Abstract
Device-independent Internet spatial location is needed for many purposes, such as data personalisation and social behaviour analysis. Internet spatial databases provide such locations based the IP address of a device. The free to use databases are natively included into many UNIX and Linux operating systems. These systems are predominantly used for e-shops, social networks, and cloud data storage. Using a constructed ground truth dataset, we comprehensively evaluate these databases for null responses, returned country/region/city, and distance error. The created ground truth dataset differs from others by covering cities with both low and high populations and maintaining only devices that follow the rule of one IP address per ISP (Internet Service Provider) and per city. We define two new performance metrics that show the effect of city population and trustworthiness of the results. We also evaluate the databases against an alternative measurement-based approach. We study the reasons behind the results. The data evaluated comes from Europe. The results may be of use for engineers, developers and researchers that use the knowledge of geographical location for related data processing and analysis, such as marketing.
Highlights
This paper deals with the spatial location of Internet devices
We process our ground truth dataset to maintain only devices that follow the rule of one IP address per Internet service providers (ISP) and per city
The defined blocks have location information assigned. This location information is derived from various sources, such as from Internet registries managed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), Internet traffic measurement and analysis, mining of public online data, information from global positioning systems (GPS) devices, and volunteers providing their locations
Summary
This paper deals with the spatial location of Internet devices. It focuses on device-independent location where the location of a device is estimated remotely by its known IP address and not locally by the device itself, such as using a GPS module. We use a filtered ground truth dataset that we constructed It includes devices coming from Europe with a known correct location. We process our ground truth dataset to maintain only devices that follow the rule of one IP address per ISP and per city. This way, the results should be error-free as they are not influenced by a multiplication of the same results for the devices with an IP address obtained through the same ISP. The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 describes the background on device-independent spatial location based on IP addresses.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
