Location and Its Semantics in Location-Based Services

Starting with a simple presentation of location determination techniques, physical location and geographic location as two common kinds of location description methods are discussed. The semantic location concept is then introduced and a correction is given, which especially emphasizes that location property is an important part of semantic location. By analyzing the connotation and extension of every geographic location, what should be contained in a location property is determined. Using a hierarchical model, the relations and associations among locations are clearly described. To realize a formalized description of semantic location, an ontology technique that can adequately describe semantic information of location is used. Organized by ontology web language, a location ontology model allows semantic location to be read and processed by computer. The location ontology model realizes the knowledge description of location information and establishes an important foundation to personalized preference services in location based services.