THE MOTIVE CONCEPT: Enabling Mobile Terminals to Act as Sensors

摘要

In a mobile telecommunications environment, the mobile terminal collects a variety of network performance related data that are subsequently used in order to perform basic networking functions, such as cell selection, handover or power control. Terminals' processing capabilities and the potentials derived through their integration with sensors, remain today mostly untapped. Taking advantage of these evolving sensing capabilities, the MOTIVE (MObile Terminal Information Value addEd Functionality) project intends to demonstrate the potential stemming from the exploitation of such information. The MOTIVE system comprises a terminal monitoring module (which operates in a user transparent mode) and a network module that collects the appropriate set of data and performs the proper processing. The paper examines the application of this concept in three key areas, related to integrated end-to-end user experience monitoring, ubiquitous terminal assisted positioning and anonymous mobile community services, taking into account the terminal functionality evolution as well as the network evolution towards a multi-access composite IP based network.