Localizar objetos ou pessoas no interior de um edifício é de grande interesse. Contudo, diferentemente do que ocorre no exterior de edificações, não há metodologia consagrada para a determinação da posição desses entes nos edifícios. Para o posicionamento em locais abertos existem tecnologias consolidadas, como GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), a dificuldade em fazê-lo em interiores é maior. Nesses casos, o GNSS não pode ser utilizado, pois os sinais de rádio dos satélites não conseguem penetrar através das estruturas, enquanto que outras tecnologias são apenas incipientes nesse quesito. Abordagens habituais para a resolução dessa demanda têm se baseado na utilização de propagadores das ondas de rádio do GNSS, no uso da potência de sinais de redes sem fio ou, ainda, no emprego de transmissores infravermelhos. No entanto, uma técnica diferente pode ser empreendida para essa finalidade. Usando-se a assinatura das potências de rádio das redes sem fio nas imediações e no interior da edificação, é possível criar um mapa com base nesses sinais, permitindo a determinação da posição de um objeto. No presente trabalho foram desenvolvidos um sistema para geração do mapa de sinais, com critério de parada e um método de cálculo de posicionamento. Procedeu-se, também, à análise de quatro critérios para o cálculo final da posição do objeto, baseados no uso da distância euclidiana com os conjuntos de roteadores disponíveis. Concluiu-se que, quando o mapa de sinais é pequeno, o posicionamento fracassou. Entretanto, quando a quantidade de sinais geradores do mapa aumenta, os resultados apresentaram melhora significativa, com resultados próximos a 100% de assertividade. Desse modo foi possível determinar uma estimativa boa para o número mínimo de roteadores presentes na base e estabelecer um critério de parada para a fase de criação do mapa de sinais. / Locate objects or person inside a building is a subject that matters. Although what occurs outdoor of a building, there is no consolidate methodology to define a position in an indoor environment. For outdoor positioning there is the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) a consolidate technology for outdoor usage with a lot of challenges to make this work in an indoor environment. In such cases, the GNSS cannot be used due to the lack of the sattelite radio signal, which cannot penetrate the walls and buildings structures, meanwhile other technologies are just incipient. Usual approaches using this approach are based in propagation of the GNSS radio signal, wi-fi based location or infrared transmitter. A different technique can be applied for indoor positioning. Using the wireless fingerprint in an indoor environment we created a radio map based on those signals, allowing the location of a mobile station. In the present research, we developed a system that generates a radio map (with a stop criteria) and a positioning calculation method. We concluded that when the radio map is small (with only a few measurements) the method cannot calculate accurately. However, with more measurements, the method succeeded and have a performance near a 100% of precision. In this way it was posible to estimate a number of access points needed for a building\'s range and define the stop criteria used in the radio map phase.

Localizar objetos ou pessoas no interior de um edifício é de grande interesse. Contudo, diferentemente do que ocorre no exterior de edificações, não há metodologia consagrada para a determinação da posição desses entes nos edifícios. Para o posicionamento em locais abertos existem tecnologias consolidadas, como GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), a dificuldade em fazê-lo em interiores é maior. Nesses casos, o GNSS não pode ser utilizado, pois os sinais de rádio dos satélites não conseguem penetrar através das estruturas, enquanto que outras tecnologias são apenas incipientes nesse quesito. Abordagens habituais para a resolução dessa demanda têm se baseado na utilização de propagadores das ondas de rádio do GNSS, no uso da potência de sinais de redes sem fio ou, ainda, no emprego de transmissores infravermelhos. No entanto, uma técnica diferente pode ser empreendida para essa finalidade. Usando-se a assinatura das potências de rádio das redes sem fio nas imediações e no interior da edificação, é possível criar um mapa com base nesses sinais, permitindo a determinação da posição de um objeto. No presente trabalho foram desenvolvidos um sistema para geração do mapa de sinais, com critério de parada e um método de cálculo de posicionamento. Procedeu-se, também, à análise de quatro critérios para o cálculo final da posição do objeto, baseados no uso da distância euclidiana com os conjuntos de roteadores disponíveis. Concluiu-se que, quando o mapa de sinais é pequeno, o posicionamento fracassou. Entretanto, quando a quantidade de sinais geradores do mapa aumenta, os resultados apresentaram melhora significativa, com resultados próximos a 100% de assertividade. Desse modo foi possível determinar uma estimativa boa para o número mínimo de roteadores presentes na base e estabelecer um critério de parada para a fase de criação do mapa de sinais. / Locate objects or person inside a building is a subject that matters. Although what occurs outdoor of a building, there is no consolidate methodology to define a position in an indoor environment. For outdoor positioning there is the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) a consolidate technology for outdoor usage with a lot of challenges to make this work in an indoor environment. In such cases, the GNSS cannot be used due to the lack of the sattelite radio signal, which cannot penetrate the walls and buildings structures, meanwhile other technologies are just incipient. Usual approaches using this approach are based in propagation of the GNSS radio signal, wi-fi based location or infrared transmitter. A different technique can be applied for indoor positioning. Using the wireless fingerprint in an indoor environment we created a radio map based on those signals, allowing the location of a mobile station. In the present research, we developed a system that generates a radio map (with a stop criteria) and a positioning calculation method. We concluded that when the radio map is small (with only a few measurements) the method cannot calculate accurately. However, with more measurements, the method succeeded and have a performance near a 100% of precision. In this way it was posible to estimate a number of access points needed for a building\'s range and define the stop criteria used in the radio map phase.

