An Overview of IoT Tracking Systems
An IoT tracking system uses interconnected devices with sensors, GPS, and IoT communication modules to monitor, track, and manage the location and status of assets, vehicles, or people in real-time. It typically involves attaching smart asset tracking tags—such as GPS devices, RFID chips, BLE beacons, or IoT modules—to assets, which collect data and transmit it over cellular or other wireless networks.
The collected information, such as location, status, and other conditions, is then processed and visualized on dashboards, enabling businesses to gain instant visibility over their resources. IoT asset tracking systems enable efficient management, predictive maintenance, security, operational efficiency, and support better decision-making across industries such as logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, warehouse management, and more.
IoT Asset Tracking is Taking Center Stage: Why is Asset Tracking Important?
In today’s fast-paced industrial landscape, IoT asset tracking is a necessity. With pioneers like FedEx’s SenseAware and DHL utilizing IoT and sensor networks for asset tracking solutions, here are some of the reasons why asset location tracking becomes crucial.
The global asset tracking market is projected to grow from USD 25.98 billion in 2025 to USD 59.64 billion by 2032, registering a 12.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during the forecast period. -Fortune Business Insights
What are the key benefits of asset location tracking for businesses?
The benefit of asset location tracking lies in improving visibility, reducing losses, and boosting operational efficiency. It enables real-time monitoring, helps prevent theft, decreases shipment delays, and lowers costs through predictive maintenance. Additionally, it supports regulatory compliance with audit trails and strengthens decision-making through data analytics and supply chain insights.
Visibility
Asset location tracking enables real-time monitoring and tracking of assets, providing precise location and status updates. It ensures better inventory management in warehouse asset tracking, reduces losses and theft, and streamlines operations in logistics, supply chains, healthcare, and more.
Security
Asset tracking GPS devices, RFID trackers, and Bluetooth beacons help manage assets by detecting their movements. It protects high-value assets, like medical equipment or sensitive goods, from misplacement and theft risks by sending instant alerts.
Efficiency
IoT asset tracking solutions provide real-time visibility into asset location, status, and utilization. It helps organizations streamline operations, reduce downtime, and optimize resource allocation. For example, the latest reports in logistics from NASSCOM state, tracking vehicles and cargo ensures timely deliveries and minimizes shipment delays by up to 40%.
Cost Reduction
IoT tracking solutions reduce costs by enabling proactive asset management. Continuous monitoring of equipment health helps prevent unexpected breakdowns, avoiding expensive downtime and emergency repairs. Asset management tracking tools minimize losses from theft and misplacement by providing real-time location data, reducing replacement expenses.
Informed Decision Making
IoT tracking systems gather extensive data by monitoring assets and enabling advanced analytics to improve forecasting, inventory management, and strategic planning. By monitoring stock levels in real time, retailers can avoid overstocking, prevent shortages, optimize supply chains, and reduce carrying costs. These actionable insights empower businesses to make informed decisions and enhance operational efficiency.
Regulatory Compliance
Asset tracking helps industries like manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare adhere to safety and quality standards by maintaining detailed audit trails, verifying asset authenticity, and ensuring timely maintenance.
Predictive Maintenance
IoT sensors continuously monitor asset conditions and, combined with AI algorithms, predict failures before they occur. This proactive approach reduces unplanned downtime and lowers repair costs by addressing issues early.
What are the technologies used in asset tracking systems?
IoT tracking system uses GPS for outdoor long-range tracking, RFID for indoor identification, UWB and BLE for precise, low-power indoor tracking, Wi-Fi for scalable indoor localization, and Cellular IoT (4G/5G) for global mobile asset tracking. Each network technology balances range, accuracy, power use, and cost for specific asset tracking needs.
