Categories : Advertising, All, Case Study, Mobile and Wireless

Location Based Content Distribution System for Mobile Devices

Client Requirement

Location based Content Distribution System for Mobile Devices will be capable of interacting with wireless devices available in range forming a personal local area network (in case of Bluetooth) and making data accessible to any wireless device enabled with the downloadable wireless client.

The software will enable mobile users to access the Bluetooth/GPRS wireless network located at specific & certified locations and benefit from various value-added services & localized information.

The system will be targeted towards marketing purposes, business advertisements and infotainment services.

The system will be made available for shopping centers and other such customer-centric services based on their location & proximity to the retail outlets.

Project Challenges

Team faced the following challenges:

• Developing a system that works as a web server and is capable of delivering location-based proximity content distribution services within a certain range.
• Enabling the system to use both Bluetooth & GPRS wireless technology for communication.
• Developing a personal area network through the system and making data accessible to any wireless device enabled with the downloadable wireless client.
• Equipping the system with dependable framework capable of supporting a range of value-added services & localized information made available to customers over the network.
• Ensuring a safe and secure transfer of data.

Technologies Used

Manpower

Planning

Taking into consideration the functionality of the server the following development areas were charted out to be elaborated upon:

• The Web server using HTTP protocol for communication with the Web browser.
• Integrated third party SMS and MMS gateway to support SMS and MMS ads.
• The Mobile clients using Bluetooth stack (BTNode) for accessing mobile devices (in case of Bluetooth) or Packet based UDP/IP in case of GPRS.
• The Windows Desktop clients using internet protocols (TCP/IP) for the Web Server to communicate or Bluetooth stack (BTNode) if the PC is Bluetooth-enabled.

Architecture

For providing quality location-based advertising services, the Web Server was identified as the core component of the system. Via the web server it could be possible to configure and monitor the entire system. The web server would also allow for centralized monitoring of the security. The server was made available on Windows platform equipped with a number of BT Nodes. Data from mobile terminals could be routed via the BT Nodes to the web server where it can be accessed from third party applications.

The server was designed to keep track of mobile & PDA users to display personalized and location- based content and advertisements when they access the client services through Bluetooth or GPRS. The mobile clients would either use Bluetooth stack (BTNode) for accessing mobile devices or Packet based UDP/IP in case of GPRS. The web server would interact with the database using .Net pages. The system was integrated with third party SMS and MMS gateways to support SMS and MMS ads. Instead of directly connecting to the database the web server would compose SMS or MMS and send it to the respective gateway to ensure effective performance.