Technology

SkyTrack system incorporates a multitude of different technologies and so it’s range of possible applications is very wide.

GPS

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S. space-based global navigation satellite system. It provides reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services to worldwide users on a continuous basis in all weather, day and night, anywhere on or near the Earth.

GPS is made up of three segments: Space, Control and User. The Space Segment comprises 24 to 32 satellites in Medium Earth Orbit and also includes the boosters required to launch them into orbit. The Control Segment is comprised of a Master Control Station, an Alternate Master Control Station, and a host of dedicated and shared Ground Antennas and Monitor Stations. The User Segment is comprised of hundreds of thousands of U.S. and allied military users of the secure GPS Precise Positioning Service, and tens of millions of civil, commecial and scientific users of the Standard Positioning Service (see GPS navigation devices). GPS satellites broadcast signals from space that GPS receivers use to provide three-dimensional location (latitude, longitude, and altitude) plus precise time.

GPS has become a widely used aid to navigation worldwide, and a useful tool for map-making, land surveying, commerce, scientific uses, tracking and surveillance, and hobbies such as geocaching and waymarking. Also, the precise time reference is used in many applications including the scientific study of earthquakes and as a time synchronization source for cellular network protocols.

GPS has become a mainstay of transportation systems worldwide, providing navigation for aviation, ground, and maritime operations. Disaster relief and emergency services depend upon GPS for location and timing capabilities in their life-saving missions. The accurate timing that GPS provides facilitates everyday activities such as banking, mobile phone operations, and even the control of power grids. Farmers, surveyors, geologists and countless others perform their work more efficiently, safely, economically, and accurately using the free and open GPS signals.

GPRS

General packet radio service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data service available to users of the 2G cellular communication systems global system for mobile communications (GSM), as well as in the 3G systems. In 2G systems, GPRS provides data rates of 56-114 kbit/s.

GPRS data transfer is typically charged per megabyte of traffic transferred, while data communication via traditional circuit switching is billed per minute of connection time, independent of whether the user actually is using the capacity or is in an idle state. GPRS is a best-effort packet switched service, as opposed to circuit switching, where a certain quality of service (QoS) is guaranteed during the connection for non-mobile users.

2G cellular systems combined with GPRS are often described as 2.5G, that is, a technology between the second (2G) and third (3G) generations of mobile telephony. It provides moderate speed data transfer, by using unused time division multiple access (TDMA) channels in, for example, the GSM system. Originally there was some thought to extend GPRS to cover other standards, but instead those networks are being converted to use the GSM standard, so that GSM is the only kind of network where GPRS is in use. GPRS is integrated into GSM Release 97 and newer releases. It was originally standardized by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), but now by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

GPRS was developed as a GSM response to the earlier CDPD and i-mode packet switched cellular technologies.

WiFi

Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance that may be used with certified products that belong to a class of wireless local area network (WLAN) devices based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. Because of the close relationship with its underlying standard, the term Wi-Fi is often used as a synonym for IEEE 802.11 technology.

The Wi-Fi Alliance is a global, non-profit association of companies that promotes WLAN technology and certifies products if they conform to certain standards of interoperability. Not every IEEE 802.11-compliant device is submitted for certification to the Wi-Fi Alliance, sometimes because of costs associated with the certification process and the lack of the Wi-Fi logo does not imply a device is incompatible with Wi-Fi devices.

Today, an IEEE 802.11 device is installed in many personal computers, video game consoles, smartphones, printers, and other peripherals, and virtually all laptop or palm-sized computers.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is an open wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances (using short length radio waves) from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks (PANs). It was originally conceived as a wireless alternative to RS-232 data cables. It can connect several devices, overcoming problems of synchronization.

RS-232

In telecommunications, RS-232 (Recommended Standard 232) is a standard for serial binary data signals connecting between a DTE (Data Terminal Equipment) and a DCE (Data Circuit-terminating Equipment). It is commonly used in computer serial ports. A similar ITU-T standard is V.24.

1-Wire

1-Wire is a registered trademark of Dallas Semiconductor Corp. for a device communications bus system designed by Dallas Semiconductor that provides low-speed data, signaling and power over a single signal, albeit using two wires, one for ground, one for power and data. 1-Wire is similar in concept to I˛C, but with lower data rates and longer range. It is typically used to communicate with small inexpensive devices such as digital thermometers and weather instruments. A network of 1-Wire devices with an associated master device is called a "MicroLan", that term being trademarked by Dallas.

One of the attractive features of the bus is that a device only needs two wires: data and ground. To accomplish this, the integrated circuit includes an 800 pF capacitor to power it from the data line. Some of the devices are available in tiny cans that look like small capacitors or watch batteries, in which packaging they are called iButtons.

1-Wire devices are also found mounted on printed circuit boards, with or without a 1-Wire controller. Sometimes the PCB is only there to support the 1-wire device, but in many commercial applications, the 1-Wire device is just one of the chips creating the solution to some need. They are sometimes present in laptop and cellphone battery packs, for instance.

MySQL

MySQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS) that has more than 11 million installations. MySQL is named after Monty Widenius's daughter My. The program runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases.

The project has made its source code available under the terms of the GNU General Public License, as well as under a variety of proprietary agreements. MySQL is owned and sponsored by a single for-profit firm, the Swedish company MySQL AB, now a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems. As of 2009^[update] Oracle Corporation began the process of acquiring Sun Microsystems.

MySQL is often used in free software projects that require a full-featured database management system, such as WordPress, phpBB and other software built on the LAMP software stack. It is also used in many high-profile, large-scale World Wide Web products including Wikipedia, Google and Facebook.