Wifi Chips Used for Tracking Location of Assets   3/29/2005 - 918 views,

Being called a “Wi-fi asset location system”, Barcoding explains that it works by placing a special wifi chip on each physical asset which the owner wishes to track. Barcoding gives the example of a hospital wishing to know where a portable x-ray machine is at any given time.

Explains the Barcoding press release:

“Using a mathematical calculation called triangulation, Barcoding’s software uses a chip attached to each asset to measure the time it takes for radio signals to travel between several access points and the terminal. By measuring time, and dividing by the speed of light, it is possible to determine the precise distance from the terminal to the wireless network’s access points. The access points are fixed in place. By creating a map of their locations and the distances measured, each scan’s location can be plotted with a high degree of confidence.”

Barcoding points out that some of the advantages of using wifi to track assets, rather than RFID, include that “it does not require any special RFID equipment, and it works via common, inexpensive Wi-Fi access points. RFID only operates over a very limited distance, whereas Wi-Fi asset location operates in an entire facility, so long as there is a Wi-Fi network.”

Of course, if the hospital equipment ends up checking in to a a>, we’d better hope that it only offers up its name, rank, and serial number.