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GSM Cell ID

{{Short description|Identifier of a base station on a cell phone network}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{citation style|date=July 2014}}

{{Primary sources|date=June 2017}}

}}

A GSM Cell ID (CID) is a generally unique number used to identify each base transceiver station (BTS) or sector of a BTS within a location area code (LAC) if not within a GSM network.

In some cases the first or last digit of CID represents cells' Sector ID:

  • value 0 is used for omnidirectional antenna,
  • values 1, 2, and 3 are used to identify sectors of bisector or trisector antennas.

In UMTS, there is a distinction between Cell ID (CID) and UTRAN Cell ID (also called LCID). The UTRAN Cell ID (LCID) is a concatenation of the RNC-ID (12 bits, ID of the Radio Network Controller) and Cell ID (16 bits, unique ID of the Cell). CID is just the Cell ID. The concatenation of both will still be unique but can be confusing in some cellid databases as some store the CID and other store LCID. It makes sense to record them separately as the RNC ID is the same for many cells, the unique element is the CID.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

A valid CID ranges from 0 to 65535 (216 − 1) on GSM and CDMA networks and from 0 to 268,435,455 (228 − 1) on UMTS and LTE networks.{{cite web|title=Cell Networks|url=https://mozilla.github.io/ichnaea/internal_api/models/cell.html#cell-networks|accessdate=21 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211934/https://mozilla.github.io/ichnaea/internal_api/models/cell.html#cell-networks|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

Cell ID databases and services

A number of commercial and public Cell ID databases and services are available:

class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
Name

! Unique cells

! align="right" | Countries (MCC)

! Operators (MNC)

! Measurements

! Free database download

! Active project

! Data license

! class="unsortable" | Comment

Cell Spotting

| align="right" | 0.1 million{{cite web |url=http://cellspotting.com/thick/statistics.php |title=CellSpotting Stats |accessdate=2016-03-29 |format= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080101015633/http://www.cellspotting.com/thick/statistics.php |archive-date=2008-01-01 |url-status=dead }}

| align="center" |

| align="center" | 667

| align="right" |

| align="center" |

| align="center" | no

| {{Free|CC0}}

|

Combain Mobile

| align="right" | >185 million{{cite web |url=http://www.combain.com/ |title=Combain Mobile |accessdate=2025-06-19 |format= }}

| align="center" | >240

| align="center" | >1700

| align="right" | >150 billion

| align="center" | no

| align="center" | yes

|

| Supports GSM, CDMA, UMTS, LTE, NB-IoT and NR via API.{{cite web |url=https://combain.com/products/combain-location-api/ |title=Combain Location API |accessdate=2025-06-19 |format= }}

LocationAPI.org

| align="right" | 157.89 million{{cite web |url=https://unwiredlabs.com/ |title=Unwired Labs LocationAPI |accessdate=2016-03-29 |format= }}

| align="center" | 240

| align="center" | 1712

| align="right" | 25 billion

| align="center" | no

| align="center" | yes

|

| Supports WiFi, GSM, CDMA, UMTS and LTE technologies via its API. File:Coverage Map - Unwired Labs LocationAPI.png{{cite web |url=http://unwiredlabs.com/coverage |title=Unwired Labs Coverage Map |accessdate=2016-03-29 |format= }}

|

Mozilla Location Service

| align="right" | 28.2 million{{cite web |url=https://location.services.mozilla.com/stats |title=Statistics - Mozilla Location Service |accessdate=2016-03-29 |format= }}

| align="center" | 240{{cite web |url=https://location.services.mozilla.com/stats/regions |title=Per Country Cell Statistics - Mozilla Location Service |accessdate=2016-03-29 |format= }}

| align="center" |

| align="right" | 2.7 billion

| align="center" | yes{{cite web |url=https://location.services.mozilla.com/downloads |title=Cell Download - Mozilla Location Service |accessdate=2020-12-17 |format= }}

| align="center" | no{{cite web |url=https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/retiring-the-mozilla-location-service/128693 |title=Retiring the Mozilla Location Service |accessdate=2024-07-26 |format= }}

| {{Free|CC0}}

| Based on crowd-sourced data. Also WiFi database. Cooperating with OpenCelliD and Combain.{{cite web |url=https://blog.mozilla.org/services/2015/03/06/combain-deal-helps-expand-mozilla-location-service/ |title=Combain Deal Helps Expand Mozilla Location Service |accessdate=2015-04-09 |format= }}

Mylnikov GEO{{cite web |url=https://www.mylnikov.org/archives/1059 |title=Stats Mylnikov GEO Cells|accessdate=2016-03-29 |format= }}

| align="right" | >34 million

| align="center" | 505

| align="center" | 3500

| align="right" |

| align="center" | yes

| align="center" | no{{cite web |url=https://www.mylnikov.org/download |title=Mylnikov Download page |accessdate=2020-12-17 |format= }}

|

| Contains data from radiocells.org, OpenCellID and MLS.

