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Location-Aware Technologies

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of GIS

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Synonyms

Position-aware technologies; Global positioning system; GPS; Location based systems LBS

Definition

Location-aware technologies are devices that can report their precise geographic location at high temporal resolutions.

Main Text

Location-aware technologies (LATs) are devices that can report their geographic location in near-real time using methods such as radiolocation that exploit wireless communication systems, the global positioning system (GPS) that utilize time differences of signals from satellites in Earth orbit and dead‐reckoning that use distances and directions along a route from a known location to determine the current location.

An emerging LAT is radiofrequency identification(RFID) tags. Mobile RFID tags transmit data to fixed readers using either passive (powerless) or active (powered) methods. Active tags are heavier and more expensive, but have a longer range and cheaper readers than can track multiple tags simultaneously. Unlike GPS, RFID tags must...

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Recommended Reading

  1. Benson, J.: LBS technology delivers information where and when its needed, Bus. Geogr. 9(2), 20–22 (2001)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. Grejner-Brzezinska, D.: Positioning and tracking approaches and technologies. In: Karimi, H.A., Hammad, A. (eds.) Telegeoinformatics: Location-based Computing and Services, pp. 69–110. CRC Press, Boca-Raton, FL (2004)

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  3. Morville, P.: Ambient Findability: What We Find Changes Who We Become. O'Reilly Media, Sebastopol, CA (2005)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Harvey J. Miller

Authors
  1. Harvey J. Miller
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Shashi Shekhar (McKnight Distinguished University Professor) (McKnight Distinguished University Professor)

  2. Management Science and Information Systems Department, Rutgers Business School Newark and New Brunswick Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA

    Hui Xiong (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag

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Miller, H. (2008). Location-Aware Technologies. In: Shekhar, S., Xiong, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of GIS. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35973-1_710

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