A new location-based service architecture with efficient transmission method using control channels

Aal-Nouman, MI

Abstract

Location-based services (LBS) are services that are provided to users according to their location; these services can either be provided to the user when requested (pulled), for example, when the user asks, “Where is the nearest hospital?” or sent automatically (pushed) when the user’s location changes, such as in commercial advertising.
The main components of the LBS needed to secure an end to end service are: mobile terminal, positioning system, communications network, and service and data provider. In general, the communication network used to transfer the data between the user and the data and service provider is the Internet. Therefore, if the user is offline because of the Internet connection is unavailable or damaged, the LBS cannot be completed, and the mobile operator cannot exchange data with the data and service provider.
There are some qualities of service that are essential to achieve a good service in LBS like security, privacy, response time, coverage and many others. In a standard architecture, the data and service provider are an external third-party company, but this raises some concerns regarding response time and user privacy, as the user information could be shared.
To solve the problem regarding disconnection, a solution is proposed to use the spare extension of the random access channel (RACH), which is carried by the physical random access channel (PRACH) for the uplink to send the user request to the core network. Then, the spare extension of the forward access channel (FACH) will be used, which is carried by secondary common physical control channel (S-CCPCH) for the downlink to send the location information from the core network to the user. Moreover, to solve the privacy and response time issues, a database is attached to the gateway mobile location centre (GMLC) in the core network of mobile operator to act as a data and service provider. Thus, there is no need for the request and the information to be sent to a third-party company anymore.
One of the main contributions of this research is the end to end connection between the user and the service provider being always available, even if the Internet is unavailable. Also, the user obtains the information faster in a secure and confidential way as this information are not being shared with other parties.
Matlab is used as a simulation tool in this research. The results show that the connection between the user and the data provider is used successfully; the request and the data are sent using the RACH and FACH; the response time has been reduced; and the user privacy is enhanced.

Citation

Aal-Nouman, M. (in press). A new location-based service architecture with efficient transmission method using control channels. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Acceptance Date: Feb 2, 2018
• Deposit Date: Sep 21, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 21, 2018