Location awareness

Real-time location systems (RTLS) enable you to digitally track the real-time location and movements of physical things throughout large indoor facilities. As a type of indoor positioning system, RTLS primarily leverage radio-frequency (RF) technologies like UWB, BLE and Chirp, as well as wireless devices, such as tracking tags and smartphones, alongside other integrated components, to continuously determine the position of people and objects in areas GPS is not able to reach. This delivers actionable location data that can be used to visualize the location of key personnel, assets, vital equipment and more on a live, indoor map or integrated into automated workflows and systems such as IoT-enabled safety applications, asset & supply chain management solutions and more.

The components used in each individual RTLS, as well as the RF standards and characteristics of those components can vary. Factors such as performance requirements, like accuracy, latency, range, throughput, as well as the complexity of a deployment and desired use cases dictates what type of RTLS components and specific RF technology will best address your needs. However, most location-tracking solutions share these core components – anchors, tags/transmitting devices and a location engine. In addition to those core components there are also modular RTLS components that can be integrated into IoT devices and applications to enable customized RTLS-enabled devices and solutions that meet the needs of specialized use cases and unique end-user requirements.

In addition to real-time location tracking applications, RTLS components can also enable ranging applications in which communication between two devices, such as two transceiver tags that can be used to determine the relative distance between them, enabling proximity-based applications.

If you want to be optimally informed about the possibilities or would like to exchange ideas with a product specialist, please contact us.

RTLS - Real Time Location Systems

Accuracy and range of RTLS

The accuracy of real-time location systems differ greatly depending on the underlying RF technology and positioning techniques each individual system uses. The level of accuracy required for a RTLS varies based on individual customers’ needs and desired use cases – some users require high accuracy to instantly pinpoint a piece of critical equipment in a large industrial environment, while others may only need to know the general location of an asset. Accuracy requirements can also be determined based on the number of deployed RTLS reference points.

The range of real-time location systems greatly differ depending on the underlying RF technology, like: Chirp, WiFi, UWB and BLE. One is more limited in the range they can provide than other. The range required for a RTLS also strongly varies based on the deployment environment and individual customers’ needs and desired use cases.

Some users require a high degree of range to track assets like containers, pallets, equipment, or personnel across large facilities, between indoor and outdoor areas, or in hard-to-reach places likes mines, while others may be more concerned with ensuring a high degree of accuracy within a more confined area like the exact location of a part as it moves through an assembly line.

If you want to be optimally informed about the possibilities or would like to exchange ideas with a product specialist, please contact us.