Axonn, a provider of asset monitoring hardware utilizing the Globalstar Simplex Data Network, has announced it has been awarded a patent for its AXTracker line of products. AXTracker units are global one-way communication and asset monitoring devices that combine the Globalstar Simplex Data Service, GPS and RF technologies with Axonn’s battery design to deliver a “place-and-play,” long-service-life solution for monitoring fixed and mobile assets.
“This patent significantly increases our intellectual property position with low-cost wireless solutions that operate untethered with multiple-year battery life,” says Scott Quillin, technical sales manager and patent inventor for Covington, La.-based Axonn. “Our AXTracker products are now further protected under our patent portfolio and strengthen our position as being on the cutting edge of low-cost communication methods.”
The simplex modems developed by Axonn currently are used exclusively by the company and all other integrated solution providers for asset tracking, monitoring and other applications that utilize the Globalstar Simplex Data Network. The technology transmits real-time GPS location and other data over the Globalstar constellation of low Earth-orbiting satellites. Simplex data is transmitted only one-way, from the asset; this form of communication allows costs to remain low and battery life to be extremely high, Axonn says. The product currently is used on a variety of mobile assets such as cargo containers, trailers and railcars, construction and service vehicles, as well as fixed assets like field equipment, generators, pipelines, and propane and fuel storage tanks.
“The redundant transmissions from the AXTrackers have proven to be cost-effective and a reliable way of getting information from mobile or fixed assets, especially unpowered assets,” says Ronnie Tanner, an Axonn engineering manager and patent inventor. “We have spent years testing and proving our technology, and it’s nice to know that it is now patent-protected.”
