In some cases the first or last digit of CID represents cells' Sector ID:
value 0 is used for omnidirectional antenna,
values 1, 2, 3 are used to identify sectors of trisector or bisector 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]
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.[1]
Cell ID databases and servicesedit
A number of commercial and public Cell ID databases and services are available:
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
^"Google Location Service in Mozilla Firefox Privacy Policy". Google Inc. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
^"About Location Services and Privacy". Apple Inc. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
^"Windows Runtime APIs - Windows.Devices.Geolocation namespace". Microsoft Corp. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
External linksedit
Combain Positioning Service - cloud service with API to locate wireless devices based on Cell-ID and Wi-Fi
LocationAPI by Unwired Labs - Location as an API service to locate devices with WiFi, Cell towers & IP
Mozilla Location Service - an open service which lets devices determine their location based on network infrastructure like WiFi access points and cell towers
CellMapper - cellular coverage and tower map
OpenCellID - an open source project, aiming to create a complete database of Cell IDs worldwide, with their locations
cellidfinder - Find the coordinates of any known CellID.
Navizon - cloud service with API to locate wireless devices using a global database of WiFi access points and Cell-ID locations
openBmap - a free and open map of wireless communicating objects (e.g. cellular antenna, Wi-Fi access points...)
minigps - some information on Cell IDs in china
Mylnikov GEO - an open source API project. It lets get coordinates of mobile towers with no limits and absolutely free. (Russian)
Base Station Numbering Schemes - Discussion of cellular repeater numerology