Delivering location-based services using GIS, WAP, and the Web: two applications

The position of a mobile phone can be located using information from the radio network it uses. This paper presents two applications that make use of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and mobile positioning technology to provide location-based information to the user in real time. The applications use the user’s position to generate dynamic information. Besides, both applications also have a web interface to perform administrative tasks. The first application allows the user to locate the nearest resource (pizza restaurant, theatre, gas station, and so on) to his/her position. The second application is a data acquisition system and it demonstrates how the user can directly introduce data into Geographical Information Systems (GIS) from a WAP phone. Our proposal uses existing radio network and does not need the use of Global Positioning System (GPS).