#FIND MY PHONE LOCATION SOFTWARE#

It requires the active cooperation of the mobile subscriber as well as software that must be able to handle the different operating systems of the handsets.

The key disadvantage of handset-based techniques, from service provider's point of view, is the necessity of installing software on the handset. This is usually performed independent from the carrier. In addition, if the handset is also equipped with GPS then significantly more precise location information can be then sent from the handset to the carrier.Īnother approach is to use a fingerprinting-based technique, where the 'signature' of the home and neighboring cells signal strengths at different points in the area of interest is recorded by war-driving and matched in real-time to determine the handset location. This technique determines the location of the handset by putting its location by cell identification, signal strengths of the home and neighboring cells, which is continuously sent to the carrier. The location of a mobile phone can be determined using client software installed on the handset. In December 2020, it emerged that the Israeli surveillance company Rayzone Group may have gained access, in 2018, to the SS7 signaling system via cellular network provider Sure Guernsey, thereby being able to track the location of any cellphone globally. Frequently the compulsion associated with a legislative framework, such as Enhanced 9-1-1, is required before a service provider will deploy a solution. One of the key challenges of network-based techniques is the requirement to work closely with the service provider, as it entails the installation of hardware and software within the operator's infrastructure. The accuracy of network-based techniques is both dependent on the concentration of cell base stations, with urban environments achieving the highest possible accuracy because of the higher number of cell towers, and the implementation of the most current timing methods. The accuracy of network-based techniques varies, with cell identification being the least accurate (due to differential signals transposing between towers, otherwise known as 'bouncing signals') and triangulation as moderately accurate, and newer 'advanced forward link trilateration' timing methods as the most accurate. GSM localization uses multilateration to determine the location of GSM mobile phones, or dedicated trackers, usually with the intent to locate the user. Rural and desolate areas may see miles between base stations and therefore determine locations less precisely. Qualified services may achieve a precision of down to 50 meters in urban areas where mobile traffic and density of antenna towers (base stations) is sufficiently high. Further approximation can be done by interpolating signals between adjacent antenna towers. The technology of locating is based on measuring power levels and antenna patterns and uses the concept that a powered mobile phone always communicates wirelessly with one of the closest base stations, so knowledge of the location of the base station implies the cell phone is nearby.Īdvanced systems determine the sector in which the mobile phone is located and roughly estimate also the distance to the base station.

(See US 5519760, issued for one of the first works relating to this. Network-based techniques were developed many years prior to the widespread availability of GPS on handsets. The advantage of network-based techniques, from a service provider's point of view, is that they can be implemented non-intrusively without affecting handsets. The location of a mobile phone can be determined using the service provider's network infrastructure.

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Find my phone location