Global Positioning System( GPS )
GPS is the go-to technology for outdoor, wide-area tracking. It uses satellite signals to determine an asset’s location anywhere on the globe. Asset tracing GPS devices are critical in cross-border deployments such as fleet management, shipping containers, and other mobile assets.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID )
RFID asset tracking uses radio waves to identify tagged assets wirelessly. Passive RFID tags don’t require batteries and respond when in range of a reader, making them cost-effective for indoor asset identification, such as warehouse inventory. Active RFID asset tracking tags have batteries and transmit signals continuously, allowing longer-range asset tracking.
Ultra-Wideband (UWB )
UWB technology utilizes very short radio pulses across a wide spectrum for precise location tracking, down to a few centimeters. It is ideal for indoor environments where accurate positioning is critical, such as manufacturing floors or hospitals. UWB also supports real-time location systems (RTLS) with minimal interference over a defined area.
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE )
BLE enables low-power, short-range communication between devices. BLE beacons or tags transmit signals to nearby receivers, facilitating proximity detection and indoor tracking. BLE’s low energy consumption makes it suitable for battery-powered asset tags requiring a longer lifespan.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi asset tracking leverages existing wireless infrastructure for indoor asset localization. It is suitable where Wi-Fi coverage is dense. Wi-Fi asset tracking offers robust connectivity, though it typically requires more power than BLE or UWB, making it well-suited for applications where extended range and data throughput outweigh battery longevity concerns of Wi-Fi asset tracking tags.
Cavli C-Series IoT modules enable indoor asset tracking through Wi-Fi scanning. These modules detect surrounding Wi-Fi access points and measure each signal’s strength (RSSI). By triangulating this data from multiple access points, the system estimates the asset’s real-time location. This approach makes the solution cost-effective, infrastructure-light, and highly scalable for retail stores, warehouses, and industrial environments.
Dive into the nuances of Wi-Fi scanning implementation in Asset Tracking Solutions with C16QS and C17QS - Read here.
Cellular IoT
While NB-IoT and LTE-M are powerful technologies for IoT, their promise of seamless global connectivity for asset tracking is hampered by fragmented roaming agreements, technical inconsistencies in network implementations, varying frequency band deployments across carriers, and regulatory restrictions on permanent roaming. This necessitates potentially more complex hardware and sophisticated connectivity management solutions for any cross-border IoT deployment.
4G LTE Cat 1 and Cat 1bis offer faster speeds and power efficiency, supporting richer data and over-the-air firmware updates. 5G enhances asset tracking with ultra-low latency, high bandwidth, and massive device support, enabling advanced real-time monitoring and large-scale IoT deployments for the future.
5G Reduced Capability (5G RedCap) technology revolutionizes asset location tracking by offering near real-time location updates. Its cost-effective design, with reduced complexity and low power consumption, enables scalable deployment of asset tracking devices. 5G RedCap’s power-saving features, such as extended discontinuous reception (eDRX), extend battery life, ideal for remote or hard-to-access assets.
| Technology | Best For | Ideal Use Cases | Strengths | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPS Tracking | Outdoor, long-range, high-accuracy tracking | Vehicle fleets, logistics, shipping, mobile assets | Global coverage, high accuracy (within meters), ideal for large-distance tracking | Expensive due to hardware and data plans, and requires constant power for real-time tracking. |
| RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) | Short-range, high-volume asset tracking | Inventory management, asset tagging, supply chain monitoring | Cost-effective, efficient for large-scale deployments, no power required for passive tags | Short-range (typically a few meters), moderate accuracy, requires RFID readers. |
| UWB (Ultra-Wideband) | High-precision indoor tracking | Real-time location services (RTLS), warehouse management, and healthcare | Sub-meter accuracy, ideal for high-precision indoor environments | Short-range, limited range compared to GPS, typically more expensive than RFID. |
| Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) | Low-power, short-range indoor tracking | Smart offices, retail, personal asset tracking, wearables | Low power consumption, affordable, scalable, ideal for small devices | Short-range, limited coverage, less precision than GPS or UWB. |
| Wi-Fi-Based Tracking | Indoor tracking leveraging existing infrastructure | Offices, warehouses, campuses | Low installation cost, good for indoor tracking where Wi-Fi coverage is established | Not as accurate as GPS or UWB, might not provide precise real-time data. |
| Cellular Networks (4G LTE /5G) | Global tracking of mobile assets | Vehicles, shipping containers, and remote monitoring | Provides long-range connectivity, works well in geographically dispersed areas | Depends on network coverage, requires a cellular service provider. |
Components of IoT Tracking Systems
An IoT tracking system is an end-to-end solution designed to capture, transmit, process, and visualize data related to physical assets. Its architecture is layered and modular, ensuring scalability, security, and real-time responsiveness. The layered approach to understanding the components of asset tracking systems is mentioned below.
