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Cell towers as GPS beacons? (was: reply)

From: Christopher Allen <>
Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 04:49:13 -0800 (PST)

On Fri, 6 Dec 2002, Vinay V wrote:
> since mobiles use cellular technology, you can at any instant of time
> have access at least three mobile base stations(since base stations
> keep track of your movements, for ensuring proper call hand over).
> This, can be used as the basis for triangulation 

To perform as postioning system beacons, GPS satellites not only 1) have
known locations (time-plotted trajectories) and 2) broadcast timecode, but
they 3) lock their time-code to atomic clocks -- and not just any old
atomic clocks, but _onboard_ atomic clocks. Likewise, for cell towers to
be able act as positioning system beacons, each would at least have to
have its own onboard atomic clock. And atomic clocks are hard to get --
half of the world's atomic clocks are onboard those GPS satellites.

The need for individual atomic clocks holds even if the reverse is tried
-- triangulation of the vehicle from the clocks. However, what the cell
towers could do without individual atomic clocks is broadcast GPS
correction signals from their precisely known locations. This doesn't need
to be done by cell towers specifically and it's already done by correction
beacons scattered across the populated portions of the United States...
http://www.northstarcmc.com/DGPS-MAP.HTM

...but the closer one is to a DGPS beacon, the more valid the
correction code will be (according to a probability distribution
function). Therefore, it might be helpful for vehicle triangulation if
many cell towers broadcast DGPS signals.

-Chris

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