March/April 2005

Can you improve the accuracy of mobile phone-based tracking, which is usually dependent on the density of cell masts in the area of the tracked unit? One supplier that says you can is UK-based Trace A Mobile.com, which says it can now offer a tracking accuracy of 50 metres to customers on the Vodafone network.

The secret lies in a technique called "Timing Advanced" or TA tracking, which measures the timing and power of GSM mobile phone signals from three or more base stations, and is said to improve location accuracy by up to 300 per cent.

According to managing Director Jonathan Cook: "The timing of the transmissions bursts is very important for tracking mobile phones. Mobiles are at different distances from the base stations. Their delay depends, consequently, on their distance. The aim of Timing Advance is that the mobile trace signals coming from the different mobile stations arrive at the base station at the right time, so it can locate a mobile much more accurately."

Not that Trace A Mobile is stopping there. It says it is also planning to introduce Assisted GPS, which will be based on forthcoming mobile phones that will include a GPS receiver, and promise an accuracy of up to 10 metres for phone locating.

 

Among recent promotional coups, Trace A Mobile covered the London Marathon and Great North Run for the BBC, using its mobile technology to track celebrity runners. It has also been involved in LBC Radio's Radio Riders Charity Bike ride.