Asset Tags and Sensors in Sensing Layer
Types of Tags: The asset tracking tags include GPS modules for geolocation, RFID (passive or active) for proximity identification, BLE beacons for short-range detection, UWB for high-precision indoor tracking, and cellular modules for indoor wide-area connectivity.
Embedded Electronics: Microcontrollers with ultra-low-power operation, sensor fusion chips, and local processing capabilities for pre-filtering data.
Power Management: It includes battery management systems (BMS) and energy harvesting circuits (solar and RF) to extend device lifetime.
Firmware: It manages data acquisition, pre-processing, event detection (e.g., motion triggers), and communication protocols.
Connectivity Networks in the Communication Layer
Communication Protocol Stack: It implements MQTT, CoAP, or HTTP for efficient message exchange, and TLS/DTLS data encryption ensures secure transmission.
Gateways in Data Processing and Cloud Layer
Gateways: Edge devices aggregate data from multiple tags using BLE or RFID readers, perform local filtering or buffering, and relay data to the cloud via Ethernet or cellular backhaul.
Data Ingestion: Real-time streaming via IoT platforms (AWS IoT, Azure IoT Hub) that handle device authentication, message routing, and protocol translation.
Data Storage: Time-series databases (e.g., InfluxDB), NoSQL, or relational databases store raw and processed telemetry data.
Analytics Engine: It applies AI/ML models for predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, and geospatial analytics. Implements rules engines for real-time alerting based on threshold breaches or events.
APIs and Integration: RESTful APIs or GraphQL endpoints allow integration with ERP, asset management, and supply chain systems, facilitating bidirectional data flow and orchestration.
IoT Platforms in Application and Visualization Layer
Dashboards: Customizable web/mobile UIs provide asset location maps, status summaries, historical trends, and KPIs. It displays real-time asset data via dashboards, maps, and reports. It also enables interaction through web or mobile apps tailored to different user roles.
Notifications & Alerts: Multi-channel alerts (SMS, email, push notifications) inform stakeholders of critical events (e.g., asset movement, temperature excursions).
Access Control: Role-based access management ensures secure data visibility tailored to user roles (operators, managers, auditors).
Reporting & Compliance: Automated generation of audit logs, compliance reports, and SLA monitoring.
How do IoT Asset Tracking Systems Work? The Procedure
Whether it is vehicle asset tracking, heavy equipment asset tracking, a warehouse asset tracking system, or online fleet management, IoT asset tracking systems work on these four main components that provide real-time visibility and management of physical assets by integrating multiple technologies.
An IoT asset tracking system consists of the Sensing Layer, which includes asset tags and sensors like GPS, RFID, BLE, UWB, and cellular modules, along with embedded electronics and power management for data collection; the Communication Layer, implementing secure protocols such as MQTT and TLSto transmit data; the Data Processing and Cloud Layer, where gateways aggregate data, IoT platforms ingest and store it, and analytics engines apply AI/ML for insights; and the Application and Visualization Layer, providing user dashboards, alerts, role-based access, and reporting tools to enable real-time monitoring, decision-making, and compliance.
