This book contains invited chapters written by recognized experts in their respective topics, making it an authoritative and defining reference for this burgeoning field. Location-based services (LBS) are a new concept integrating geographic location (i.e., spatial coordinates) with the general notion of "services," such as auto emergency services and navigation systems, and mobile web services. With the development of mobile communication, these applications represent a novel challenge both conceptually and technically. This book describes in an accessible fashion the various concepts that serve as a support to mobile location-based services. The major issues to consider, together with their current solutions, are described formally and illustrated through a simple application. Contributors include: Shashi Shekhar, University of Minnesota; Clay Collier, Iro Systems; Mark Strassman, Autodesk ; Sarah Spiekermann; Humboldt University, Berlin; H. - Arno Jacobsen, University of Toronto; Christian S. Jensen, Aalborg University; Fredrik Bajers, Aalborg University; Lance McKee, OGC Consortium; Jörg Roth, University of Hagen; Holger Karl, Technical University, Berlin

Introduction - Jochen Schiller and Agnès Voisard ¿ Chapter 1 General Aspects of Location Based Services - Sarah Spiekermann ¿ Chapter 2 Case Study: The Development of the Find Friends Application - Mark Strassman and Clay Collier ¿ Chapter 3 Navigation Systems: A Spatial Database Perspective - Shashi Shekhar, Ranga Raju Vatsavai, Xiaobin Ma, and Jin Soung Yoo ¿ Chapter 4 Middleware for Location-Based Services - Hans-Arno Jacobsen, University of Toronto ¿ Chapter 5 Database Aspects of Location-Based Services - Christian Jensen ¿ Chapter 6 LBS Interoperability Through Standards - Lance McKee ¿ Chapter 7 Data Collection - Joerg Roth ¿ Chapter 8 Data Transmission in Mobile Communication Systems - Holger Karl