Session S3F Practical Positioning Projects: Location Based Services in the Laboratory Meriel Huggard1 and Ciarán Mc Goldrick2 Abstract – A novel laboratory environment where final developed have ranged from three dimensional, position aware year undergraduate students are tasked with developing game environments to a personal health assistant. unique, innovative and commercially viable location based This laboratory has been developed and refined over the services is described. This laboratory has been developed past five years and, in this paper, we report on our experience. and refined over the past five years. In this paper we detail In particular, the learning environment created is detailed, the the learning environment created, discuss the student course outcomes analysed and an evaluation provided. assessment procedures and analyse the course outcomes. COURSE DESIGN PHILOSOPHY Index Terms – Computer Science Education, Location Based The Mobile Communications course is divided into a number Services, Mobile Communications Laboratory. of modules involving a mix of formal lectures and laboratory INTRODUCTION work. Students begin by learning about the underlying principles of wireless transmission and how these underpin the Effective wireless communication is the key enabling design of wireless communication networks. This material technology for realising the emerging ubiquitous computing forms a platform for the subsequent analysis, assessment and vision. Many highly-effective tools and techniques have been implementation of a wide variety of wireless communication developed for teaching traditional wired networking topics in systems. Students taking this course are drawn from different a laboratory setting; however this is not yet the case in the degree programmes and have varying levels of exposure to the wireless communications arena. Commercial software has area so it is important for the instructors to accurately identify been used to introduce electrical engineering students to the the commonality of knowledge for each topic area. fundamentals of wireless transmission [1], however licensing This paper describes one module taken by students on the costs and issues makes it impractical for many to adopt such course; this module seeks to reinforce learning in an enjoyable solutions. Some have found ways to incorporate wireless way whilst encouraging students to become independent, software development practice into their classrooms [2]; while critical thinkers. As such it seeks to imbue the next generation others have sought to use wireless technologies to enhance and of researchers with a cognisance and awareness of both the extend their classroom [3, 4]. However these methods do not capabilities and limitations of modern mobile devices. provide students with practical, hands-on experience of the The course comprises a mixture of lectures, tutorials and underlying systems. practical classes. The lectures are delivered through a One of the key technologies underpinning ubiquitous combination of formal, didactic teaching classes in tandem computing is that of location based services and this should be with active learning opportunities where students engage with a fundamental component of any mobile communications the material in a deeper, more meaningful way. In the tutorials syllabus. This paper describes a novel location based services the students work in small groups to analyse, debate and laboratory environment which is a component of a final year discuss the topics being considered. To ensure maximum undergraduate course given to Computer Science students at benefit for the students the activities carried out during the Trinity College, Dublin. Students develop solutions using laboratory sessions are directly linked to the curriculum J2ME [5] (running on actual cellular phones) and the Apache objectives for the course. Jakarta Tomcat JSP server [6]. The freely available Ericsson Independent evaluation of the course is carried out Mobile Positioning System (MPS) [7] is used to provide a through the centrally administered university student survey positioning gateway interface (via a Java API) identical to that system. This uses a standardised, non-course specific range of available on a live cellular network. Students’ applications questions. More detailed feedback is gathered through targeted query the MPS and retrieve the positioning response provided class surveys carried out by the instructors. Students are also by the network. The technically innovative platforms asked to reflect on the nature of their learning during each developed must derive maximum usable information from the module of the course. In particular, they are required to longitude, latitude and accuracy data returned. Applications provide a critique of the strengths and weaknesses of both the laboratory and learning environment created for each module. 1 Meriel Huggard, Department of Computer Science, Trinity College, Dublin; [email protected] 2 Ciarán Mc Goldrick, Department of Computer Science, Trinity College, Dublin; [email protected] 0-7803-9077-6/05/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE October 19 – 22, 2005, Indianapolis, IN 35th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference S3F-1 Authorized licensed use limited to: TRINITY COLLEGE LIBRARY DUBLIN. Downloaded on July 9, 2009 at 17:54 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply. Session S3F they will experience in the real world. The technical The Mobile Communications course aims to: environment for this module can be deployed on either a • provide students with a sound technical basis in current Microsoft Windows or Linux x86 platform. Students may and emerging mobile communications technologies. choose to work with the platform on which they feel most • require students to derive and implement solutions to proficient. All the software components employed are freely problems in the mobile communications domain. available for download from their respective corporate • encourage students to develop and refine their technical websites. writing and critical appraisal skills in a supportive Platform environment. • equip students with the capabilities to realize innovative A dedicated laboratory environment has been provisioned for solution platforms from minimal problem domain use on this module. It comprises 30 PC’s, a dedicated server specifications. and instructor screen broadcast capabilities. The laboratory network is completely isolated from the main Departmental The learning outcomes for this course are that students and University networks. This allows students and researchers will be able to: model, investigate and validate technological infrastructures • recognise and discriminate between the different cognate that are unacceptable or forbidden on our main academic requirements of mobile communication technologies. networks. • describe, plan and implement innovative mobile The students are provided with full administrative access communications services. to the client PC’s in the laboratory. They are also provided • assess and document the infrastructure and functionality with access to an up-to-date repository of the main software of a mobile telecommunications network. packages used for the module. Currently the repository contains: Sun Microsystems Java 2 Platform Standard Edition • hold and clearly articulate an informed technical opinion. 1.4.2 and 5.0[8], Sun Microsystems Java 2 Mobile Edition • appraise and evaluate the social, cultural and ethical (J2ME) Wireless Toolkit 2.2[5], Ericsson’s Mobile implications of pervasive communications technologies. Positioning System (MPS) SDK 6.0.1[7], Ericsson’s MPC Maptool 3.0.1[9], Nokia’s Series 60 SDK for Symbian The Location Based Services laboratory described herein OS[10], Siemens Mobility Toolkit for Wireless is a key contributor to the aims and outcomes of this course. Applications[11], Apache HTTP Server 2.0.53[12], Apache MODULE STRUCTURE Jakarta Tomcat 5.5.7[6] and the NetBeans IDE[13]. All these packages are freely available for development purposes. In this module the student cohort are encouraged to create Students may install and use any, or all, of these packages on mobile computing environments that challenge the traditional their client PC but must justify their selections to the perceptions and boundaries of current thinking. The students instructors in light of their implemented services. are tasked with developing unique, innovative and Nominally the laboratory environment is exclusively commercially viable location based services. available to the module cohort for 2 hours each week. During Optimized 3-D topographical maps provide the this time the instructors are present and guide and assist the underlying environment. These are then layered with students in formulating and executing their proposed services. positional and co-ordinate geometry metadata. Position data Students are also free to use the resources, if available, outside can include physical, geographic and environmental triggers the timetabled slot and most avail of the opportunity to do so. or cues. The technically innovative platforms developed derive maximum usable information from this metadata Software through a positioning gateway interface. As already described, the module requires small groups of During the course of this module the students work in students to conceive and implement novel, commercially small, mainly self-selected groups of three. The module runs viable location based services that will be deployed on, or via, for six weeks and the