This thesis is concerned with the problem of designing Mobile Location Services (MLS) - also commonly termed Location-Based Services - that meet user needs. MLS are applications that users access via a portable device such as a mobile phone. They provide services (i.e. information or other functionality) to end-users based on knowledge of the location of individuals and other entities within the environment. The market failure of many mobile services, including MLS, has been attributed in part to failing to provide `value' to the end user. This thesis reviews different theoretical approaches to help understand the notion of `value', and how value may be used to inform design (Chapter 2). Research methods are also discussed, including the particular challenges with doing `mobile' research (Chapter 3). A survey of UK consumers( Chapter4 ) demonstratesa current lack of use, and lack of awarenesso f most forms of MLS in the UK. llowever, overall positive attitudes,a nd a range of behavioural and demographic data, suggest that MLS have the potential to be successful if they can be designed to meet user needs. A qualitative study of users' travelling behaviour (Chapter 5) then demonstrates how effective mobile information delivery can provide considerable value within a dynamic, uncertain and location-varying environment. This added value is highly dependent on contextual and situated factors, including existing information sources, variances in possible outcomes and the intrinsic qualities of information provision. The thesis then focuses on a particular application domain for MLS - drivers navigating in an unfamiliar environment. A literature review (Chapter 6) investigates how drivers navigate, and what their information needs are. Three experimental studies (Chapters 7 to 9) then investigate what information adds value within a navigation context, the impact of contextual influences on driving and navigation performance, and the impact of the quality of the navigation cue on task performance. Good landmarks (such as traffic lights) are shown to add value for drivers navigating an unfamiliar route, depending on the context at particular manoeuvres. This thesis discusses( Chapter 10) how a multi-disciplinary perspectivec an help maximise the acceptance and effectiveness of MLS. 'Value' can be used to design specific services for users, based on offering new freedoms to the individual within a mobile context, employing time and location sensitivity to maximise relevance, taking into account user knowledge, existing information sources and contextual factors, and ensuring impact on real-world outcomes. In conclusion (Chapter 11), specific contributions and avenues for future work are highlighted.

