CODEWITHSUNDEEP
smssms-gateway
NinjaCat
NinjaCat

Reputation: 10204

Location data from SMS message

There may actually not be an answer to this question, but I wanted to post here just in case because it will require some out of the box thinking. This may not be a programmign question per se. If it isn't, rather than downvoting, perhaps you can suggest another stackoverflow site to use for this specific question?

We have installed, and have running, an SMS gateway from SMS Tools 3 (http://smstools3.kekekasvi.com/) and I can receive / send text messages.

Additionally, we have created a custom SMS application for Android / iPhone that embeds GPS location data into the sms message, but we are trying to figure out a way to obtain location based data from a user using a dumb phone (think NGO in Africa with users using the most basic of phones).

Is it possible to get location based data from a SMS message from a phone that lacks wifi/GPS? The only thought so far would be to somehow get the cell towers used by working with cell phone providers in the targeted country.

Thoughts?

Note: This is not an attempt to track users location unknowingly (else we wouldn't have created our custom SMS message application)

Upvotes: 4

Views: 7139

Answers (2)

SBG
SBG

Reputation: 11

Cellular localisation methods which do not use WiFi, GPS (and other satellite-based navigation systems) depend heavily on the radio access network (RAN), so will vary depending on the type of the operator network , (GSM/CDMA/UMTS/LTE etc.). Its important to understand this because often there are multiple types of networks coexisting in the same country, which can result in varying performance of the positioning scheme used.

Since your question specifically mentions GSM, lets stick to it. GSM cell triangulation encompasses different schemes for obtaining location info of the subscriber. Broadly, these schemes fall in two categories: Network-based and Terminal-based.

Network-based services require signaling in the operator's Core Network (CN) and could be triggered by an agreement with the operator. Technically, this occurs when a call is made or an SMS is sent to a pre-defined emergency number. For more technical details, refer to the ETSI spec [1]

*The drawback: Requires operator support!*

Terminal-based services are dependent on the presence of some location service on the mobile phone - GPS, Wi-Fi, Internet etc.. In the absence of these, there is conceivably only one solution: Have the Mobile Terminal (MT) send its cellular location information - [ MCC + MNC + LAC + CellId ] to the RAN which can forward the information to a GIS service than obtains the Lat/Long of the user. One GIS service that's freely available is Google's geolocation API [2]

[1] http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/101700_101799/101724/07.03.00_60/ts_101724v070300p.pdf
[2] https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/business/geolocation/

Upvotes: 1

RolandasR
RolandasR

Reputation: 3046

You can always do GSM tower triangulation (first iPhone did that) and you don't need to go to all operators - a lot of services out there.

Upvotes: 3

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