Tagging the Asset
Each asset has a smart asset tracking tag (either a GPS module, RFID, BLE beacon, UWB, or environmental sensor, or Wi-Fi asset tracking tag). These tags are attached to the asset to collect specific data such as location, temperature, or movement.
Data Collection
The asset tracking tags continuously collect data on the asset’s condition, location, and movement. They are often equipped with sensors that detect environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, etc., to monitor the condition of assets in critical applications like cold chain monitoring.
Data Transmission
The collected data is transmitted via wireless networks like 4G LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth, based on the range, power requirements, and frequency of data transmission.
Edge Processing
In some systems, an edge device or gateway aggregates and preprocesses the data from multiple tags before transmitting it to the cloud, reducing bandwidth usage and latency.
Cloud Storage & Data Processing
Once the data reaches the cloud, it is stored securely in databases and processed. Data analytics engines (AI/ML models) analyze the data for patterns, trends, and insights, such as predictive maintenance or anomaly detection.
Visualization & Monitoring
The processed data is then presented on dashboards or user interfaces (mobile or web apps), allowing users to monitor asset locations, status, and health in real time.
Alerts and Notifications
If the system detects any abnormal behavior or threshold breaches (e.g., temperature spikes or asset movement), it triggers alerts via email, SMS, or in-app notifications to the designated personnel.
Integration with Enterprise Systems
IoT asset tracking systems often integrate with ERP, inventory management, and maintenance systems, allowing businesses to automate workflows and make data-driven decisions to improve operations.
Reporting and Optimization
Over time, the system collects large amounts of data, which can be used to generate reports for compliance, maintenance, or performance. These insights help businesses optimize asset usage, reduce downtime, and increase ROI.
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Introduction of AI in IoT Asset Tracking
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in IoT asset tracking systems is revolutionizing the way businesses manage their physical assets, enabling smarter, more efficient operations. It enables predictive maintenance by forecasting failures, detecting anomalies indicating theft or malfunction, and dynamically optimizing asset utilization.
It automates inventory reconciliation, generates compliance reports, and delivers context-aware alerts that prioritize critical actions. Overall, AI turns passive tracking into a proactive system that reduces downtime, cuts costs, and improves security and operational efficiency.
AI enhances asset location tracking by enabling predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, and real-time decision-making. Through the analysis of vast amounts of data collected by IoT sensors (such as temperature, location, motion, and humidity), AI algorithms can predict potential failures before they happen, detect unusual asset behaviors, and provide actionable insights for businesses to optimize operations.
These asset management tracking tools not only improve the accuracy and efficiency of asset location tracking but also help reduce operational costs, extend asset lifecycles, and enhance security by identifying potential risks in real-time. As businesses face growing challenges in managing larger fleets or asset inventories, AI’s role in IoT asset tracking systems is becoming increasingly essential for staying competitive and maintaining operational excellence.
Anomaly Detection
AI enables anomaly detection by analyzing real-time and historical sensor data to identify unusual patterns that deviate from expected behavior. These anomalies could signal potential issues such as equipment malfunctions, theft, or unauthorized asset use. By detecting these deviations early, businesses can respond proactively to prevent further complications, ensuring asset security and operational continuity. It enhances asset security and helps prevent costly issues before they escalate.
Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance leverages AI to analyze historical and real-time sensor data, to forecast equipment failure and maintenance. By identifying patterns leading to potential failures, AI enables businesses to perform maintenance beforehand when necessary, avoiding unnecessary downtime and costly repairs. This proactive approach maximizes asset uptime, extends equipment lifespan, and reduces downtime, optimizing asset performance.
Real-Time Location Tracking
AI can enhance location tracking by integrating with technologies like GPS, UWB, or BLE to track assets in real-time. AI algorithms optimize geofencing (creating virtual boundaries) by learning and adjusting to the movement patterns of assets, triggering alerts if an asset crosses predefined zones. AI improves accuracy in dense environments where signal interference is common.
