Oracle Powers Tracking Devices

Nov/Dec 2007 Oracle.com/Oracle Magazine

Telematics on the Move

For companies that face the challenge of managing a large fleet of vehicles that are moving across a continent, telematics provides an efficient solution. Telematics is the science of sending, receiving and storing information via telecommunications devices in vehicles. Today’s telematics integrate global positioning system (GPS) technology with computers and mobile communications devices.

One telematics solution is the Vector 300 from Prolificx, a company that has worked with Oracle Telematcis solution center to deliver an end-to-end mobile resource management solution based upon Oracle Database Lite and Orcale MicroEdge Server. In each vehicle, the Vector 300 embeds the Oracle MicroEdge Server to capture the data from onboard sensors such as GPS and speed tracker and process the data via predefined rules and filters. This data is then stored locally in Oracle Database Lite and can be synchronized wirelessly across cellular data networks using the Oracle Database Lite Mobile Server with backend fleet management applications.

The Vector 300 telematics unit allows the location and speed of every vehicle to be tracked, even when the vehicle is temporarily out of cellular range. This enables large fleets to be efficiently managed in real time , saving time and cost, and providing better customer service. Other applications of the Vector 300 include tracking leased vehicles and managing vehicle health information and driver behaviour data.