AN ANALYSIS OF BASE STATION LOCATION ACCURACY WITHIN MOBILE-CELLULAR NETWORKS

An important feature within a mobile-cellular net- work is that the location of a cellphone can be determined. As long as the cellphone is powered on, the location of the cellphone can always be traced to at least the cell from which it is receiving, or last received, signal from the cellular network. Such network-based methods of estimating the location of a cellphone is useful in cases where the cellphone user is unable or unwilling to reveal his or her location, and have practical value in digital forensic investigations. This study investigates the accuracy of using mobile-cellular network base station information for estimating the location of cellphones. Through quantitative analysis of mobile-cellular network base station data, large variations between the best and worst accuracy of recorded location information is exposed. Thus, depending on the requirements, base station locations may or may not be accurate enough for a particular application.