Caterpillar Product Link

Sept. 28, 2010

Caterpillar's Product Link system places two antennas on the asset being tracked—one for receiving information from the GPS satellite system, and the other for receiving and transmitting signals via a low-Earth-orbiting (LEO) satellite system. Messages from a machine in the field, for example, are transmitted to the LEO satellite system, then via a ground station to a message control center. The machine owner can access these messages via the Internet. The system provides four location reports and one service-meter reading daily. Additional reports include Product Watch alarms, diagnostic reporting and fuel consumption.