How small is a GPS these days?

[Tom Rankin]

This article about catching drug thieves seems to suggest that a GPS can be so small that it could be hidden inside a bottle of prescription pain killers.

Is this really a GPS, or is it just a transmitter that law enforcement can use to track the stolen bottle?

If it is a GPS, how small is the actual GPS unit these days?

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

I'm not sure how small the smallest one is, but their building them into wrist watches now so they are fairly small. Mine is a bit larger but it fits nicely in the palm of my hand.

 

[JacobH]

They have GPS units the size of the head of a pin now. Not sure if those are publicly available yet.

http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/category/gps+tracking.do

This security site has GPS tracking units available.

Here's an article from a year ago re: very small gps units:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/14/worlds-smallest-gps-unit-really-is-small/

 

[JCarter]

There's a great TED talk on how little it takes to either confuse or fool a GPS. I wonder how long it will really take before we start seeing "location masking" devices show up on the grey/black market.

 

[JacobH]

Another interesting article on RFID tracking. Not specifically GPS but... Disney is going completely electronic soon.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671616...remake-the-disney-world-experience-using-rfid

 

[DougPaul]

They have GPS units the size of the head of a pin now. Not sure if those are publicly available yet.

http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/category/gps+tracking.do

This security site has GPS tracking units available.

Here's an article from a year ago re: very small gps units:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/14/worlds-smallest-gps-unit-really-is-small/

Ummm... Head of a pin? I sincerely doubt it.

Perhaps the GPS chips can be made smaller than a dime, but the GPS system requires a much larger antenna and batteries. A logger can store the locations in local memory, but a real-time tracker also requires a transmitter and antenna, which consumes still more space, weight, and power. And, of course, a longer runtime requires a bigger battery.

That said, I believe the current technology supports putting a real-time GPS tracker in a pill vial. (But some pill vials can be pretty big.) I suspect that it would be pretty easy for a thief to detect the tracker-bottles.

Search for GPS trackers for small birds to get info on small GPS tracking systems. I see one listing for a tracker weighing 2 grams. (It appears to be a logger--no battery lifetime is given, but I'll bet it is pretty short.)

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

Another interesting article on RFID tracking. Not specifically GPS but... Disney is going completely electronic soon.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671616...remake-the-disney-world-experience-using-rfid

RFID tracking is completely different from GPS tracking. RFID tracking requires pre-placed interrogation units. Thus it is good for a theme park, but is not useful where the trackee is in an uncontrolled area.

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

There's a great TED talk on how little it takes to either confuse or fool a GPS. I wonder how long it will really take before we start seeing "location masking" devices show up on the grey/black market.

GPS is pretty easy to jam and jammers are already on the market. (Such jammers are just special-purpose radio transmitters.) GPS jammers are highly illegal. Their use is a federal offense.

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

If it is a GPS, how small is the actual GPS unit these days?

Don't forget that for a hiking GPS to be useful, you need a display and control buttons. IMO, a watch is already too small for the display to be useful.

Doug

 

[JacobH]

Ummm... Head of a pin? I sincerely doubt it.

Perhaps the GPS chips can be made smaller than a dime, but the GPS system requires a much larger antenna and batteries. A logger can store the locations in local memory, but a real-time tracker also requires a transmitter and antenna, which consumes still more space, weight, and power. And, of course, a longer runtime requires a bigger battery.

That said, I believe the current technology supports putting a real-time GPS tracker in a pill vial. (But some pill vials can be pretty big.) I suspect that it would be pretty easy for a thief to detect the tracker-bottles.

Search for GPS trackers for small birds to get info on small GPS tracking systems. I see one listing for a tracker weighing 2 grams. (It appears to be a logger--no battery lifetime is given, but I'll bet it is pretty short.)

Doug

They're about to get 30 times smaller.

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Rockwell-Collins-Reports-Breakthrough-in-Micro-GPS--186974771.html

I read a different article last week but I can't seem to find it at the moment. Oh well. I can only imagine what the defense department has available with their budget and current interest in tracking the general populace.

And I'm aware that RFID is different than GPS. I just thought the article was interesting and somewhat relevant to the topic of wristband tracking devices.

 

[DougPaul]

They're about to get 30 times smaller.

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Rockwell-Collins-Reports-Breakthrough-in-Micro-GPS--186974771.html

That's the chipset. Antenna siize is slaved to the wavelength of the signals (~19cm for the L1 GPS frequency). Consumer GPS antennas have dimensions on the order of 1--2cm--already rather small. A "full size" dipole antenna is 1/2 wavelength long (9cm)--as antennas get smaller, they become less effective.

Note that these announcements are marketing...

And I'm aware that RFID is different than GPS. I just thought the article was interesting and somewhat relevant to the topic of wristband tracking devices.

IMO RFID has little if any utility for hiking away from civilization. (It is a short range system.)

Doug

 

[Hillwalker]

The tracking device that the Canadian Park Rangers required us to carry on the Long Range Traverse last summer was somewhat smaller than the size of a tube of lipstick. However the thin antenna wire coming out of one end was about a foot long.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tavishcolquhoun/8386663028/

 

[DougPaul]

There's a great TED talk on how little it takes to either confuse or fool a GPS. I wonder how long it will really take before we start seeing "location masking" devices show up on the grey/black market.

GPS is pretty easy to jam and jammers are already on the market. (Such jammers are just special-purpose radio transmitters.) GPS jammers are highly illegal. Their use is a federal offense.

I just came across some links concerning FCC actions against GPS jammer operators and sellers:
1) http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2013/FCC-13-106A1.html $32K fine (not final)
2) A list of enforcement actions: http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/jammer-enforcement#JEA

Fines can go over $100K.

Doug