| abstract |
The present invention generally relates to systems, methods and applications utilizing the convergence of any combination of the following three technologies: wireless positioning or localization technology, wireless communications technology and sensor technology. In particular, certain embodiments of the present invention relate to a system comprising an identification tag (100) containing identification data and a reader that includes a receiver for receiving the identification information from the tag, a receiver for receiving position data from the Global Positioning System (GPS) (15) satellite system and a wireless transceiver for transmitting the identification data and the position data to a central station, such as an application service provider (ASP) (200). The ASP, in turn, may communicate the identification data and position data to an end user (25) via. The present invention also relates to various applications and systems utilizing the capabilities of such a device. |