Abstract
Detailed location information of mobile objects, for example that of a user with a mobile computer or phone, is an important input for many location-aware applications. However, constantly updating the location information for thousands of mobile objects is not feasible. Therefore, special update protocols for location information are required that transmit the information as efficiently as possible, that is requiring only few update messages, while still being effective in returning the location information with the desired accuracy. Different classes of such update protocols are described in this paper and a new combined protocol is proposed. To be able to compare their effectiveness and efficiency, we present an analysis for the minimum and average resulting accuracy of the location information in comparison with the number of messages transmitted. We also present the results of simulations that we have performed to back up our analysis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A. Bhattacharya and S. Das, LeZi-update: An information-theoretic approach to track mobile users in PCS networks, in: Proc. 5th Annual ACM/IEEE Int. Conf. on Mobile Computing and Networking, Seattle, WA, USA (ACM Press, 1999) pp. 1–12.
A. Bar-Noy, I. Kessler and M. Sidi, Mobile users: To update or not to update? Wireless Networks 1(2) (July 1995) 175–185.
IEEE Computer Society LANMAN Standards Committee, IEEE Std. 802.11, Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specification, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York (1997).
A. Harter, A. Hopper, P. Steggles, A. Ward and P. Webster, The anatomy of a context-aware application, in: Proc. 5th Int. Conf. on Mobile Computing and Networking (MobiCom' 99), Seattle, WA, USA (ACM Press, 1999) pp. 59–68.
B. Hofmann-Wellenhof, H. Lichtenegger and J. Collins, Global Positioning System: Theory and Practice (Springer, TELOS, 1997).
National Imagery and Mapping Agency, DoD World Geodetic System 1984, its definition and relationship with local geodetic systems, Technical report 8350.2, 3rd edn, National Imagery and Mapping Agency (1997).
U. Leonhardt, Supporting location-awareness in open distributed systems, Ph.D. thesis, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London (1998).
A. Leonhardi and K. Rothermel, Architecture of a large-scale location service, Technical Report TR-2001–01, University of Stuttgart, Faculty of Computer Science (2001).
H. Maaß , Location-aware mobile applications based on directory services, in: Proc. 3rd Int. Conf. on Mobile Computing and Networking (MobiCom' 97), Budapest, Hungary (ACM Press, 1997) pp. 23–33.
M. Mouly and M.-B. Pautet, The GSM System for Mobile Communications (Cell & Sys, France, 1992).
C. Perkins, ed., IP Mobility Support, RFC 2002, IETF (1996).
M. Satyanarayanan, Fundamental challenges in mobile computing, in: Proc. 15th ACM Symp. on Principles of Distributed Computing, Philadelphia, PA, USA (ACM Press, 1996) pp. 1–7.
M. Spreitzer and M. Theimer, Providing location information in a ubiquitous computing environment, in: Proc. 14th ACM Symp. on Operating System Priciples (ACM Press, 1993) pp. 270–283.
R. Want, A. Hopper, V. Falcao and J. Gibbons, The active badge location system, ACM Transactions on Information Systems 10(1) (1992) 91–102.
O. Wolfson, A.P. Sistla, S. Chamberlain and Y. Yesha, Updating and querying databases that track mobile units, Distributed and Parallel Databases Journal 7(3) (1999) 1–31.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Leonhardi, A., Rothermel, K. A Comparison of Protocols for Updating Location Information. Cluster Computing 4, 355–367 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011872831932
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011872831932