Smaller asset trackers include battery operated devices that require days or weeks of power autonomy and wireless connectivity. Reasonable position accuracy is needed with a few position updates per day. Location information is not necessarily used on the device itself, but by a cloud service.

Tracking applications that span broad regions or even globally may require large power autonomy (months or even years). Positioning in the cloud extends the life of energy constrained IoT applications. Commercial grade real time online assistance provides tremendous advantages in terms of performance, availability, and reliability.

A vast portion of constrained IoT devices need location information to do their job. Today’s global supply chains and inventory management structures require reliable fast location information in combination with accurate assistance data to monitor and deliver perishable or high-value assets to the very last mile.

A GPS receiver cannot determine a position when satellite signals are unavailable, such as urban canyons, within tunnels, buildings, or metallic containers. For fleet and supply chain management, it’s unacceptable. Mobile network-based location using cellular attributes provide an essential alternative to no position fix at all.