computer science

Location-based service

Location-based service is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Location-based service rather than just read about it. In short: A location-based service (LBS) is a software service which uses geographic data and information to search systems, in turn providing services or information to users. LBS can be used in a variety of contexts, such as health, indoor object search, entertainment, work, personal life, etc.

Key takeaways

Location-based service belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Location-based service to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Location-based service from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A location-based service (LBS) is a software service which uses geographic data and information to search systems, in turn providing services or information to users. LBS can be used in a variety of contexts, such as health, indoor object search, entertainment, work, personal life, etc. Commonly used examples of location-based services include navigation software, social networking services, location-based advertising, and a tracking system. LBS can also include mobile commerce when taking the form of coupons or advertising directed at customers based on their current location. LBS also includes personalized weather services and even location-based games. LBS is critical to many businesses as well as government organizations to drive real insight from data tied to a specific location where activities take place. With the user's geolocation patterns, a service can better understand user behavior and relationships. Banking, surveillance, online commerce, and many weapon systems are dependent on LBS. Access policies are controlled by location data or time-of-day constraints, or a combination thereof. As such, an LBS is an information service and has a number of uses in social networking today as information, in entertainment or security, which is accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and which uses information on the geographical position of the mobile device. This concept of location-based systems is not compliant with the standardized concept of real-time locating systems (RTLS) and related local services, as noted in ISO/IEC 19762-5 and ISO/IEC 24730-1. While networked computing devices generally do very well to inform consumers of days old data, the computing devices themselves can also be tracked, even in real-time. LBS privacy issues arise in that context, and are documented below.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Location-based service

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Location-based service claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Location-based service before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Location-based service ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Location-based service

In research: Location-based service appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Location-based service in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Location-based service is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Applications of geographic information systems, Geopositioning, Geosocial networking, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Location-based service outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Location-based service in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Location-based service means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Location-based service out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Location-based service in simple terms?

Why does Location-based service matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Location-based service?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Location-based service.