System and method for enciphering and communicating vehicle tracking information

摘要

A tracking system determines the global coordinates of a vehicle being monitored by a monitoring mechanism located at a base station. The global coordinates are translated into coordinate values relative to a local reference point selected by the system. The translated coordinate values are transmitted to the monitoring mechanism in lieu of the global coordinates initially determined by the system. The monitoring mechanism is aware of the local reference point selected so that the monitoring mechanism can determine the vehicle's location relative to the local reference point selected, another reference point, or a global reference point used to define the global coordinates. The local reference point selected to translate the global coordinates can be changed as long as the translation mechanism and the monitoring mechanism are aware of the change. Transmitting the location of the vehicle relative to the local reference point rather than relative to the global reference point can make it more difficult for unauthorized users to determine the location of the vehicle and can reduce the amount of data required to transmit the vehicle's location.