Depuis quelques dizaines d’années, l’utilisation de téléphones contenant un capteur GPS a fortement augmenté. Cependant, tous ces usages ne sont pas sans menace pour la vie privée des utilisateurs. En effet, les données de mobilité qu’ils envoient à ces services peuvent être utilisées pour inférer des informations sensibles telles que leur domicile ou leur lieu de travail. C’est à ce moment qu’entrent en action les mécanismes de protection, visant à redonner aux utilisateurs le contrôle sur leur vie privée. Nous commençons par répertorier les mécanismes de protection existants et les métriques utilisées pour les évaluer. Cette première analyse met en avant une information particulièrement sensible : les points d’intérêt. Ces derniers représentent tous les lieux où les utilisateurs passent la majeure partie de leur temps. Cela nous conduit à proposer un nouveau mécanisme de protection, PROMESSE, dont le but principal est de cacher ces points d’intérêt. Les mécanismes de protection sont en général configurés par des paramètres, qui ont un grand impact sur leur efficacité. Nous proposons ALP, une solution destinée à aider les utilisateurs à configurer leurs mécanismes de protection à partir d’objectifs qu’ils ont spécifié. Enfin, nous présentons Accio, un logiciel regroupant la majeure partie du travail de cette thèse. Il permet de lancer facilement des expériences destinées à étudier des mécanismes de protection, tout en renforçant leur reproductibilité. / In the past decades, the usage of GPS-enabled smartphones has dramatically risen. However, all these usages do not come without privacy threats. Indeed, location data that users are sending to these services can be used to infer sensitive knowledge about them, such as where they live or where they work. This is were protection mechanisms come into play, whose goal is to put users back in control of their privacy. We start by surveying existing protection mechanisms and metrics used to evaluate them. This first analysis highlights a particularly sensitive information, namely the points of interest. These are all the places where users use to spend most of their time. This leads us towards building a new protection mechanism, PROMESSE, whose main goal is to hide these points of interest. Protection mechanisms tend to be configured by parameters, which highly impact their effectiveness in terms of privacy and utility. We propose ALP, a solution to help users to configure their protection mechanisms from a set of objectives they specified. Finally, we introduce Accio, which is a software encompassing most of our work. Its goal is to allow to easily launch location privacy experiments and enforce their reproducibility.

Les fournisseurs de services géo-localisés (LBS) offrent des données textuelles et spatiales complémentaires, parfois incohérentes et imprécises, représentant les différents points d’intérêt (POI) sur un territoire donné. Ainsi, une même requête lancée auprès de divers fournisseurs de services touristiques peut donner des résultats différents et parfois incohérents, pour les attributs terminologiques et/ou les attributs spatiaux. De plus, chaque fournisseur utilise sa propre convention graphique pour représenter les POIs. L’intégration de ces données spatiales hétérogènes dans un contexte dynamique, large échelle, utilisant des sources incomplètes et de qualités variables est actuellement un verrou technologique. Dans ce travail de thèse, nous cherchons une solution à cette intégration aussi bien au niveau des données que de leur représentation. / Location Based Services (LBS) had been involved to deliver relevant geospatial information based on a geographic position or address. The amount of geospatial data is constantly increasing, making it a valuable source of information for enriching LBS applications. However, these geospatial data are highly inconsistent and contradictory from one source to another. We assume that integrating geospatial data from several sources may improve the quality of information offered to users. In this thesis, we specifically focus on data representing Points of Interest (POIs) that tourists can get through LBS. Retrieving, matching and merging such geospatial entities lead to several challenges. We mainly focus on three main challenges including (i) detecting and merging corresponding entities across multiple sources and (ii) considering the uncertainty of integrated entities and their representation in LBS applications.

Location-sharing services have become increasingly popular with the proliferation of smartphones and online social networks. People share their locations with each other to record their daily lives or satisfy their social needs. At the same time, inappropriate disclosure of location information poses threats to people's privacy. One of the reasons why people fail to protect their location privacy is the difficulty of using the current mechanisms to manually configure location-privacy settings. Since people's location-privacy preferences are context-aware, manual configuration is cumbersome. People's incapability and unwillingness to do so lead to unexpected location disclosures that violate their location privacy. In this thesis, we investigate the feasibility of using recommender systems to help people protect their location privacy. We examine the performance of location-privacy recommender systems and compare it with the state-of-the-art. We also conduct online user studies to understand people's acceptance of such recommender systems and their concerns. We revise our design of the systems according to the results of the user studies. We find that user-based collaborative filtering can accurately recommend location-privacy preferences and outperform the state-of-the-art when training data are insufficient. From users' perspective, their acceptance of location-privacy recommender systems is affected by the openness and the context of recommendations and their privacy concerns about the systems. It is feasible to use data obfuscation or decentralisation to alleviate people's concerns and meanwhile keep the systems robust against malicious data attacks.

