The article links the article where the authors suggest they don't need to know which tower you're connected to (in which case you could get a more accurate loc

The article links the article where the authors suggest they don't need to know which tower you're connected to (in which case you could get a more accurate location from the towers themselves).They assume the only information you have from the phone is the power usage. However, they also assume the attackers have a general idea of your habits, and can therefore map out cell reception in the city where you live. The "general habits" assumption seems implausible, but it isn't. Let's say you want to track all the citizens of the Bay Area. You know that, in general, ppl from the Bay area are in the Bay Area. Therefore, you map the cell reception in Bay area. You also take note of major transportation routes and patterns. Now, if you want to track a particular target, all you'll need is their power usage.