Geo-fence

A geo-fence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area.

Description

A geo-fence could be dynamically generated—as in a radius around a store or point location. Or a geo-fence can be a predefined set of boundaries, like school attendance zones or neighborhood boundaries. Custom-digitized geofences have been in use since 2004 for multiple online mapping applications since their development by Dr. Vinay Rawlani at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

When the location-aware device of a location-based service (LBS) user enters or exits a geo-fence, the device receives a generated notification. This notification might contain information about the location of the device. The geofence notice might be sent to a mobile telephone or an email account.

Geofencing, used with child location services, can notify parents if a child leaves a designated area.^[1]

Geofencing used with locationized firearms can allow those firearms to fire only in locations where their firing is permitted, thereby making them useless for crimes like robberies, drive-by shooting, assassinations, and massacres.

Geofencing is a critical element to telematics hardware and software. It allows users of the system to draw zones around places of work, customer's sites and secure areas. These geo-fences when crossed by an equipped vehicle or person can trigger a warning to the user or operator via SMS or Email.

In some companies, geofencing is used by the Human Resource department to monitor employees working in special locations especially those doing field works. Using a geofencing tool, an employee is allowed to log his attendance using a GPS-enabled device when within a designated perimeter.

Other applications include sending an alert if a vehicle is stolen^[2] and notifying rangers when wildlife stray into farmland.^[3]

Geofencing, in a security strategy model, provides security to wireless local area networks. This is done by using predefined borders, e.g., an office space with borders established by positioning technology attached to a specially programmed server. The office space becomes an authorized location for designated users and wireless mobile devices.^[4]

With an increasing popularity of mobile advertising, geofencing has been employed to distribute location specific ads to customers on their mobile devices.

One expert in Global positioning system security has suggested that government regulators should encourage drone manufacturers to build geofencing constraints into Unmanned Aerial Vehicle navigation systems that would override the commands of the unsophisticated operator, preventing the device from flying into protected airspace.^[5]

See also

• Global Positioning System
• Assisted GPS (A-GPS)
• Automotive navigation system
• Geocaching
• Geotagging
• GPS drawing
• GPS tracking
• Point of interest
• Point in polygon

Further reading

• De Lara, Eyal; Anthony LaMarca, Mahadev Satyanarayanan (2008). Location Systems: An Introduction to the Technology Behind Location Awareness. Morgan & Claypool Publishers. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-59829-581-8.
• Anthony .C. Ijeh, Allan .J. Brimicombe, David .S. Preston, Chris .O. Imafidon (2009) Geofencing in a Security Strategy Model: Global Safety and Sustainability. Jahankhani, H. Hessami, A.G. Hsu, F. (Eds.) p.104-111 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009. ISBN 978-3-642-04061-0

References