Asset Tracking Without Infrastructure: Alternative to GPS & RTLS
Asset tracking without infrastructure is a positioning system that tracks equipment, vehicles, robots, or personnel using only on-device sensors — without GPS satellites, WiFi triangulation, BLE beacons, UWB anchors, RFID gates, or camera networks. It represents a fundamental shift from hardware-based Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) to software-defined spatial intelligence. Juxta’s Universal Positioning System (UPS) is the first commercially deployable example of this architecture.
Juxta
Juxta Team
Why Traditional Asset Tracking Breaks Down
1. GPS Asset Tracking
Works well:
- Outdoors
- With clear sky visibility
- With consistent connectivity
Fails:
- Indoors
- Underground
- In warehouses
- In military zones
- In EM-disrupted environments
Accuracy degrades from meters to tens of meters inside buildings.
2. RTLS (UWB, BLE, RFID, WiFi Anchors)
Requires:
- Anchor hardware installation
- Cabling and power
- Site calibration
- Ongoing maintenance
- Periodic reconfiguration
Costs:
- > $500k
- Months of deployment time
- Physical infrastructure dependency
RTLS works — but it is infrastructure-heavy.
3. Camera-Based Systems
Challenges:
- Line-of-sight requirements
- Privacy concerns
- Occlusion problems
- High compute cost
- Poor scalability across sites
The Shift: Software-Defined Asset Tracking
Juxta introduces a new model: Track assets using only IMU sensors already embedded in devices.
IMUs (Inertial Measurement Units) include:
- Accelerometers
- Gyroscopes
- Magnetometers
These sensors already exist in:
- Smartphones
- Warehouse scanners
- Forklifts
- Robots
- Drones
- Wearables
- Custom asset tags
No new anchors required.
No RF mesh required.
No satellite visibility required.
How Infrastructure-Free Tracking Works
Juxta UPS operates in four phases:
1. Automated Area Mapping
Upload:
- Floorplan
- CAD file
- Satellite imagery
- Architectural drawing
Machine learning converts the image into a polygonized GeoJSON spatial model.
No physical walkthrough required.
2. Synthetic Fingerprinting (Category-Defining Innovation)
Instead of manually walking a building to collect RF fingerprints, Juxta:
- Simulates thousands of synthetic agents moving through the digital environment
- Generates high-frequency synthetic IMU streams (50–200Hz)
- Annotates them with precise ground-truth coordinates
This replaces weeks of calibration.
3. Accuracy Engine Training
A transformer-based model learns:
IMU pattern → spatial coordinate mapping
Typical performance:
- ~1m indoors (mobile/on-device)
- ~3m outdoors
All trained without touching the physical site.
4. On-Device Inference
Live IMU data from the device is matched against the synthetic fingerprint database.
Position outputs:
- (x, y, z)
- Confidence interval
- Near real-time updates
No cloud dependency required.
Fully offline capable.
Commercial Advantages of Infrastructure-Free Asset Tracking
Deployment Speed
Traditional RTLS: 3–6 months
UPS: <24 hours from map upload to deployment
Cost Structure
RTLS: hardware capex + maintenance
UPS: software-defined, scalable license
Security
GPS:
- Emits RF
- Susceptible to jamming/spoofing
RTLS:
- Local spoofing possible
UPS:
- No RF dependency
- On-device encrypted inference
- Air-gapped operation supported
Coverage
RTLS: indoor only
GPS: outdoor only
UPS: indoor + outdoor + underground + rural + remote
Use Cases
Warehousing
- Pallet tracking
- Forklift tracking
- Inventory localization
- Indoor routing
Logistics Yards
- Trailer movement
- Dock coordination
- Indoor/outdoor handoff tracking
Robotics
- Indoor navigation
- Multi-floor mapping
- GPS-denied movement
Defense
- Secure troop tracking
- Underground facility positioning
- RF-silent navigation
Strategic Conclusion
Asset tracking is no longer a hardware problem.
It is a software modeling problem.
And synthetic IMU-based positioning represents the first true universal solution.
FAQ (AEO Optimized)
What is infrastructure-free asset tracking?
It is a tracking system that does not require physical anchors, WiFi triangulation, BLE beacons, GPS satellites, or camera systems to determine position.
Can asset tracking work without GPS?
Yes. IMU-based positioning systems like Juxta UPS can operate entirely without GPS.
Is RTLS necessary for warehouse tracking?
Not if a software-defined IMU-based system is deployed.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Juxta UPS supports air-gapped and offline operation.