Standard Architecture
Components
The software components of the Standard product, illustrated above, are:
- The Common Application Server (CAS), providing authentication and session management
- The Common Database (CDB), storing UTMC objects and supporting data
- The Common Data Viewer (CDV), a map-based GUI
- A UTMC Adapter, providing an interface to one system
More information on the software can be found by clicking on the tabs above. The hardware delivered as part of the Standard CDMF product are:
- A standard server, hosting the CAS, CDB and a single UTMC Adapter
- A standard Workstation, hosting an instance of the CDV
Common Application Server
At the heart of CDMF is an application server that is 100% compliant with all of the published UTMC CORBA interfaces. It supports queries and subscriptions for UTMC data objects, and even allows an authorised client to specify its own customised views and filters at runtime, which helps minimise communications and processing for UTMC applications. It supports both “push” and “pull” modes of subscription.
Written in Java and housed within a mainstream software product from Sybase, it is also proven to integrate with other ORBs and UTMC applications from other suppliers.
In the UTMC interfaces, access to data objects is expressed as SQL, but the Mott MacDonald application server does not simply pass all SQL through to the underlying database server. Our SQL parsing technology increases the scope of what a UTMC Application Server can achieve, for example allowing us to clean up data from legacy systems, re-route calls to integrate legacy databases, or build in extra redundancy to the system.
Common Database
The Common Database is a UTMC compliant database with additional data objects to support particular features of the product. Some of the principal data objects include:
- Public Transport Departure Information Object - arrival time, departure time, expected arrival time, origin and destination information for Vehicles stopping at designated public transport stops.
- Detector Object - detector information including data sources, traffic counters, speed thresholds and speed values.
- Journey Time Object - dynamic journey time information for any route defined by the road network.
- Car Parks Object - data object for car parks
- VMS Object - - data object for Variable Message Signs
- Traffic Signals Object - - data object for Traffic Signals
- Link Object - - data object for road link as defined by the road network
- Routes Object - data object for road routes, a collection of road links, as defined by the road network
- CCTV Object – data object for Close Circuit Television monitoring device
- Access Control Object - data object for Access Control devices such as bollards
- Events Object - data object definitions for planned events, E.G. race meetings
- Road Works Object - data object definitions for planned roadworks
- Accidents - data object definitions for road traffic accidents
- Incidents Object - data object definitions for incidents but excluding road traffic
- Air Quality Object - data object definitions for air quality and meteorological data
- Meteorological Data Object - data object definitions for meteorological data (note this separates the meteorological data definitions from UM/004).
- Network Definitions Object - data object definitions for road networks.
Common Data Viewer
The GUI provides the user with all map and text related functionality. The GUI is the User Interface to the CDMF. It is an Internet based stand-alone, or ‘rich client’, application that gives access to the information that is currently held within the Common Database.
The GUI:
- Allows users to view a configurable subset of the data in the Common Database, e.g. information about accidents and congestion, in a number of different formats.
- Provides information on the state of all of the information suppliers or systems that interface to the CDMF to allow the reporting and resolution of any faults.
- Allows authorised users to create, modify and terminate ‘Event’ information held in the Common Database. For example, users can create new Events to indicate a variety of traffic flows affecting conditions – accidents, road closures etc. These Events will then be visible to any GUI connecting to the CDMF.
UTMC Adapter
A UTMC Adapter provides the interface between a UTC Supplier System and the UTMC Database. The adapter is essentially software to pre-process data from a supplying system to make it compliant with the UTMC Data Definitions, before input to the Common Database. Several adapters already exist for the more commonly used UTC system but adapters can readily be developed for any new supplying systems.
The Standard product would include one existing UTMC Adapter.