Technology
How do location-based services work?
There are two types of technologies used in location based services. One service relies upon GPS for location positioning, and the other upon a terrestrial infrastructure. A tag is affixed to the object wanting to be tracked - be that a person, a forklift or an Abrams tank. A positioning system may use GPS for location and communicate this to a management facility via base stations, or a positioning system may rely upon base stations processing signal strength to provide proximity information.
This location may be achieved through triangulation, signal strength or simple proximity, amongst other methods. By analysing the three components - Tag, Base and Method of Location - It Is possible to effectively evaluate the differences between existing market products. Each application has its own set of features and benefits and its own set of disadvantages. GPS is currently being used in vehicle management systems, only works outdoors due to it's reliance on satellites. Passive RFID has become very popular in supply-chain management and retail stock control, but due to the use of pinch-points and an inability to give real-time location Information to users, the technology has not translated into other fields, such as asset management and security. Active RRD is becoming increasingly popular in warehouse management and small-scale operational tracking and although it has many practical applications, cost can be prohibitive and real-time location is rarely achieved. Many Active RFID applications rely on giving the user an approximate idea of the general vicinity of a selected tag, and then the user takes a hand held reader to that area for a more precise location - time consuming and frustrating at best, costly and damaging at worst.
Known as LAT™ and developed by Location Aware Technologies in Canberra, Australia, this patent-pending technology has the ability to locate and track assets and personnel to within a 5 metre (untuned) radius in real-time. LAT™ operates In a multitude of environments ' buildings, compounds, hangars, warehouses, mines, basements, multi-floor buildings, ports, storage facilities and high security facilities. The technology works both indoors and outdoors. This environmental adaptability makes the technology suitable for a large range of practical applications and a level of versatility not yet seen in existing location services. This level of versatility has been achieved through a completely new approach to location technologies. Location Aware Technologies have developed a location method that is termed a Wireless Sensory Network - a wireless, mesh network that can accurately identify the real time whereabouts of a tag moving within the mesh in real time. This network brings with it many benefits, offering a free-to-air messaging system, allowing tags and bases to instantly communicate with each other via text message without interference or time delays and without carrier charges.
What makes LAT™ different fom other systems.
The operating frequency of the Wireless Network can be is set to the appropriate ISM Band, for the respective country. Each environment is fully analysed prior to installation. LAT™ operates using bases that can be installed, either temporarily or permanently, within a building or campus, indoors or outdoors.
These bases form a platform for the network that in turn provides the location. As tagged items and people move within the network their location is passed on to the viewer's terminal, where tagged Items can be seen moving in real time. Location Aware Technologies have also been sensitive to consumer needs in terms of cost. Accurate, real time location should not be prohibitively expensive in order to enable customers to realise the benefits of effective asset utilisation and personnel management.
