this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2024
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Privacy

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

EDIT: Sorry, I am idiot. What I described IS triangulation.

~~Reeeeeee! Phones. Are. Not. Triangulated.~~

Most cell towers use phased antenna array, so they know relative direction all the time. And distance can be estimated from latency and signal strength.

Two cell towers allow to get precise location from angles. Angles are derived from phase differences on elements of array and can't be manipulated like latency or signal strength.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Two cell towers allow to get precise location from angles.

But using two cell towers and angles would literally be triangulation....

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

What do you think the cell towers are triangulating and forming angles with? The person's phone is the third point in the triangle. You only need two other points to triangulate something's position.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I checked it. Damn. You are right. Point with unknown coordinates counts. Now I have to edit my comment and answer other subcomments of people I confused.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Interesting, I stand corrected. Thanks for informing me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Sorry, I am idiot. What I described IS triangulation. Alternative with distances is trilateration.