GPS vehicle tracking has been in existence for some time, at least since the late 1970′s. Many trade names have been associated with it such as Lojack and LoTrans. These were early applications created particularly for the inventory and tracking of service vehicles, fire and police department vehicles. They depended upon the World War II LORAN (Long-range Radio Aid Navigation) system. These earlier systems provided a centralized office with the geographic location of vehicle fleets and were a great deterrent to vehicular theft. They however provided no geographic intelligence to the driver of the vehicle.

The present day vehicle tracking is accomplished by using GPS, which is a popularized name for Global Navigation Satellite System. It provides the driver with a highly accurate map, portrayed on a small screen incorporated into the GPS receiver. Here the driver can monitor their present location, plan the best route and obtain an estimate of time to arrival. The Global Navigation Satellite System was developed by the United States and the Soviet Union created its GLONASS during the Cold War to accurately guide their extensive ICBM and SLBM inventories. Later it was used as a backup guidance system for both nations’ nuclear submarine fleets.

The current GPS tracking used in vehicles comes to us, in civilianized form courtesy of President Ronald Regan. It was after the tragedy of airline flight KAL 007 that President Regan made it available for civilian use. GPS vehicle tracking allows an uncorrected location accuracy of 3 square meters. The ability for civilian transponders to receive the p coded military GPS signal occurred after President Clinton authorized its’ release in 1996. Today you are able to know within feet and inches the location of your vehicle while on the move. Read the rest of this entry »