A platform for testing and evaluating location based services

As the usage of mobile telephones increased at the end of the nineties, the development of Location based services (LBS) started. LBS in a cellular telephone network are a service provided to the subscriber based on its current geographic location. The position can be known by user entry or a GPS receiver that the person carries with him. Mobile network operators continuously seek new innovative ways to increase profits and to create differentiation. One of the best ways to do this is through the delivery of highly personalized services. One way to personalize mobile services is based on location. Location-based services open a new market for developers, cellular network operators, and service providers to develop and deploy value-added services.There are a numbers of location-based services on the market today. Positioning within the vehicle business, positioning of emergency calls and commercial services like shopping offers, when the user is close to a supermarket are examples of LBS. This thesis is the result of a project that was conducted at Followit in Skellefteå during spring 2005. One of Followit’s products is a small unit called locator. This unit consists of a GSM and a GPS module and is mainly used for surveillance. It has many area of usage, for example the user can place it in the car and if someone steals it, the user can get its position and catch the thieves. The aim of this thesis is to investigate what limitations Followit’s system has. The thesis presents a platform that simulates a real environment by generating position events. Using this platform it is possible to explore how many SMS objects Followit’s platform can handle. In addition the simulated platform can also be in use, for example if the user of the Followit’s system wants to test a position in an almost inaccessible ground: the platform just easily simulates the position. The platform can also be in help looking for bugs in the software. An interface in Followit's platform is going to be implemented allowing it to communicate with the simulated platform. This interface is going to communicate with another platform in Spain, called the Redbox platform. Followit also wants to distribute locator modules in Spain, so this is a great opportunity for this to also be done. Due to fear of terrorist actions the Redbox platform has not yet been opened. So test against Vodafone Spain have been postponed.Validerat; 20101217 (root