Contact Classification in COVID-19 Tracing

08/02/2020
by   Christoph Günther, et al.
0

The present paper addresses the task of reliably identifying critical contacts by using COVID-19 tracing apps. A reliable classification is crucial to ensure a high level of protection, and at the same time to prevent many people from being sent to quarantine by the app. Tracing apps are based on the capabilities of current smartphones to enable a broadest possible availability. Existing capabilities of smartphones include the exchange of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals and of audio signals, as well as the use of gyroscopes and magnetic sensors. The Bluetooth power measurements, which are often used today, may be complemented by audio ranging and attitude estimation in the future. Smartphones are worn in different ways, often in pockets and bags, which makes the propagation of signals and thus the classification rather unpredictable. Relying on the cooperation of users to wear their phones hanging from their neck would change the situation considerably. In this case the performance, achievable with BLE and audio measurements, becomes predictable. Our analysis identifies parameters that result in accurate warnings, at least within the scope of validity of the models. A significant reduction of the spreading of the disease can then be achieved by the apps, without causing many people to unduly go to quarantine. The present paper is the first of three papers which analyze the situation in some detail.

READ FULL TEXT
research
05/12/2020

How Reliable is Smartphone-based Electronic Contact Tracing for COVID-19?

Smartphone-based electronic contact tracing is currently considered an e...
research
02/06/2021

Contact Tracing Apps for COVID-19: Access Permission and User Adoption

Contact tracing apps are powerful software tools that can help control t...
research
08/01/2020

BatNet: Data transmission between smartphones over ultrasound

In this paper, we present BatNet, a data transmission mechanism using ul...
research
07/06/2023

Smartphones in a Microwave: Formal and Experimental Feasibility Study on Fingerprinting the Corona-Warn-App

Contact Tracing Apps (CTAs) have been developed to contain the coronavir...
research
01/22/2021

WIP: Distance Estimation for Contact Tracing – A Measurement Study of BLE and UWB Traces

Mobile contact tracing apps are – in principle – a perfect aid to condem...
research
06/23/2020

A First Look at Contact Tracing Apps

Today's smartphones come with a large number of powerful additional devi...

Please sign up or login with your details

Forgot password? Click here to reset