Real-Time Locating Systems: A Bibliometric Analysis

A Real-Time Locating System is a relative new solution whose aim is that of automatically and real-time identifying the position of objects, typically within indoor environments. These systems are implemented in several fields, such as manufacturing, logistics, retail, construction, healthcare and others, and depending on the sector they can have multiple purposes for being involved. Among the main communication tools, RFID, Bluetooth, Ultrasound or Infrared can be used, again depending on the field and purpose of the system. The present study tries to close a gap found in literature, that is to say proposing the results from a bibliometric analysis carried out on 303 documents dealing with RTLS. Typical bibliometric parameters were traced and analyzed, including a deepening on a more contents-related aspect, namely the most common communication technologies within part of the sample. Results from this study may be useful for those researchers or practitioners who are carrying out projects RTLS related.