Mobile cellular location positioning : an approach combining radio signal strength propagation and trilateration

M.Ing.The research and development contained herein details a Proof of Concept to test the commercial viability of a mobile cellular positioning technique for use in Location Based Service applications. Research in this field is relatively new and although the theories of location estimation have been considered at both an industry and academic level respectively, they are still largely isolated. We propose to bridge the gap with a practical implementation of a suitable location based service theory. This implemented theory is a trade-off between cost, performance, accuracy and ease of implementation. The research component of this dissertation constitutes a detailed background and technical overview of second generation mobile cellular technology, investigation of various radio path loss model theories, understanding of the various Location Positioning technologies and exploration into optimised trilateration techniques. The development is amalgamated in an algorithm incorporating radio signal strength analysis, mobile network parameter and management reporting, empirical mobile radio path loss prediction models and adaptive geometric, trigonometric and algebraic trilateration techniques. Furthermore, we conduct vigorous testing of the implemented algorithm with live mobile network radio parameters recorded across various geographical locations which vary in topography. The testing phases include performance gain comparisons between the trilateration techniques. Finally, we show that the selected location estimation theory can be enhanced to be an attractive practical implementation which satisfies the trade-off variables, required for commercial application. The selected theory produces improved location estimate accuracy with cost efficient ease of implementation from among the other theories, when combined with the applied trilateration techniques. The end result is an alternate way to successfully emulate GPS positioning – which is considered to be the global benchmar