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A New Positioning Concept in GSM Networks

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 A New Positioning Concept in GSM Networks
Balázs Bányai, Gergely Feldhoffer, Attila Tihanyi, György Takács
Faculty of Information Technology
Péter Pázmány Catholic University
Budapest, Hungary
banba@digitus.itk.ppke.hu
Abstract—There are many popular applications and a growing
demand in the field of positioning. A new cheap and simple
method was developed for outdoor and indoor positioning based
on GSM networks. Its accuracy in city areas is comparable to
GPS based systems. The network operator is not involved
directly in the positioning services so the location based services
can be provided by third parties. The working principles, the
measuring results are introduced and discussed in the article.
Keywords-positioning; localization; GSM
I. INTRODUCTION
A new concept of outdoor and indoor positioning is
discussed in this paper. There are several methods and already
introduced services for positioning. Our concept is based on
GSM networks but do not involve directly the network
operators into the location service provision. The traditional
positioning methods know the coordinates of well defined
reference points (satellites or base stations) and measure the
characteristics of signal transmissions among the reference
points and the positioning device. The measured signal
transmission parameters might be time delay, signal level,
angle of wave propagation, code of transmitters etc. In the
calculation of positions both the reference point coordinates,
both the measured parameters are used. The GPS based
methods have beneficial features (like its accuracy, the user
only has the positioning data), but problems also like the
positioning works only outdoors. The GSM network based
positioning methods have also advantages and problems.
Our positioning method is a new mix of known elements. It
tries to combine the most beneficial features with other
methods. Millions of GSM base stations transmit their specific
radio signals all around the world. This very rich signal pattern
has enough information to discriminate different locations. In
our system we suggest a solution to construct an efficient
database describing the GSM signal patterns. This database
does not contain the coordinates and transmission
characteristics of base stations. We know, that base station
coordinates and parameters are one side sensitive and other
side vary in time as a consequence of continuous network
development. The network operators are not involved into
location services using our suggested method, so no charged
fee is involved. The accuracy of our positioning is comparable
with GPS systems in city areas.
Similar database can be constructed in public indoor places
like shopping centers, airports, railway stations and our
positioning can work any places where GSM coverage exists
and the database is constructed.
The mobile sets are more and more intelligent so our
positioning method can be implemented in the terminal. Other
solution is the implementation of positioning in a server and
the terminal works as a client
II. TRADITIONAL POSITIONING METHODS
A. Satellite based methods
The most common version is the GPS system. The standard
positioning error is less, then 10-20 m. Special relative
measuring procedures can reduce the error below 0,1m and the
A-GPS can reduce the setup time. The EU supported Galileo
project will be complete by 2011 and represents a new
generation in satellite based positioning. Russia has also an
independent satellite positioning system (GLONASS).
The common limit in the satellite based systems, is the
signal propagation problem in city environment or indoor
situation.
B. GSM cell based methods
The positioning or location based services are available
commercially by mobile network operators. The GSM network
registers the position of the terminal and the cell information is
used to find the mobile in the network. The network operator
knows the geographic coordinates of cells so a given level the
position information is available. Other methods provide
additional information for positioning to reduce the positioning
errors (TOA, TDOA, ODT, AOA) [1,2]. The positioning is
based on the cooperation of networks and terminals and the
calculation is the task of network operator. Such positioning
methods use network resources so take costs and consequently
fees.
Google intends to provide GSM based positioning services
without involving the network operators [3]. Volunteers
provide CELL ID and GPS coordinates for the positioning
database. Such systems are sensitive to any changing in the cell
structure. Changes in cell system can spoil the positioning
III. SPECIFIC FEATURES IN THE STANDARD GSM AIR
INTERFACE SUPPORTING NEW POSITIONING METHOD
The GSM air interface is documented in 3GPP Technical
specifications TS 05.08 [4]. The GSM supports the seamless
handover of terminals even to change the networks on
international level. The terminal initiates the changing of
serving cells based on the decreased signal level. The terminal
identifies and selects the next optimal cell to connect in
cooperation with base stations and the system. For this reason
the base stations broadcast their ID and other data using the
signaling channel.
The parameters fixed in 3GPP TS05.08 (MCC, MNC,
LAC, CELL_id, RSSI, Channel, etc) convey information to
originally supporting roaming and handover but can be used
also for an estimation of terminal position.
• MCC (Mobile Country Code)
• MNC (Mobile Network Code) MNC is used in
combination with a Mobile Country Code (MCC) (also
known as a "MCC / MNC tuple") to uniquely identify
a mobile phone operator/carrier using the GSM,
CDMA, iDEN, TETRA and UMTS public land mobile
networks and some satellite mobile networks. The
ITU-T Recommendation E.212 defines mobile country
codes.
• LAC (Location Area Code) A 4 digit number what
identifies a bigger area. Location Area is a set of cells.
In the example LAC=0x001e
• CELL(cell identifier) A 4 digit hexadecimal number
what identifies the cell. In the example CellID=2B21
• BSIC = NCC + BCC Base Station Identity Code
(BSIC) is a 6 bit 'colour code' broadcast on the SCH
(Synchronisation Channel) in GSM systems, which
uniquely identifies the beacon frequency. The BSIC is
broadcasted in order to identify the NCC (Network
Colour Code) and the BCC (Base Station Colour
Code) to the Mobile Stations in the area. Adjacent cells
in the cellular system will have different 'colours' or
BSICs.
• Chann ARFCN (Absolute Frequency Channel
Number) The frequency on which the transmitter
radiates.
• RSSI is measured by the mobile terminal. It is the
received signal level of the Broadcast Control Channel
carrier radiated from the base station. The indicated
value is composed of the measured value in dBm plus
an offset.
• C1-C2 Coefficient for base station reselection, e.g. 30.
In dedicated mode, under certain conditions the
parameter cannot be updated.
A. The rich frequency pattern of base stations
The frequency scheme in a cellular system is based on the
optimal reuse of frequencies. The propagation characteristics of
900-1800-1900 MHz bands allow the reduced cell size. Small
cells are useful both increase the traffic handling capacity of
the network and decrease the cell based positioning errors.
The minimal radio interferences of cells using the same
frequency need a sophisticated frequency allocation in the cell
scheme. This frequency allocation and the RSSI distribution
function are the basis of in our positioning.
As the traffic density increasing, the network operators
need regular reconfiguration in the system. For example new
residential areas have increased load of network traffic, so
installing new base stations become reasonable. There can be
temporally used base stations in holiday areas. Usually
providers make an effort to keep it simple using minimal
changes on base station configurations because of the No7
signaling system in the network switching part.
There are more than 3 million base stations worldwide and
about ten thousand are reconfigured day-by-day. Extension is
typical predominantly instead of changing existing
configurations. So less then 1% of positioning tasks might be
problematic due to the reconfigurations..
Fig 1. Example of RSSI data (in dB) of different base
stations sampled on a section of downtown, shown as a
function of position. Omnidirectional (1, 3) and directional (4,
7) characteristics are distinguishable.
On a section of the city we went along several times with
equipment which is capable to record GSM and GPS data. The
GSM data formats follow the 3GPP recommendations. Using
average of the multiple sampling we calculated the signal
strength levels for every 10-15 meters. From this data some of
the base stations are presented on Fig 1.
Cell 1 and Cell 3 have omnidirectional characteristics. Base
station of Cell 4 and Cell 7 have directional antennas focused
on Üllői Avenue (Budapest). The received signals are close to
a constant in certain sections. Cell 2 and Cell 5 are probably
base stations far from the street, there are a few positions where
their signal can be received. Fig 1. shows only a few base
stations of the section (7 of 42) and shows two important
features: the position dependent pattern of the RSSI values and
multiple base stations are received in each positions. These two
features are the basis of our positioning by GSM parameters.
B. Indoor positioning
Cell phones can work indoors where GSM radio coverage
is available. Functionality implies the possibility of positioning
since the Broadcast Control Channel signals can be received.
 The method outlined in this paper can be implemented in
the mobile terminal so the user can fully control the process
and personal position data.

