OpenCellID is a collaborative community project that collects GPS positions of cell towers and their corresponding location area identity. More than 49,000 contributors are registered with OpenCellID, contributing more than 1 million new measurements every day on average to the OpenCellID database. As of August 21, 2017 the database contained 35.5 million unique cells and 2.1 billion unique measurements. OpenCellID publishes an aggregate data set of cell locations licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyrics ...

with the intention of promoting free use and redistribution of the data.

Applications

Data on Cell IDs and their locations can be used to provide location information to mobile devices. Using Cell ID locations to find device location is more power efficient and often faster than using satellite-based navigation systems, although it is less precise because of the lack of known Cell IDs. The database is also used to determine the strength of available wireless connections and which mobile phone service providers have coverage in specific geographic locations.

Data sources

The unique location area identities of the

cell towers A cell site, cell tower, or cellular base station is a cellular-enabled mobile device site where antennas and electronic communications equipment are placed (typically on a radio mast, tower, or other raised structure) to create a cell, or adjac ...

can be collected by devices that utilize the wireless network provided by those cell towers. This data is primarily contributed by

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

users who have installed apps, such as OpenCellID or OpenCellID Client, and commercial tracking devices such as blackboxes, but also by wholesale data donation by corporations. This is then collected and transferred into the OpenCellID

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...

database.

Licensing

The OpenCellID database is published under a

open content license with the intention of promoting free use and redistribution of the data.

References

External links

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OpenCellID Community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Opencellid Internet properties established in 2008 Radio navigation Tracking Wireless locating