Products > Location-Based Services > GSM Infrastructure > Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC)

Xypoint® Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC)

Location server

The Xypoint® Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) module in the Xypoint Location Platform (XLP) is a standards-based solution supporting OMA-MLP and GSM MAP standard data interfaces. The GMLC is a control plane system that interfaces with emergency and commercial LCS clients and the operator’s network to provide a mobile stations’ location. The Xypoint Location Platform GMLC has been commercially in operation with customers since 2002.

TCS' GMLC goes beyond the functionality of a standard GMLC by providing location-based services on Cell-ID without using an SMLC. Where Cell-ID location is sufficient, this enables a cost effective GMLC-only solution without having to deploy an SMLC. TCS' GMLC can also provide privacy functions when deployed with the optional XLSG middleware platform.

The GMLC receives the Network-Initiated location request from an application, and coordinates the activities to ensure that a location is obtained and returned to the requesting application. The GMLC, as other control plane nodes, uses Signaling System 7 (SS7) or IP based Signaling Transport (SIGTRAN) to communicate with the wireless network.

The GMLC serves as the point of interface to the wireless network for the position determination network. The GMLC serves as the entity that retrieves, forwards, stores and controls position information within the position network. It can forward the position estimate to the requesting entity or store it for use in later location attempts.

The GMLC has 4 main components:

• Application Interface Module- interacts with Location Services (LCS) clients for location acquisition.
• Transaction Management- regulates the flow of location requests to both protect the location server itself, as well as the core network.
• Cache Management- stores acquired locations in a database for use in future location queries.
• Network Location Interface- interfaces with other nodes within the Carrier’s core network.  For a GMLC implementation this consists of the Lh (standard Lh plus ATI, SRI_SM), Lg (standard Lg plus PSI and MT_FW_SMS) interfaces, and Lr (OMA-RLP) interfaces.  The Network Location Interface supports standard SS7 links as well as SIGTRAN. 

TCS Xypoint Location Platform (XLP) infrastructure modules are built to meet high availability guidelines:

• Network:  All systems are connected to the Operator’s network in a fashion that allows for continued availability when network routes unexpectedly go offline.
• System: All systems are distributed across a series of redundant servers in an “all-hot” availability model, allowing for automatically routing requests to other system components when unexpected problems occur.
• Software:  All components are redundant by design, allowing for automatic redistributing traffic to online systems.

This allows a single XLP site to be 99.99% available to Operators.  Additional sites can be installed and networked together to offer Geo-redundancy options and increase availability to 99.999%.

TCS provides in-network, hosted, and hybrid LBS deployment. While the in-network option allows greater control, it requires a capital expenditure for requisite hardware and software as well as for the operating costs associated with non-stop operation, upkeep, and monitoring. By opting for TCS to host, operators remove the capital acquisition costs as well as the operational and logistical burdens associated with hardware and software purchase, installation, scalability, maintenance, and around-the-clock operations.