Triangulation Method in Cellular Tracking
There is a specific method of locating your cell phones through a method known as the triangulation method or also known as measuring the triangles. What is the triangulation method? If you’ve watched a lot of CSI episodes, you probably have an idea what the method is all about. It is basically the method of determining the location of cell phones by measuring angles from identified known points or a fixed baseline. By referring to the speed of the radio signals, the distance and location from the unknown point can be estimated by identifying three or four known points. The known points can be where the antennas for the cell phone operator are mounted. The first known point identifies the distance to the cell phone. The second known point reduces the location to two points. The third known point is used to pinpoint the exact location of the cell phone. Basically, the concept is to reduce the exact location of the cell phone by removing the large area of a certain location to pinpoint the location by using three filters or three known points. Two direction lines define a point area and the third line defines the exact location.
Basically, the fundamental principle of GPS is also to use triangulation to determine as accurately as possible a point in space. The triangulation method uses three coordinates or three GPS satellites from the user’s GPS receiver. From the measurement of this three-coordinate distance, the user’s location can be determined by determining the intersection between the three spheres of satellite coverage. The more GPS satellites you reference, the more accurate the position you can pinpoint.
We will see the development of more hardware and software to further help people in terms of connectivity and mobility that is based on this method of triangulation. Social networks will benefit from this, since the flow of information will be channeled through this medium. An example of a social media platform that has taken advantage of this method is the Foursquare app. Founded in 2009; the app serves as a location-based social media platform for mobile users. Users can check in to their current location or hangouts while also giving reviews of the place or product. Users can also use this app to connect with nearby friends. As the technology for Internet mobility becomes much more sophisticated, it is expected that a number of location-based social media platforms will also develop. Some of the famous location-based services are Foursquare, Loopt, and Google Latitude apps that provide real-time location to friends who have decided to share their location with nearby family and friends. At the same time, these apps also share information about the location of your friends or family, such as the restaurants they dine at or where they hang out.
However, the triangulation method does have its weaknesses, such as obstacles that will prevent your GPS from detecting three satellites when you are inside a building, near a tall building, and also when the weather is bad. This factor blocks the line of sight of your GPS and therefore it was unable to find the three satellites it needed to pinpoint your location accurately.