IV. MEASUREMENTS
The GSM parameter set transmitted by base station and
received by mobile terminal is accessible easily on many
terminals. During our measurements, we used a Samba75 from
Falcom which is capable to work in GSM 850, GSM 900, DCS
1800 and PCS 1900 modes. Every data which is needed for
positioning can be read by AT commands.
The outdoor position data were recorded by a Falcom
FSA01 type GPS receiver with NMEA on serial port.
Using a distance estimation method based on radio signal
Fig 2. RSSI measurements in the university campus propagation models it is possible to extract location
building. The size of the symbol are proportional to the signal information with precision close to GPS. Downtown outdoor,
strength. Only the strongest cell is shown in dense base station areas the average error do not exceed 20
Indoors, the actual spatial coordinates were not accessible m.
by GPS, so the reference coordinates were defined on the basis
of delineation manually. Examples of results are shown on Fig A. Outdoor results
2. Different cells are represented by different symbols, and the We recorded a database as described above on a larger area,
symbol size represents the signal strength. Fig 2. is simplified: sparsely covering an approx. 2 km x 1 km downtown area. The
in the actual measurements there are multiple stations for each database consists of GPS and GSM data pairs recorded in the
point, only the strongest is shown on the figure. same time. This can be used to measure the error of the GSM
-60 Cell I
based localization. From the GSM parameters we try to extract
location information and compare the result with the actual
Cell II
-65
Indoor received level GPS position. The GPS data is used as a reference, we have no
-70
Cell III
information beyond GPS precision so far.
Cell IV

