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Concept
GPS tracking unit
Summary
A GPS tracking unit, geotracking unit, satellite tracking unit, or simply tracker is a navigation device normally on a vehicle, asset, person or animal that uses satellite navigation to determine its movement and determine its WGS84 UTM geographic position (geotracking) to determine its location. Satellite tracking devices may send special satellite signals that are processed by a receiver.
Locations are stored in the tracking unit or transmitted to an Internet-connected device using the cellular network (GSM/GPRS/CDMA/LTE or SMS), radio, or satellite modem embedded in the unit or WiFi work worldwide.
GPS antenna size limits tracker size, often smaller than a half-dollar (diameter 30.61 mm). In 2020 tracking is a $2 billion business plus military-in the gulf war 10% or more targets used trackers. Virtually every cellphone tracks its movements.
Tracks can be map displayed in real time, using GPS tracking software and devices with GPS capability.
A GPS "track me" essentially contains a GPS module that receives the GPS signal and calculates the coordinates. For data loggers, it contains large memory to store the coordinates. Data pushers additionally contain a GSM/GPRS/CDMA/LTE modem to transmit this information to a central computer either via SMS or GPRS in form of IP packets. Satellite-based GPS tracking units will operate anywhere on the globe using satellite technology such as GlobalStar or Iridium. They do not require a cellular connection.
There are three types of GPS trackers, though most GPS-equipped phones can work in any of these modes depending on the mobile applications installed:
GPS loggers log the position of the device at regular intervals in its internal memory. GPS loggers may have either a memory card slot, or internal flash memory card and a USB port. Some act as a USB flash drive, which allows downloading the track log data for further computer analysis. The track list or point of interest list may be in GPX, KML, NMEA or other format.
Most digital cameras save the time a photo was taken.
Official source
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