Asset Utilization Optimization
AI analyzes the data on how frequently and effectively assets are being used. By analyzing usage patterns, AI can suggest optimal asset utilization, identify underused assets, and predict when to deploy or redeploy resources for maximum impact.
Automated Inventory Management
AI can analyze real-time data from IoT sensors and inventory systems to automate inventory tracking, reconcile discrepancies, and forecast future inventory needs. By recognizing patterns in asset movements, AI helps to maintain optimal stock levels and streamline order replenishment.
Predictive Asset Lifecycle Management
AI can predict the lifecycle of assets, such as machinery, equipment, or vehicles, by analyzing historical performance and current usage data. By predicting when assets will need replacement or upgrades, companies can plan capital expenditures and avoid unplanned expenses.
Automated Reporting and Compliance Tracking
AI can automate compliance report generation based on real-time data, ensuring that assets are adhering to regulatory standards. For example, it can track the temperature of perishable goods in transit to meet food safety standards or monitor environmental conditions for pharmaceuticals.
Energy Management and Cost Optimization
AI analyzes the energy consumption patterns of assets, particularly in industrial settings or logistics, to optimize energy usage. For example, AI can control when certain assets should power down to save energy, or recommend the most energy-efficient routes or processes.
Fleet Management and Route Optimization
AI can significantly improve fleet management by analyzing data from GPS, traffic patterns, and real-time vehicle status. It can dynamically adjust routes, optimize fuel consumption, and predict maintenance schedules based on vehicle usage data.
Smart Alerts and Predictive Alerts
AI can provide alerts based on real-time data analysis, predicting issues before they occur. For example, instead of simply triggering an alert when an asset’s condition deviates from the norm, AI can assess the situation and alert teams only when corrective action is needed, based on the predicted severity or impact.
Natural Language Processing (NLP) for Data Interpretation
AI involves Natural Language Processing (NLP), allowing users to interact with asset tracking systems using voice or text commands, enabling easier data querying and decision-making. For example, a warehouse manager might ask the query, "Where is asset X?" and receive an immediate response from the system with the position of X based on the defined area.
The global Generative Al in asset management market is projected to grow from USD 289.4 million in 2023 to USD 3109.5 million by 2033, accelerating at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.8% between 2024 and 2033. -Market.us
AI Algorithms Used in Different Functions
| Function | AI Algorithms | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Anomaly Detection | K-Means Clustering, Isolation Forest, Autoencoders, One-Class Support Vector Machine (SVM), Statistical Methods | Detects unusual asset behaviors like malfunction or theft. |
| Predictive Maintenance | Regression Models, Random Forests, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), Survival Analysis, Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM) | Predicts asset failure time, optimizes maintenance schedules. |
| Real-Time Location & Geofencing | K-Nearest Neighbors (K-NN), Clustering, Kalman Filters | Location prediction, geofencing accuracy |
| Asset Utilization Optimization | Reinforcement Learning, Regression | Optimizes asset usage and allocation |
| Automated Inventory Management | Time Series Forecasting, Decision Trees | Predicts inventory needs and classifies asset movement |
| Predictive Asset Lifecycle Management | Survival Analysis, Support Vector Machine( SVM) | Predicts asset failure and remaining useful life |
| Automated Reporting & Compliance Tracking | NLP, Rule-Based Systems | Generates compliance reports and flags regulatory issues |
| Energy Management & Cost Optimization | Clustering, Linear Programming | Optimizes energy usage and cost efficiency |
| Fleet Management & Route Optimization | Genetic Algorithms, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) | Optimizes fleet routes for time and fuel savings |
| Smart Alerts & Predictive Alerts | Anomaly Detection, Logistic Regression | Identifies issues early and triggers alerts |
| NLP for Data Interpretation | Transformer Models, Speech Recognition | Translates voice/text queries into actionable insights |
Applications of IoT Tracking Solutions
IoT tracking systems are used across many areas: managing equipment and inventory, monitoring vehicle fleets, ensuring cold chain safety, tracking medical devices and personnel, optimizing supply chains, overseeing construction machinery, and improving waste management. AI enhances these by enabling predictive maintenance, real-time alerts, route optimization, and inventory automation.
