User's Manual

DRAFT TrimTrac 1.5 Technical Manual v0.3ab 10
Application Feature Details
The TrimTrac 1.5 supports a number of important new application features that modify
how the TrimTrac 1.5 cycles through the basic state machine described in the previous
sections. Before reading this section, it would be useful to have a basic understanding of
the TrimTrac 1.5 state machined as detailed in State Machine Overview section or,
preferably, the State Machine Design Details section.
Even though the TrimTrac 1.5 can be used literally out-of-the-box with very little effort,
if the factory default settings are used, the device is also highly configurable based on the
particular requirements of any given application. When changing from factory default
settings, constant vigilance must be given to communication cost and power
consumption. It is possible, for instance, to configure the TrimTrac 1.5 to provide very
rapid reporting, but doing so may result in unacceptably high power consumption and/or
communication costs, especially if SMS is used in lieu of GPRS.
The following sections go in detail how the application features operate, how to set them
up and what some of the trade offs may be in terms of power consumption and
communication costs. In other sections of this technical manual, specific configuration
recommendations are set fort for some typical applications scenarios.
Geofences
By establishing and using geofences, geographic areas of authorized and unauthorized
use can be defined and enforced. If a geofence violation occurs, the operation of the
TrimTrac 1.5 will be adjusted based upon how it is configured. For instance, should you
wish to establish an area where movement of the device is “authorized” and you only
wish to receive position reports when the monitored asset leaves this area, then you
would use the geofence capability of the TrimTrac. The TrimTrac 1.5 can support up to
two geofences. Geofence violations selectively set the Report Delay Flag while the other
configuration parameters remain essentially unchanged.
Once a geofence violation is detected, the Report Delay Flag will be temporarily set
“1=Transmit All Messages”, the device will transmit a both a new position report noting
the geofence violation and a message noting which geofence had been violated. Unless
the Geofence Type had been defined as a boundary-crossing geofence, the device will
continue reporting until the device is no longer violating the geofence conditions. It will
report the first position that is not in violation of the geofence, but stop reporting until
another geofence violation or some other appropriate TriggerType event occurs
Enforcement
You can decide whether to enforce a geofence at all times (24/7) or, if the
TrimTrac 1.5 is equipped with either a Vehicle Adapter or Control Module with
the LPA input connected to a switch, the geofence will be enforced only while the
LPA input monitored switch is in the closed position. If the LPA input is
configured as a geofence, then the LPA input cannot be used as either an alert or
runtime meter input and vice versa.