GPS tracking relies on a number of different technologies working together to allow you to track your GPS devices over the internet. The figure below depicts the various stages of the process, from inside the vehicle, to inside your office. Although this example uses a vehicle as the asset being tracked, the same principles apply to tracking aircraft, ships or even people.
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Inside the Vehicle |
The process starts inside the vehicle between the vehicle and the GPS tracking device. Typically, GPS tracking devices are wired to directly receive power from the vehicle's battery and to monitor the state of the ignition. Typically while the ignition is off, your GPS tracking device is in sleep state, which is used to conserve battery life and save you network usage fees while the vehicle is off. In this state, the device does not usually report on its location. However, when the ignition is turned on, the GPS tracking device wakes up and starts its job of tracking.
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GPS Location |
When the GPS device wakes up, it will attempt to attain its current position through its GPS receiver. The GPS receiver is a small device that uses a special antenna, which is mounted so that it can have access to a view of the sky. It is important for the receiver's antenna to be mounted this way in order to receive broadcast signals from stationary satellites positioned all around the earth. These satellites were originally launched by the US government for military use, specifically marine navigation, but have since been opened to the public for personal or commercial tracking.
The receiver picks up signals from various satellites that cover the particular area of the earth where your device is located and uses their singles to determine exactly where you are. The more satellites you find broadcasting from where you are located, the better the accuracy of your location. This is why it is important to mount your GPS antenna in apposition to where it can have the best view of the open sky. Many times it may take a few minutes for your receiver to pickup enough satellites to accurately determine your position.
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Communications |
At the same time your GPS tracking device is determining its position, it also tries to establish a connection to its communication network, in this example, we will use cellular. Using the SIM, the small card that goes into the device from your cellular provider, it connects over the air to the nearest cell tower. This is the same technology used by cellular phones, except in this case, we are transmitting data instead of a voice conversation. During that data connection, the cellular provider allows the device to access the internet. Using the setup information programmed into the device, the device then attempts to connect to the internet address you defined as the server. Contacting the server, the device sends its unique identifier to the server so it knows the identity of the device. At this point, we have a live communications link from the device to the server. Any location information such as the vehicle's current position or panic alerts will be sent using this connection. In the event that the connection is broken, the device will repeat these steps automatically to secure a new connection.
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Cygnus Track Servers |
Cygnus Track receives the information over the internet from the device and records its locations in a database. The messages received are inspected for things such as speeding violations, emergency situations, etc. Once the message is received into Cygnus Track, it is available for you to see from the web interface. In most cases, the time it takes a device to read a location, send it to Cygnus Track, and display it on the web interface is typically 2 to 3 minutes. Older data is eventually archived and moved off the servers to long term storage; this data can be examined in the future if the need arises. The archiving process ensures that the system runs quickly and is not burdened with infrequently accessed data.
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Cygnus Track Web Client |
When you want to see the location of your vehicles, you can access the Cygnus Track web interface online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. How is that for simple?
In summary, GPS vehicle tracking utilizes many different types of technology, from US government satellites overhead, to the commercial cellular towers you use to make phone calls. Although the technology may be complex, we can help you navigate the waters of GPS tracking and provide the solution that best fits your needs. Since Cygnus Track specializes in tracking software, we do not have a hardware agenda. While other companies may try to sell you their hardware, regardless of your needs, we do not. We will work with any hardware vendor to help you choose the perfect devices for your unique situation, even if the devices source from multiple vendors. Give us a call—we will help you tailor a complete solution today!
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