Asset Tracking
It monitors and manages the location, usage, and condition of assets in real-time, providing businesses with better control over equipment, tools, and inventory. With AI predictive analytics, it forecasts maintenance needs, automates asset management, detects anomalies indicating theft or misuse, and optimizes asset utilization.
Fleet Tracking
It tracks the location, speed, fuel consumption, and maintenance status of vehicles in a fleet, helping businesses optimize routes, reduce costs, and improve driver safety. Real-time route optimization, driver behavior analysis, predictive maintenance for vehicles, fuel consumption optimization, and automated decision-making for fleet management, all come as a part of AI integration.
Cold Chain Tracking
Cold chain monitoring ensures the safe transportation of temperature-sensitive items, such as medicine, food, and chemicals, by maintaining them within the correct temperature ranges. It boosts compliance and reduces spoilage.
The integration of AI into cold chain monitoring provides fleet managers with powerful online asset tracking tools. They can monitor temperatures and detect anomalies in real-time, leverage predictive analytics to prevent spoilage before it occurs and optimize delivery routes to ensure goods arrive on time while maintaining their ideal temperatures throughout transit.
Medical Equipment Tracking
In hospitals and clinics, heavy equipment asset tracking is used to track critical medical devices. It monitors their location, device health, and maintenance, making sure they're always in good working order and available without interruption.
Adding AI to IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) asset management takes this a step further. It allows predictive maintenance on medical devices, alerting to potential issues before they cause downtime. AI also enables automated asset allocation, ensures early detection of anomalies, and supports data-driven decision-making.
Personnel Tracking
It tracks the location and movement of employees, particularly in hazardous or large environments such as construction sites or oil rigs, to ensure safety, compliance, and efficient resource allocation. AI monitoring enables real-time safety alerts, detects patterns in worker movement to improve efficiency, and optimizes staffing based on workflow demands.
Inventory Asset Tracking
An asset inventory tracking system provides real-time updates on assets and their movement within the assigned area. It helps eliminate stockouts and theft, making the supply chain more efficient.
By adding AI-powered tools, we can significantly boost asset inventory management with demand forecasting, automated stock replenishment, and anomaly detection (like spotting missing items). Plus, with real-time analysis of inventory data, we can fine-tune stock levels, prevent both overstocking and stockouts, and ultimately optimize warehouse operations.
Vehicle Asset Tracking
Vehicle Asset tracking monitors the location and performance of individual vehicles or fleets, helping companies manage routes, fuel efficiency, and maintenance for optimal fleet and asset management. Predictive maintenance for vehicles, route optimization using AI-driven traffic analysis, driver safety monitoring (e.g., detecting risky driving behaviors), and dynamic scheduling based on real-time data are all examples of AI features that vehicle tracking can benefit from.
Supply Asset Tracking System
Supply chain tracking monitors the movement of goods from manufacturers to end consumers, improving visibility, reducing delays, and enhancing logistics efficiency across the supply chain. AI-enabled supply asset tracking system demand modeling, route optimization, anomaly detection, and predictive analytics to avoid potential disruptions and mitigate risks.
Construction Equipment Tracking
It enables heavy equipment asset tracking on construction sites, ensuring efficient use, reducing downtime, and preventing theft or unauthorized usage. Predictive maintenance for heavy machinery, optimizing equipment usage, reducing idle time, and analyzing patterns improves asset utilization across multiple construction sites.
