Relay in Real Time
Vehicle tracking relies both on the Global Positioning satellites (GPS) and a cellular system. A tracking module in the vehicle continuously picks up the GPS coordinates that indicate the real time location of the vehicle. Using a cellular data service such as GPRS, the coordinates are immediately transmitted to the tracking company's computers. Customers log in to the tracking company Web site to see their vehicles on road maps, similar to in-dash and handheld GPS-based navigation systems (see navigation system and GPS).
No Relay - Report Later
There are non-real time tracking systems in which the in-vehicle module records the coordinates, but does not relay them for real time monitoring. The data are downloaded from the module when the vehicle is returned at the end of the trip. See mobile positioning.
GPS Tracking in Real Time
Real time tracking uses both GPS and cellular systems to relay vehicle coordinates to the tracking service.
![]() | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
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