-75
Received level [dB]

-80

-85

-90

-95

-100

-105
0
1,5
3
4,5
6
7,5
9
10,5
12
13,5
15
16,5
18
19,5
21
22,5
24
25,5
27
28,5
30
31,5
33
34,5
36
37,5
39

Distance [m]

Fig 3. Examples of received indoor signal levels in the

corridor of the university building.
The received signal levels are represented in the corridor of Fig 4. Characteristics shown by measurements of two base
university building (see Fig 3.). Signal of Cell I. and Cell II. stations. There are directional and omnidirectional
can be received practically everywhere along the measuring characteristics in the area.
line. Their levels are comparable with outdoor RSSI. Probably
the glass windows facing to the base station antennas produce Our database contains 12386 measurements, we collected
these signal level distributions. The main characteristics of randomly 4000 for testing purposes. Geometrical approaches
level distributions are similar to outdoor situation of directional (like triangulation) can hardly be used due to the mixed
antennas. The signals of Cell III. and Cell IV. can be received antenna directional characteristics and reflections. As an
in separated sections. The sections of missing signals are example on the fig 5 a subset of the database can be seen where
related to the reinforced concrete walls of the building. The two base stations are observable, one of them has
signal level is small from the same reason. omnidirectional, the other has directional characteristics. The
thickness of the line represents the signal strength. All of the
The fine level patterns in the case of Cell III. and cell IV. testing subset can be seen on fig 5.
provide good basis for positioning even better then in the case
of Cell I. or II.

Fig 5. Measurement locations of the testing subset
Fig 6. The error distribution function of the outdoor
measurements. Only in 10% of the measurements had larger
error than 15.1 meters. Half of the measurements had less than
1.5m error.
The Fig 6 shows the results of the measurements. 50% of
the testing subset can be localized within 1.5 meters. 66% of
them have less error than 5.3 meters, and only 10% were more
inaccurate than 15.1 meters. The measurements were done in
an urban environment with high density of base stations.
B. Indoor results
After the promising results of outdoor measurements we
examined the possibility of indoor localization and navigation.
It was uncertain whether there is enough signal strength in a
reinforced concrete building for localization purposes. We had
to modify the system indoors because of the lack of GPS data
indoors. Instead of it we used the delineation of the building as
a reference and pointed on coordinates for each measurement.
On the fig 2 there are the results of our MobileInside
system on the 4th floor of the university campus building. The
signal strength of the base stations change heavily within short
distances. The changes are caused by different transmission
properties of windows and walls. On the Fig 2 the base station
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“Station I” is on the rooftop of the next building, still it can be
received only in the north-east corner of the floor.
The simplified methods based only on the serving cell ID
are very uncertain indoors. Our example shows that within this
small area signals of 12 base stations were received.
The bold dots on Fig 2 are the actual positions of the
measurements, and the squares are localized using GSM data.
The error is less than 2.5 meters in each case, which shows that
the method can be used indoors for localization room-by-room
level. Accurate indoor navigation need more evidence since the
desirable average error indoors is less than one meter (for robot
navigation as an example), and our data was relatively few and
sparse for this demand, approx. one measurement for a square
meters.
C. Discussion and potential applications
One of the main advantages of the outlined method is the
use of existing GSM infrastructure as base stations and mobile
devices. This makes possible localization with relatively small
investment.
Network operators do not need to effort extra investment or
operational costs in the GSM system using our proposed
positioning method. So it has no reason to earn fees for it. The
method is passive, can be done on the mobile terminal locally,
so there is no need to expose personal data to danger by
communicating location sensitive data.
In cities and densely populated areas the accuracy of the
method fits to the practical applications.
As an application of the method, there could be an
automated tourist guide system where the client is mobile in
the city, eventually going into museums or other tourism
related buildings. The system could be installed on a mobile
device with a map of the area and provide location based data
both outdoors and indoors. The shown precision is enough to
identify shops in supermarkets, so marketing applications are
also reasonable. Another application would be fleet or
personnel management over existing mobile communication
channels.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This paper was made in the frame of Mobile Innovation
Centre's integrated project Nr. 3.1 supported by the National
Office for Research and Technology Hungary (Mobile 01/2004
contract )
REFERENCES
[1]
F. Gustafsson, F. Gunnarsson: “Mobile positioning using wireless
networks: possibilities and fundamental limitations based on available
wireless network measurements,” IEEE Signal Processing Magazine,
Vol. 22, No. 4, 2005, pp.41–53.
[2]
Yilin Zhao: Standardization of Mobile Phones Positionong for 3G
Systems, IEEE COmmunications Magazine, July 2002, pp.108–116.
[3]
www.google.com/gmm/
[4]
3GPP Technical Specification 05.08 -- Radio subsystem link control