With the advancements made in new technologies, it is now possible to track assets in real time. Real Time Tracking Systems enable visibility of assets in real time, using which, organizations can plan, act in an efficient way. This is made possible by a combination of technologies. Earlier this was not possible as technologies were working in isolation and were not integrated or the individual technologies had its own limitations. This article covers the basics of the real time tracking systems.

All organizations need to tracking information about the assets. The information includes questions like -

  • Which asset is Where?
  • Where did it come from?
  • Where is it going?
  • How Much time will it take to reach a particular place?

This necessarily requires automatic identification, location information and a data processing system. This information is made avaiable by the use of following technologies – RFID, GPS, Networking technologies and Enterprise application. Here we will deal with each of the technologies that form parts of the technology.

RFID

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification): RFID technology is used to automatically identify an asset. Their are different flavours of technology available – LF, HF, UHF and Active. The choice of technology depends on the exact usecase. The basic components of the technology are – Readers, Tags and software application. Each item/asset that needs to be tracked has a RFID tag on it. When the tags pass by the reader, it sends its identity and data associated. In common usecases, the tags have a unique number with entire data sitting on the server side in a secure database.

GPS

GPS (Global Positioning System): GPS is used for location identification of assets. It uses satellites to locate an object having the GPS chip. GPS antennas are placed on the item for which you want to know the location. It can placed on a static or moving container, vehicle etc. The GPS antenna gets the location using triangulation from satellites. It gets the latitude, longitude, direction, altitude information from the satellite. The resolution of data depends on the chip used. The resolution requirement is decided by the usecase. Their are different flavours of it available in the market.

Networking Technologies

Networking Technologies: Their are different types of networking technologies available and the choice of which is guided by the usecase. If the information has to be transferred from vehicles on road, GPRS is used as a medium. It its used for passing information across static locations, Local Area Network is used. If it has to be transferred from a local site in an open filed to local server, wireles technologies can be used.

Host application

Host application: The three technologies mentioned above collect different kinds of data about an asset. RFID captures the identity information about the asset. GPS collects the location of the asset. Networking technologies are used to transfer data from the place where asset is to the central server for further processing. Host application captures the data and does the following:

  • It filters data based on certain criteria.
  • It enhances, enriches the data received from the asset by adding business context. For example, a truck carrying asset number 1 is en route to warehouse A against the purchase order XXX.
  • It triggers alarms, exceptions based on certain pre-configured rules. The rules can be applied in real time too.
  • It sends data to a legacy application where it is analyzed further.

Applications

Their are lot of applications possible based on the combination of technologies mentioned above. Some examples are:

  • Container Tracking in a CFS (Container Freight System)
  • Child Tracking
  • In transit tracking in supply chains

Their are myriad of possibilities with the technology stack mentioned above. The next set of articles will cover each application in more detail. The key to success of implementing the solutions is the right choice of different flavours of technology and taking into account external factors which can influence the application.The time for the technology has come because integration of different technolgies involved is possible now.

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