A
vehicle tracking system is an electronic device
installed in a vehicle to enable the owner or a third party
to track the vehicle's location. Most modern vehicle
tracking systems use
Global Positioning System (GPS) modules for accurate
location of the vehicle. Many systems also combine a
communications component such as cellular or satellite
transmitters to communicate the vehicle’s location to a
remote user. Vehicle information can be viewed on electronic
maps via the Internet or specialized software.
Current vehicle
tracking systems have their roots in the shipping industry.
Corporations with large fleets of vehicles required some
sort of system to determine where each vehicle was at any
given time. Vehicle tracking systems can now also be found
in consumers vehicles as a theft prevention and retrieval
device.
Police can follow the signal emitted by the tracking
system to locate a stolen vehicle.
Many vehicle
tracking systems are now using or a form of
automatic vehicle location (AVL) to allow for easy
location of the vehicle. The GPS satellite system was built
and is maintained by government and is available at no cost
to civilians. This makes this technology very inexpensive.
Other AVL systems do not require the antenna to be in direct
line of sight with the sky. Terrestrial based systems such
as
LORAN and
LoJack tracking units use
radio frequency (RF) transmitters which will
transmit through walls, garages, or buildings. Many police
cruisers around the world have a form of AVL tracking as
standard equipment in their vehicles.
Some vehicle
tracking systems charge the user a monthly subscription for
a bundle that includes mapping software, hardware,
installation, and tracking service. Other companies offer
units that are paid for upon installation and will continue
to work for the life of the vehicle. The decision to adopt
an active technology based on RF (e.g. LORAN), satellite or
public carrier (e.g.
CDMA) is driven by the quantity of information, the
frequency of updates, and the physical environment of the
device. For example a fleet manager may want 5 minute
updates, telling whether a vehicle is on or off, or may want
30 second updates tracking engine vitals, brake status,
container status, vehicle speed and direction and so on.
