Glossary of terms related to GPS and vehicle tracking.
Black box Originally the name for the flight data recorder
in aeroplanes, but now used to refer to onboard data logging
systems in other vehicles, such as taxis and private vehicles.
Differential GPS A form of GPS which uses additional data from fixed and roving receivers to reduce plotting errors and obtain more accurate positioning.
Fleet tracking An application of vehicle telemetry to monitor the locations of a number of vehicles such as lorries, vans or cars in order to optimise and coordinate their activities.
Geocaching (say "geo-cashing") A sport or hobby involving hiding and finding objects, using GPS data to log the location of the cache and share this data with potential players.
Geocoding The conversion of descriptive addresses of locations to the latitude and longitude coordinate data for those locations.
Geodesy Applied mathematics dealing with the measurement, curvature, and shape of the Earth, rather than treating it as a sphere. Information in this form, such as latitude and longitude readings, is geodetic data.
Geofencing Restricting the movement of a vehicle or other object to within a specified area. The location of the vehicle is monitored by telemetry and an alarm raised if it goes outside that area.
GIS (Geographic Information System) A system of mapping software that integrates the collection, management and analysis of geographic data. This can be used to display the results of data queries as maps and analyse spatial distribution of data.
GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) The Russian equivalent to GPS.
GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) Technology for mobile digital communications used in the majority of the world's mobile communication networks.
NAVSTAR (NAVigation Satellite Timing and Ranging) The original name given to the GPS satellite system.
Reverse geocoding The conversion of latitude and longitude coordinate data of locations into descriptive addresses.
SatNav Short for "Satellite Navigation", referring to navigation systems based on GPS positional data.
Tachometer A long-standing method of collecting information about a vehicle's journey, mainly used in heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). It records the times the vehicle is active and plots its speed on a graph against time (the tachograph).
Telematics The integration of computers and telecommunications, particularly in systems combining wireless communication and mobile GPS tracking.
Telemetry Gathering data at a distance and relaying it to the observer. Often used in environments where it would be dangerous or difficult to collect the data directly, or where the subject of study is mobile, such as a vehicle. Is also used to collect information on the location and activities of animals (biotelemetry).
WGS-84 The World Geodetic System 1984 The standard
coordinate system used by GPS. WGS84 coordinates are usually
expressed as latitude, longitude and ellipsoid height ( a measure
of altitude).