Feasibility of software-based duty cycling of GPS for trajectory-based services

Energy-efficient localization is increasingly important for many types of smartphone apps. The research community has argued that fixed duty cycling of GPS is not a good choice for trajectory-based services concerning route accuracy. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a highly accurate map matching and path construction algorithm. Furthermore, with thorough field experiments, we show that fixed duty cycling of a smartphone GPS receiver is a feasible approach for trajectory-based services, and it can achieve considerable energy conservation without sacrificing much route accuracy. When increasing the GPS sampling period beyond 120 seconds, it saves at least 78% energy in comparison to continuous GPS sampling, while the loss of route accuracy tends to be stable around 23%.