Waste Management Tracking
Effective waste tracking oversees the entire process – from collection to movement and final disposal – ensuring we meet regulations, operate more efficiently, and lessen our environmental impact. Integrating AI empowers us to optimize waste collection routes, anticipate full bins, enhance recycling through detailed waste composition analysis, and forecast waste generation patterns for more efficient resource allocation.
Role of Cellular IoT Modules in IoT Asset Tracking
Cellular IoT modules serve as the communication backbone for asset tracking systems, providing network connectivity for real-time asset tracking from remote locations. These modules integrate satellite positioning and Wi-Fi scanning capabilities, enabling precise location-based services and geofencing functionality. They support over-the-air firmware updates while maintaining efficient power management and battery life, ensuring continuous monitoring of asset location and status with seamless cloud platform integration for asset management tracking tools. Cavli Wireless brings the best-in-class product portfolio to support asset location tracking and online fleet management with Cavli Hubble, a modem management platform integration for comprehensive asset tracking solutions.
| Feature | C16QS | C17QS | C11QM | CQ10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Network Technology | LTE Cat 1bis | LTE Cat 1bis | LTE Cat 1 | LTE Cat 1 |
| GNSS Support | Independent GNSS core | Dual-band GNSS (L1+L5) | Multi-constellation GNSS | Inbuilt GNSS |
| Wi-Fi Scanning | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| eSIM/iSIM | Optional eSIM | Optional iSIM | Optional eSIM | Optional eSIM |
| Power Saving Modes | DRx, eDRx, Deep Sleep | DRx, eDRx, Deep Sleep | sleep | sleep |
| OTA Firmware Update | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Indoor Positioning | Wi-Fi Scanning | Wi-Fi Scanning | no | no |
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Network Connectivity
C-Series IoT modules offer robust network connectivity and support failover between 2G and LTE networks. This failover functionality, often controlled and configured via AT Commands, ensures continuous connectivity, even when your assets cross regions with limited LTE coverage, providing reliable data transmission in remote locations.
The C16QS (with optional eSIM) and C17QS (with optional iSIM) modules arrive with preloaded carrier profiles. It means they can remotely download and activate new network profiles, eliminating the need for physical SIM card swaps when assets move across different geographical borders.
AT Commands are fundamental to remote SIM management, enabling modules to receive new network configurations and switch between profiles automatically. It allows asset tracking management businesses to potentially reduce costs in global asset and fleet management by enabling automatic switching between local networks and avoiding expensive roaming charges.
Location-Based Services & Geofencing
Geofencing is a powerful feature that determines precise location-based alerts, adding a layer of security and operational efficiency to asset management tracking tools. With cellular IoT modules supporting geofencing features for both location-based alerts and theft alerts, it enables safety for your assets.
Using Cavli Cat 1bis modules, businesses can set virtual boundaries and receive notifications whenever an asset enters or exits a defined geographic area. For example, 4G LTE Cat 1 bis modules, such as C16QS and C17QS, are particularly valuable for tracking assets in transit or for ensuring that high-value goods are maintained within designated zones, as in cold chain monitoring.
Precise geofencing functionality also enables theft detection by instantly alerting the system when an asset is moved out of predefined boundaries, triggering real-time alerts for faster intervention. It ensures enhanced visibility and control over the entire asset lifecycle.
Real-Time Asset Tracking
One of the standout features of asset tracking and management systems is their ability to provide real-time asset tracking. It ensures constant asset monitoring, offering businesses an up-to-the-minute view of asset locations and other statuses. The Cavli Cat 1bis module, C16QS, equipped with independent GNSS, enables position determination without needing an active internet connection or cellular network signal. Thus, C16QS with Cavli Hubble, the modem management platform, provides real-time visibility to monitor over 40 critical parameters such as location, battery health, and network status of your asset on a single dashboard.
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Wi-Fi Scanning
Asset tracking extends beyond outdoor environments to include indoor applications, such as warehouse asset tracking and inventory management. Satellite-based tracking is less reliable indoors, so alternatives like Wi-Fi scanning are used.
