Energy-efficient rate-adaptive GPS-based positioning for smartphones

RAPS is presented, rate-adaptive positioning system for smartphone applications, based on the observation that GPS is generally less accurate in urban areas, so it suffices to turn on GPS only as often as necessary to achieve this accuracy.

Abstract

Many emerging smartphone applications require position information to provide location-based or context-aware services. In these applications, GPS is often preferred over its alternatives such as GSM/WiFi based positioning systems because it is known to be more accurate. However, GPS is extremely power hungry. Hence a common approach is to periodically duty-cycle GPS. However, GPS duty-cycling trades-off positioning accuracy for lower energy. A key requirement for such applications, then, is a positioning system that provides accurate position information while spending minimal energy.