Specific implementations of avl systems often include in its membership the technical means providing several ways to determine location. Depending on the size of the geographical area on which the avl system, it can be: local, ie designed for short range, that is mainly typical of remote support, the zonal, Limited, as a rule, the boundaries of the village, local, regional, global, for which coverage is shared among several States mainland, the territory around the globe. In terms of implementing the functions avl positioning systems are characterized by such technical parameters as precision positioning and periodicity of refinement data. Obviously, these parameters depend on the area of avl systems. The smaller the coverage, the higher should be the positioning accuracy. So, for zonal systems operating in the city, is considered sufficient positioning accuracy (also called the zone of uncertainty) from 100 to 200 m. Some of the special systems require precision units meters, to global systems is sufficient precision units kilometers.
For zone dispatching systems can be considered ideal to obtain data on the location of a moving object to once per minute. System for remote maintenance require greater frequency of updates information. Methods for determining the location used in avl systems, according to the ccir classification can be divided into three main categories: methods of approximation (which in the Soviet literature also called areal methods), methods of dead reckoning and methods for determining the location of radio frequency. The following are the features of the equipment and positioning systems that can realistically be used in modern conditions.