Les réseaux corporels (WBAN) se réfère aux réseaux de capteurs (WSN) "portables" utilisés pour collecter des données personnelles, telles que la fréquence cardiaque ou l'activité humaine. Cette thèse a pour objectif de proposer des algorithmes coopératifs (PHY/MAC) pour effectuer des applications de localisation, tels que la capture de mouvement et la navigation de groupe. Pour cela, nous exploitons les avantages du WBAN avec différentes topologies et différents types de liens: on-body à l'échelle du corps, body-to-body entre les utilisateurs et off-body par rapport à l'infrastructure. La transmission repose sur une radio impulsionnelle (IR-UWB), afin d'obtenir des mesures de distance précises, basées sur l’estimation du temps d'arrivée (TOA). Ainsi, on s’intéresse au problème du positionnement à travers de la conception de stratégies coopératives et en considérant la mobilité du corps et les variations canal. Notre première contribution consiste en la création d'une base de données obtenue avec de scénarios réalistes pour la modélisation de la mobilité et du canal. Ensuite, nous introduisons un simulateur capable d'exploiter nos mesures pour la conception de protocoles. Grâce à ces outils, nous étudions d’abord l'impact de la mobilité et des variations de canal sur l'estimation de la distance avec le protocole "three way-ranging" (3-WR). Ainsi, nous quantifions et comparons l'erreur avec des modèles statistiques. Dans un second temps, nous analysons différentes algorithmes de gestion de ressources pour réduire l'impact de la mobilité sur l'estimation de position. Ensuite, nous proposons une optimisation avec un filtre de Kalman étendu (EKF) pour réduire l'erreur. Enfin, nous proposons un algorithme coopératif basé sur l'analyse d’estimateurs de qualité de lien (LQEs) pour améliorer la fiabilité. Pour cela, nous évaluons le taux de succès de positionnement en utilisant trois modèles de canaux (empirique, simulé et expérimental) avec un algorithme (basé sur la théorie des jeux) pour le choix des ancres virtuelles. / Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) refers to the family of “wearable” wireless sensor networks (WSN) used to collect personal data, such as human activity, heart rate, sleep sequences or geographical position. This thesis aims at proposing cooperative algorithms and cross-layer mechanisms with WBAN to perform large-scale individual motion capture and coordinated group navigation applications. For this purpose, we exploit the advantages of jointly cooperative and heterogeneous WBAN under full/half-mesh topologies for localization purposes, from on-body links at the body scale, body-to-body links between mobile users of a group and off-body links with respect to the environment and the infrastructure. The wireless transmission relies on an impulse radio Ultra-Wideband (IR-UWB) radio (based on the IEEE 802.15.6 standard), in order to obtain accurate peer-to-peer ranging measurements based on Time of Arrival (ToA) estimates. Thus, we address the problem of positioning and ranging estimation through the design of cross-layer strategies by considering realistic body mobility and channel variations. Our first contribution consists in the creation of an unprecedented WBAN measurement database obtained with real experimental scenarios for mobility and channel modelling. Then, we introduce a discrete-event (WSNet) and deterministic (PyLayers) co-simulator tool able to exploit our measurement database to help us on the design and validation of cooperative algorithms. Using these tools, we investigate the impact of nodes mobility and channel variations on the ranging estimation. In particular, we study the “three-way ranging” (3-WR) protocol and we observed that the delays of 3-WR packets have an impact on the distances estimated in function of the speed of nodes. Then, we quantify and compare the error with statistical models and we show that the error generated by the channel is bigger than the mobility error. In a second time, we extend our study for the position estimation. Thus, we analyze different strategies at MAC layer through scheduling and slot allocation algorithms to reduce the impact of mobility. Then, we propose to optimize our positioning algorithm with an extended Kalman filter (EKF), by using our scheduling strategies and the statistical models of mobility and channel errors. Finally, we propose a distributed-cooperative algorithm based on the analysis of long-term and short-term link quality estimators (LQEs) to improve the reliability of positioning. To do so, we evaluate the positioning success rate under three different channel models (empirical, simulated and experimental) along with a conditional algorithm (based on game theory) for virtual anchor choice. We show that our algorithm improve the number of positions estimated for the nodes with the worst localization performance.

Der Paradigmenwechsel zur Entwicklungsmethodik innerhalb verteilter Kommunikationssysteme schlägt sich auch in der Telematik zum Anwendungspotential und Systemkomplexität nieder. Dies liefert eine neue Auffasung dessen, was den transparenten Datenkanal ausmacht.

Der Paradigmenwechsel zur Entwicklungsmethodik innerhalb verteilter Kommunikationssysteme schlägt sich auch in der Telematik zum Anwendungspotential und Systemkomplexität nieder. Dies liefert eine neue Auffasung dessen, was den transparenten Datenkanal ausmacht.