Navizon{{cite web |url=http://www.navizon.com/wifi-cell-tower-location-database |title=Navizon Global Positioning System |accessdate=2016-03-29 |format= |archive-date=2021-01-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119081128/http://navizon.com/wifi-cell-tower-location-database |url-status=dead }}

| align="right" | 71 million

| align="center" | 239

| align="center" | 1712

| align="right" | 22 billion

| align="center" | no

| align="center" | yes

|

| Based on crowd-sourced data. Also WiFi database.{{cite web |url=http://www.navizon.com/navizon_coverage_cell.htm |title=Navizon Cellular Coverage Map |accessdate=2016-03-29 |archive-date=2017-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171123154840/http://navizon.com/navizon_coverage_cell.htm |url-status=dead }}

NetMeterProject.com

| align="right" | 0.2 million

| align="center" | 77

| align="center" | 174

| align="right" | 10 million

| align="center" | limited; private use only

| align="center" | no {{cite web |url=http://board.netmeterproject.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=665 |title=Board NetMeterProject |accessdate=2016-03-29 |format= }}{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

|

| Only a small portion of the database can be downloaded and for private use only: the measurements where the crowd users accepted the "Creative Commons Namensnennung-Nicht-kommerziell-Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 3.0 Deutschland" license

OpenCellID by Unwired Labs{{cite web |url=http://opencellid.org/#action=statistics.cells&type=5&dateFrom=&dateTo=&mcc=&mnc=&sortBy=1 |title=opencellid.org Realtime Statistics |accessdate=2015-08-30 |format= }}

| align="right" | 38.9 million

| align="center" | 222

| align="center" | 753

| align="right" | 2.1 billion

| align="center" | yes

| align="center" | yes

|{{Free|CC-BY-SA 3.0}}

| File:OpenCellID database growth.png Based on crowd-sourced data; free API key required for database download; Service is now maintained by Unwired Labs.{{cite web|url=http://wiki.opencellid.org/wiki/Main_Page|title=OpenCellID wiki|accessdate=2017-03-02|format=}}

OpenSignal{{cite web|url=http://opensignal.com/coverage-maps/|title=Stats OpenSignalMap|accessdate=2014-09-06|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150502112843/http://opensignal.com/coverage-maps/#|archive-date=2015-05-02|url-status=dead}}

| align="right" | 0.8 million

| align="center" |

| align="center" | 825

| align="right" | 5.2 billion

| align="center" | no

| align="center" | yes

|

radiocells.org{{cite web |url=http://www.radiocells.org/ |title=radiocells.org |accessdate=2016-03-29 |format= }}

| align="right" | 0.7 million

| align="center" | 94

| align="center" | 243

| align="right" |

| align="center" | yes

| align="center" | yes

|{{Free|CC-BY-SA 3.0}}

| Based on crowd-sourced data.

WiGLE{{cite web |url=https://wigle.net/stats |title=Stats WiGLE|accessdate=2016-03-29 |format= }}

| align="right" | 6.2 million

| align="center" |

| align="center" |

| align="right" |

| align="center" | no

| align="center" | yes

|

CellMapper

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| align="center" | no

| align="center" | yes

|

OpenMobileNetwork

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G-NetWold by Gyokov Solutions

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Skyhook Wireless

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Google Location Services{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/privacy/lsf.html|title=Google Location Service in Mozilla Firefox Privacy Policy|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=Google Inc.|access-date=2016-09-30}}

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Apple Location Services{{Cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT207056|title=About Location Services and Privacy|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=Apple Inc.|access-date=2016-09-30}}

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Microsoft Location Services{{Cite web|url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/apps/br225603|title=Windows Runtime APIs - Windows.Devices.Geolocation namespace|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=Microsoft Corp.|access-date=2016-09-30}}

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See also

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [https://combain.com/ Combain Positioning Service] - cloud service with API to locate wireless devices based on Cell-ID and Wi-Fi
  • [https://unwiredlabs.com/ LocationAPI by Unwired Labs] - Location as an API service to locate devices with WiFi, Cell towers & IP
  • [https://location.services.mozilla.com/ Mozilla Location Service] - an open service which lets devices determine their location based on network infrastructure like WiFi access points and cell towers
  • [https://www.cellmapper.net/map CellMapper] - cellular coverage and tower map
  • [https://opencellid.org OpenCellID] - an open source project, aiming to create a complete database of Cell IDs worldwide, with their locations
  • [https://cellidfinder.com/ cellidfinder] - Find the coordinates of any known CellID.
  • [https://www.navizon.com/ Navizon] - cloud service with API to locate wireless devices using a global database of WiFi access points and Cell-ID locations
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20180601142241/http://www.openbmap.org/ openBmap] - a free and open map of wireless communicating objects (e.g. cellular antenna, Wi-Fi access points...)
  • [http://minigps.net/map.html minigps] - some information on Cell IDs in china
  • [https://www.mylnikov.org/archives/1059 Mylnikov GEO] - an open source API project. It lets get coordinates of mobile towers with no limits and absolutely free. (Russian)
  • [http://people.csail.mit.edu/bkph/cellular_repeater_numerology.shtml Base Station Numbering Schemes] - Discussion of cellular repeater numerology

Category:GSM standard