The large and growing installed base of Wi-Fi equipment means new opportunities for using Wi-Fi in unorthodox ways. One of the most interesting is the growing trend towards using Wi-Fi to provide real-time location services (RTLS) for asset management, security, and work-in-progress tracking, which have traditionally been the province of proprietary RFID solutions.

Today this market, at a mere $59 million in 2007 revenues, can best be described as “embryonic,” but a new study from ABI Research forecasts it to reach $839 million in 2012.

“RTLS has historically been associated with RFID,” says vice president and research director Stan Schatt, “and it’s only recently that Wi-Fi has started to play in this arena. In the past, companies wishing to deploy RTLS had to buy proprietary RFID systems, including very expensive readers. But there is now such a large installed base of Wi-Fi equipment worldwide that Wi-Fi-based RTLS becomes cost-effective for companies that had never considered it before.”

In comparison with RFID, Wi-Fi-based RTLS does suffer some disadvantages. It is somewhat less accurate, especially outdoors; it is less secure, and it can require the addition of up to 20% more Wi-Fi access points to a network. But for a company with a Wi-Fi network already in place, it needs no extra cabling; it is standards-based; and above all it is cost-effective: the RTLS functions are handled by specialized software, which forms the largest portion of the investment.

“This market is opening up to new software developers,” says Schatt. “Wi-Fi equipment manufacturers are new to this kind of application, so they are reselling RTLS software solutions. Vendors would be well-advised to partner with experienced resellers who have been in the vertical market selling proprietary solutions, because it is a sophisticated solution that requires a knowledgeable reseller. I think there will be a good deal of competition for the most experienced resellers.”

Cisco is clearly the current market leader, says Schatt, but Trapeze and Aruba are also very active in this market.

The ABI Research report, “Wi-Fi Real Time Location Systems," examines the key competitive advantages as well as disadvantages of Wi-Fi RTLS products. It traces in great detail the growth of individual product components such as tags, appliances, software, and professional services, and forecasts the revenue growth for each key product category.

It forms part of the firm’s Wi-Fi Research Service, which also includes other Research Reports, Research Briefs, Market Data, the ABI Vendor Matrix, ABI Insights, and analyst inquiry support.

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations supporting annual research programs, intelligence services and market reports in broadband and multimedia, RFID & contactless, M2M, wireless connectivity, mobile wireless, transportation, and emerging technologies.  For information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.