International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) is the oversight body of the satellite communications elements of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) established by the IMO designed to provide a worldwide system for automated emergency signal communication for ships at sea. IMSO ensures that the provision of maritime mobile satellite communications services (currently provided by Inmarsat Ltd and Iridium Ltd).
Iridium Communications Inc. is a publicly traded American company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, United States. Iridium operates the Iridium satellite constellation, a system of 75 satellites: 66 are active satellites and the remaining nine function as in-orbit spares. Iridium Satellites are used for worldwide voice and data communication from handheld satellite phones, satellite messenger communication devices and integrated transceivers, as well as for two-way satellite messaging service from supported conventional mobile phones. The nearly polar orbit and communication between satellites via inter-satellite links provide global service availability.
Automatic vehicle location is a means for automatically determining and transmitting the geographic location of a vehicle. This vehicle location data, from one or more vehicles, may then be collected by a vehicle tracking system to manage an overview of vehicle travel. As of 2017, GPS technology has reached the point of having the transmitting device be smaller than the size of a human thumb, able to run 6 months or more between battery charges, easy to communicate with smartphones — all for less than $20 USD.
A satellite telephone, satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio link through satellites orbiting the Earth instead of terrestrial cell sites, as cellphones do. Therefore, they can work in most geographic locations on the Earth's surface, as long as open sky and the line-of-sight between the phone and the satellite are provided. Depending on the architecture of a particular system, coverage may include the entire Earth or only specific regions. Satellite phones provide similar functionality to terrestrial mobile telephones; voice calling, text messaging, and low-bandwidth Internet access are supported through most systems. The advantage of a satellite phone is that it can be used in such regions where local terrestrial communication infrastructures, such as landline and cellular networks, are not available.
Fleet management is the management of:
ORBCOMM is an American company that offers industrial internet and machine to machine (M2M) communications hardware, software and services designed to track, monitor, and control fixed and mobile assets in markets including transportation, heavy equipment, maritime, oil and gas, utilities and government. The company provides hardware devices, modems, web applications, and data services delivered over multiple satellites and cellular networks.
Machine to machine (M2M) is direct communication between devices using any communications channel, including wired and wireless. Machine to machine communication can include industrial instrumentation, enabling a sensor or meter to communicate the information it records to application software that can use it. Such communication was originally accomplished by having a remote network of machines relay information back to a central hub for analysis, which would then be rerouted into a system like a personal computer.
SkyBitz is an American company based in Herndon, Virginia, that provides machine to machine (M2M) products for the tracking and management of mobile assets. Parent company Telular Corporation is a fully owned subsidiary of Avista Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in the United States. SkyBitz is a remote asset tracking and information management service provider, specializing in real-time decision-making tools for companies with unpowered assets such as tractor-trailers, intermodal containers, chassis, rail cars, power generators, heavy equipment, and other assets. The company's asset tracking products are delivered using a software as a service (SaaS) model to commercial, transportation, military, and public safety customers, including sensitive shipment haulers of Arms, Ammunition, and Explosives (AA&E) cargos. With the acquisition of commercial telematics companies Reltima and GPS North America in 2015, SkyBitz entered the local fleet management market.
Sierra Wireless is a Canadian multinational wireless communications equipment designer, manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It also maintains offices and operations in the United States, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, India, France, Australia and New Zealand.
Inmarsat is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global mobile services. It provides telephone and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate with ground stations through fifteen geostationary telecommunications satellites.
Network Centric Product Support (NCPS) is an early application of an Internet of Things (IoT) computer architecture developed to leverage new information technologies and global networks to assist in managing maintenance, support and supply chain of complex products made up of one or more complex systems, such as in a mobile aircraft fleet or fixed location assets such as in building systems. This is accomplished by establishing digital threads connecting the physical deployed subsystem with its design Digital Twins virtual model by embedding intelligence through networked micro-web servers that also function as a computer workstation within each subsystem component (i.e. Engine control unit on an aircraft) or other controller and enabling 2-way communications using existing Internet technologies and communications networks - thus allowing for the extension of a product lifecycle management (PLM) system into a mobile, deployed product at the subsystem level in real time. NCPS can be considered to be the support flip side of Network-centric warfare, as this approach goes beyond traditional logistics and aftermarket support functions by taking a complex adaptive system management approach and integrating field maintenance and logistics in a unified factory and field environment. Its evolution began out of insights gained by CDR Dave Loda (USNR) from Network Centric Warfare-based fleet battle experimentation at the US Naval Warfare Development Command (NWDC) in the late 1990s, who later lead commercial research efforts of NCPS in aviation at United Technologies Corporation. Interaction with the MIT Auto-ID Labs, EPCglobal, the Air Transport Association of America ATA Spec 100/iSpec 2200 and other consortium pioneering the emerging machine to machine Internet of Things (IoT) architecture contributed to the evolution of NCPS.
AirNav Systems is a Tampa-based global flight tracking and data services company founded in 2001. The company operates a flight tracking website and mobile app called Radarbox which offers worldwide tracking of commercial and general aviation flights. AirNav Systems also owns and operates a ground-based ADS-B tracking network that is supported by over 20,000 active volunteer ADS-B data feeders from over 180 countries. The company's real-time tracking and data services are also used by 25,000 aviation related businesses, government agencies, airlines, media channels and airports in over 60 countries.
EMS Technologies, Inc. was an Atlanta-based company with approximately $290 million in annual sales revenue before its 2011 purchase by Honeywell International. EMS-T specialized in wireless, defense, and space communications systems.
The Iridium satellite constellation provides L band voice and data information coverage to satellite phones, satellite messenger communication devices and integrated transceivers. Iridium Communications owns and operates the constellation, additionally selling equipment and access to its services. It was conceived by Bary Bertiger, Raymond J. Leopold and Ken Peterson in late 1987 and then developed by Motorola on a fixed-price contract from July 29, 1993, to November 1, 1998, when the system became operational and commercially available.
SkyWave Mobile Communications is a global provider of satellite and satellite-cellular devices in the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) market. Skywave products help customers track, monitor and control industrial vehicles, vessels and industrial equipment. Applications include: tracking the location of vehicle fleets, monitoring data from oil and gas meters, and automated flow pumps.
A hosted payload is a module attached to a commercial satellite with communications circuitry that operates independently of the main spacecraft but which shares the satellite's power supply and transponders. The concept has been also been referred to as "piggybacking" or "hitchhiking."
Vizada was a Norwegian firm and later subsidiary brand of EADS and Marlink providing satellite communications services. It operated stations that connected satellite communications to terrestrial telecommunications and IP networks. Vizada's services covered maritime, land, and aeronautical services. In 2011, the Vizada Group was acquired by EADS and integrated as a subsidiary of Astrium.
Quake Global is a technology company that provides products for asset tracking, location, and analytics. Quake Global designs and implements facility or campus level asset tracking products typically based around RFID and/ or BLE technology. In 2012, Quake Global received an Inc. 5000 rank of 82 in the San Diego Metro Area. The company is based in San Diego.
Globalsat Group is a consortium of companies providing satellite communication services worldwide with headquarters located in the United States.
