projected orbits of all GPS satellites (technically referenced as the almanac). GPS receivers often take a long time to become ready to use after being turned on because it must acquire some basic information in addition to finding GPS satellite signals. This slow start is sometimes caused when the GPS smartphone has been unused for days or weeks, or has been transported a significant distance while turned off for. The GPS must update its almanac and ephemeris data and store it in memory. The GPS almanac is a set of data that every GPS satellite transmits. When a GPS receiver has current almanac data in memory, it can capture satellite signal

s and find initial location more quickly.

GPS Hot Start is whenever the GPS enabled mobile phone keeps its last identified location, the satellites that were in view at the time, as well as the almanac information in memory, and attempts to connect to the same satellites and calculate a fresh position based upon the previous data. This is usually the quickest GPS lock but Hot Start only works if the phone is generally in the same location as when the GPS was last turned off. GPS Warm Start is when the GPS enabled cell phone keeps its last known location, and almanac used, but not which satellites were in view. It resets and tries to connect to satellite signals and computes the latest location. The GPS receiver narrows the choice of which satellites toseek because it saved its last known position and the almanac data helps identify which satellites are within view. The Warm Start will need more time compared to Hot Start but not as much as a Cold Start. With GPS Cold Start, the device deletes all the previous data, and attempts to locate satellites a

nd attain a GPS lock. This takes longer than other methods since there is no known reference data. The GPS enabled mobile phone receiver has to try to lock onto a satellite transmission from any accessible satellites.

In order to get improved GPS lock times mobile phone manufacturers and telco operators introduced Assisted GPS technology. This downloads the ephemeris and helps triangulate the mobile phone basic position. GPS Receivers will get a faster lock in return for a few kilobytes of data transmission. Assisted GPS, generally known as A-GPS or AGPS, enhances the performance of standard GPS in smartphones connected to the cell network. In the United States Sprint, Nextel, Verizon Wireless, and Alltel all use AGPS. This is a method of utilizing the cellular network to accelerate finding of GPS satellites.

A-GPS assists location tracking performance of smartphones (as well as other connected devices) in a couple of ways:

The first method will be assisting to get a faster “time to first fix” (TTFF). AGPS acquires and stores data concerning satellite location using the cell network so the coordinates data does not need to be downloaded via the satellite.

The second method is by assisting locate cell phones when GPS signals are weak or blocked. Because GPS satellite signals may be interfered with by tall buildings, and do not pass through building interiors well A-GPS utilizes proximity to cellular towers to approximate location when GPS signals are not obtainable.

When satellite signals are not available, or accuracy is less important than battery life, utilizing Cell-ID is a good alternative to GPS smartphone location. The location of the mobile phone might be computed by the cellular network cell id, that pinpoints the cell tower the smartphone is connected to. By understanding the position of this tower, then you can know roughly where the device will be. But, a tower can cover an enormous area, from a few hundred meters, in high populationdensity zones, to a few kilometers in lower density zones. This is why location CellID accuracy is lower than GPS accuracy. Nonetheless monitoring via CellID still can provide a very viable alternative.

Another way of formulating mobile phone location is Triangulation or Mobile Location Services (MLS). Cell Tower Triangulation makes use of signal analysis data to calculate the time it takes signals traveling from your cellular phone to at least 3 cell towers to calculate location.

Cell Phone GPS Tracking Basics