Technische Universität München Lehrstuhl für Kommunikationsnetze A Distributed Community-Based Location Service Architecture Maximilian Zündt Vollständiger Abdruck der von der Fakultät für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik der Technischen Universität München zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktor-Ingenieurs genehmigten Dissertation. Vorsitzender: Univ.-Prof. Dr. sc. nat. Christoph-Georg Günther Prüfer der Dissertation: 1. Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Eberspächer 2. Univ.-Prof. Bernd Brügge, Ph.D. Die Dissertation wurde am 24.05.2007 bei der Technischen Universität München eingereicht und durch die Fakultät für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik am 21.11.2007 angenommen. ii Foreword This work has been developed while being a research assistant at the Institute of Communication Networks (LKN) and Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) at the Technische Universität München. During my time at these institutes, I was not only able to gain deep understanding of the field of location technologies and services but also a broad interdisciplinary knowledge by conducting various research projects, carrying out courses and performing organizational tasks at the CDTM. Without the support of many individuals this work would have never been completed. It has been a great pleasure to work with all my former CDTM colleagues and staff members of the LKN.