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To most people the reality of tracking trucks, cars,
people, children, and pets is rather new.
It may prompt some to think of Hollywood
Mission Impossible technologies. To others, it
may represent "Big Brother" and a loss of freedom or
control. But to management, with responsibility for millions of
dollars worth of assets, or to a parent, concerned for the safety
of their children, it can represent tremendous value.
Imagine logging on to a web site and visually tracking someone or something
equipped with a small tracking device. Introducing EarthLink AVL,
brought to you by the EarthLink Research and Development department.
There are approximately 60 million trucks and 140
million cars in the United States.
Within the next few years, in-vehicle communications systems with wireless
Internet connectivity will become standard equipment in cars, trucks
and other vehicles, creating a multi-billion dollar market for
software solutions.
We developed this prototype to
demonstrate AVL applications,
to study how Linux and Internet technologies can be
applied to the automotive environment, and to test the feasibility and
effectiveness of various systems, such as remote diagnostics,
m-commerce, and location sensitive applications.
The protoype AVL system consists of a tracking device
and tracking software connected over wireless
networks. The Web-enabled software can be used
to track and monitor the AVL tracking device
in real time. More information is available below.
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