Cavli’s C16QS and C17QS modules leverage Wi-Fi scanning to provide precise asset tracking in challenging environments like warehouses or urban canyons. By passively detecting nearby Wi-Fi access points, collecting SSID and RSSI data, and utilizing cloud-based location engines for triangulation or fingerprinting, these modules ensure reliable asset location tracking.
Integrated with the Cavli Hubble modem management platform, which offers module orchestration, eSIM lifecycle management, and IoT data subscription services, these modules enable seamless, low-power tracking for logistics, enhancing asset visibility indoors.
Firmware
Over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates in asset tracking solutions enable seamless updates and improvements to the system without manual intervention. C-series modules such as C16QS and C17QS, used in fleet and asset tracking solutions, enable remote over-the-air installation of firmware updates, ensuring asset tracking GPS devices or asset tracking tags remain secure, functional, and up-to-date throughout their lifespan. It is vital for asset tracking solutions, where devices are often deployed in cross-border systems, making manual updates impractical and expensive. It also incorporates a resilient rollback mechanism, allowing devices to automatically revert to a previously stable firmware version if an update encounters an issue, minimizing costly on-site interventions.
Satellite Positioning
GPS positioning plays a critical role in precision asset location tracking. With diverse asset tracking applications to power, asset tracking GPS devices equipped with cellular modules are the most reliable choice for businesses.
For example, in the Cavli C-series Portfolio, the C10QM, C11QM, and CQ10 modules feature in-built GNSS with Qualcomm® IZat™ location technology, supporting multiple constellations such as GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, and QZSS for broad coverage and specialized fleet and asset tracking applications.
C17QS offers advanced dual-band (L1+L5) GNSS support. The C16QS uniquely provides an independent GNSS core with its own power supply and sleep features, enabling location services to function even when the baseband core is in a low-power state, ideal for ultra-power-constrained asset tracking solutions.
Explore the blog to learn more about how C17QS's dual-band performance enhances the asset tracking system for businesses.
Power Management & Battery Life
Battery life is a crucial parameter in asset tracking solutions, as frequent battery replacements are impractical for remote fleets and assets. Cellular IoT modules with power-saving modes significantly extend battery life, even in the most demanding scenarios. It enables devices to operate for extended periods, reducing the need for frequent recharging or battery replacement.
Furthermore, the integration of low-power sensors (operating at less than 1mW) boosts the overall battery longevity. The module also supports energy harvesting techniques, including compact solar and RF solutions, to further extend battery life and reduce maintenance costs.
For example, the C17QS module features advanced low-power modes such as Discontinuous Reception (DRx), Extended Discontinuous Reception (eDRx), and deep sleep modes. It is a critical element for conserving battery power for a longer operational life in battery-powered asset-tracking GPS devices.
Conclusion: Unlocking the Potential of IoT for Asset Tracking and Management
With its robust set of features, our IoT module stands out as a powerful solution for businesses seeking to optimize their asset-tracking operations. From precise geofencing and real-time tracking to seamless integration and enhanced power management, our module offers everything you need to streamline operations and enhance security.
As IoT continues to transform industries, we provide businesses with the cellular module product suite necessary to stay ahead of the curve, ensuring that assets are tracked, monitored, and protected in real-time. Whether you're managing a warehouse, logistics network, or critical equipment, our module provides peace of mind, letting you focus on what matters most—your business and the people it serves.
Go Beyond and Explore
What is GPS asset tracking?
How does GPS tracking help in supply chain management?
How do IoT modules achieve extended battery life for 5 years or more?
Can IoT modules receive over-the-air firmware updates?
Which networks do Cavli IoT modules support for worldwide coverage in asset tracking?
How to implement 2G⇆LTE failover in IoT asset tracking systems?
Author
Drishya Manohar
Sr. Associate - Content Marketing
