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LBS, the ingredients and the alternatives
Truck Management system Truck Management system is a technologically advanced method of remote vehicle tracking and monitoring. Each vehicle is equipped with a device that receives signals from a series of satellites, and calculates its current geographical location, speed and direction. This information can be stored for later retrieval, or most often, transmitted to a central dispatch or control location where it is displayed real time on a high-resolution geographical map. The system can be applied to the management of a public passenger transport network or to a goods transport fleet. This system needs
The master control station has along with a messaging system, a mapping software Using the transmissions sent to the dispatch from each vehicle of the fleet, one can see precisely where these vehicles are located, which direction they are heading and, depending on intricacies of the programs one have chosen, data such as the job currently being performed by each vehicle. The mapping system could also features status messaging, pan, zoom in/out, scroll, and “real time” vehicle display. Thus tracking of the fleet would be not only possible but also easy and visual. The control center could also be sophisticated to control the vehicles, if need arises, like vehicle thefts etc.  Geographic Data Now here arrives the need of rich GIS data to display the rich road networks. An incomplete or old GIS data could play havoc with the results and the business as a whole. The data should be effective to show the routing and give navigational directions. It should also be able to provide services like showing point of interest data like the nearest service station when needed. Positioning System A high resolution GPS device is of prime importance to accurately pinpoint location of the vehicle. In a system like this fallacy of even 100 meters could predict disastrous results for the control center. Once again higher the resolution of the GPS, higher the cost of the device adding to the overall cost of the system. Developing countries are again lacking in manufacturing of high-resolution GPS devices and ones that exist are very expensive. riend Tracking Friend Tracking system is a service aimed at mainly the youth, who want to keep in contact with their friends. It’s an entertainment service. It is in sharp contrast with the kind of applications usually suggested for location services and with the Truck Management system discussed above. The largest users of SMS are in this segment and the Friend Tracking system suggests the initial foot in the direction, that location services might be used for entertainment instead of the more useful applications. This service has goals, which are, a rather simple application, and it attempts to carve a niche for LBS amongst the youth. The investments needed have to be minimal. Its ingredients are:
We need standard GSM phones, which could be tracked and located by the relatively simple Cell of Origin technology. The cell operators do not require rich GIS data to pin point accurate friend position. An approximate distance of friend is sufficient for knowing his proximity. The accuracy of location is not of prime importance here and therefore modifications needed in the mobile terminals are minimal. The COO in this scenario will help to gain experience of LBS, help to get customer preference and be a driving force in increasing mobile usage. Control Center The control centers do not require high-resolution maps and mapping software to make this system work. Its task is merely to capture the cell location of the user and his friend and calculate the distance between the two and flash it on the user’s cell phone. The sophistication here is simple and it could be a starting point in many countries to habituate the people to availing Location Based Services. It could act as a launching pad for other services to penetrate the market. Conclusion LBS has made foray into the market. Attractive location-based services covering all walks of life are here to stay hampered only by mans imaginative limits. We must, however, understand that there is no single universal solution to LBS. Positioning accuracy, service requirements and infrastructure greatly determine the ingredients. It is a common misconception that implementation of LBS involves heavy investments as regards data and infrastructure. However LBS is not a single service, it is a domain rich with varied kinds of location services from the most elementary to the most sophisticated. Each service comes with its own set of requirements. One needs to carefully understand the service requirements to be able to map it to the infrastructure. The ingredients are there but its requirement and ratio has to be carefully deliberated upon before
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