Ekahau takes RTLS into the field using iPhone and Android smart phones
11 April, 2011
category: RFID
Ekahau announced that Ekahau RTLS customers can now use their iPhone or Android smart phones to extend location tracking capabilities to areas outside their defined wireless local area network.
Customers may do so by leveraging their iPhone or Android handsets as ad hoc Wi-Fi hotspots to track assets in blind spots in their logistics or supply chain, such as in temporary staging areas or mobile environments such as transport trucks, vans or ambulances.
To turn the iPhone or Android handsets into a portable Wi-Fi access point, Ekahau RTLS users turn on the tethering feature of their smart phone. With this feature activated, any Ekahau Wi-Fi tags in the surrounding area are able to communicate their presence back to the Ekahau RTLS Controller location-tracking engine.
Ekahau is currently piloting use of iPhones and Android smart phones with emergency vehicle drivers, to give hospitals a way to track medical equipment, patients and staff who leave the hospital site.