Location awareness for everyday smart computing

Rapid advances in the area of digital systems is an enabler for ubiquitous computing making devices smaller and smarter and paving the way for an interconnected digital world. The most influential digital technology that has changed the lives of so many people and made the interconnected world a possibility is undoubtedly the development of wireless cellular communications. In the early stages of cellular wireless telephony development there was only one idea in mind: communication between people without the need for wires. The hexagonal cellular principles laid out by Ring and Young at AT&T Bell Labs in 1947 were the initial steps towards realizing the goal of ubiquitous communication. Global cellular networks, now serving more than 4 billion people around the world is a true testimony to the visions of many computer pioneers such as Mark Weiser, past CTO of Xerox PARC, who first coined the term, ubiquitous. Thus internetworking of ldquothingsrdquo gains particular importance with the wide availability of smart devices capable of performing tasks well beyond voice communication. One key component of ubiquitous computing is ldquolocation awarenessrdquo and is a field of intensive research for various applications requiring varying levels of accuracy. This paper briefly discusses the basics of common location technologies and focuses on cellular based positioning and its practicality for location awareness for everyday smart gadgets.