Inovelab

1. You get your TIM¹ Mobile phone.
2. Disk *333 from inside your home.
3. Now you can make every call from your mobile at your homezone to any fixed phone with local fixed shares.

Homezone GSM localization is the use of Multilateration or 'trilateration' to determine the location of GSM mobile phones, usually with the intent to locate the user. You call the *333 and the 'Trilateration' thing begins.

Trilateration is a method of determining the relative positions of objects using the geometry of triangles in a similar fashion as triangulation. Unlike triangulation, which uses angle measurements (together with at least one known distance) to calculate the subject's location, trilateration uses the known locations of two or more reference points, and the measured distance between the subject and each reference point. To accurately and uniquely determine the relative location of a point on a 2D plane using trilateration alone, generally at least 3 reference points are needed.

Standing at B, you want to know your location relative to the reference points P1, P2, and P3. Measuring r1 narrows your position down to a circle. Next, measuring r2 narrows it down to two points, A and B. A third measurement, r3, gives your coordinates at B. A fourth measurement could also be made to reduce error. And that's why Bin Laden could not have a mobile phone!

The beautiful thing about innovation is that it puts all these physics, mathematics and difficult things toghether in my hands to simply order a pizza!

¹TIM (TIM Participacoes - Public, NYSE:TSU) is a wireless provider in Brazil. The Company offers value-added services, including short message services or text messaging, multimedia messaging services (MMS), push-mail, Blackberry service, video call, turbo mail, wireless application protocol (WAP) downloads, Web browsing, business data solutions, songs, games, television access, voice mail, conference calling, chats, and other content and services. On March 16, 2006, the Company acquired all of the share capital of TIM Celular S.A.