Evaluation of Location Determination Technologies Towards Satisfying the FCC E-911 Ruling

Abstract

The recent FCC ruling has prompted the emergence of significant research on location determination technologies for wireless systems. Various technologies have been proposed in the literature. The wireless operators need to select a location determination technology that satisfies the FCC requirements and is most appropriate to their needs by October 2000. For this reason, proper evaluation techniques are necessary to make an extensive and fair comparison of the different technologies. This tutorial chapter gives an overview of the specifics of the FCC ruling and the different location determination technologies that are being considered by the wireless operators. A brief synopsis on how the individual location determination technologies may be evaluated is given in this chapter as well.