Introduction to GPS Intelligent Information Platform

Introduction to GPS Intelligent Information Platform

With increasing development and industrialization of computer, communication and electronic technologies, multimedia has been used in many aspects of the society in 21^st century and informatization gradually becomes an important factor influencing social and economic development in the future. Global Positioning System (GPS) has been more and more widely applied in many fields because of it

Based on the effective integration of advanced technologies such as satellite positioning technology, data communication transmission technology, electronic geographic information technology, Internet technology, call center technology and so on, DAP’s GPS Intelligent Information Platform V2.0 plays a significant role in monitoring, controlling, managing and rescuing moving objectives in urban or rural areas and provides all kinds of information service (such as weather, road condition and so on). This platform, a combination of positioning, navigation and information service, can be connected with the terminals of conventional or trunked communication and GSM network. Therefore GPS Intelligent Information Platform is an open and freely expanding service platform that provides GPS information service at different levels to meet different demands.

GPS Intelligent Information Platform V2.0 is widely applied in many fields at present such as public security, bank cash carrying, fire fighting, freight transport, traffic control, Taxi dispatch, bus control, public navigation, rescue and so on.

System structure is as illustrated:

1. System Structure

GPS Intelligent Information Platform consists of DAP communication network, Global Location Distribute Center (GLDC), Global Location Monitor Center (GLMC), Internet service, WAP service and Call Center and so on.

A. DAP

DAP undertakes to transmit information about GPS positioning and state and receive calls and instructions from the Service Center and perform corresponding operations. There are several equipments on the DAP, including GPS vehicle transceiver, GPS handset transceiver, GPS vehicle SMS transceiver, automatically navigator, GPS mobile phone and etc.

B. Communication network

GPS Intelligent Information Platform supports two kinds of communication network: conventional trunked communication network and GSM network.

C. Global Location Distribute Center (GLDC)

The main function is to realize transmission of vehicles positioning information and relevant information, and conduct real time monitor on and control over vehicles. At the same time it realizes multi-directional transmission of information to meet demands of vehicle monitor and control systems in different scales in various industries.

D. Global Location Monitor Center (GLMC)

The main function is to display locations of tracked objectives, process voice, search information, display and operate map information, control transmission, transmit and control information and so on.

E. Internet Service

Through Internet, Users can search map information, geographical information, navigational information, names of places and mobile objectives for which they care, but also track and monitor these mobile objectives. The system also provides WWW service and Email service. Therefore users can receive information service from GPS Intelligent Information Platform through flexible means.

F. WAP Service

Users can get access to GPS Intelligent Information Platform Center by WAP mobile phones and thus receive map information, geographical information, navigational information, names of places and mobile objectives for which they care, but also track and monitor these mobile objectives.

G. Call Center

The main function is to provide voice advisory service of public information such as navigation, road and etc.

2. Global Location Distribute Center (GLDC)

Global Location Distribute Center (GLDC), the core of GPS Intelligent Information Platform, provides service of collection, format and distribution of GPS information, reacts on all kinds of commands and instructions from users, provides service of application and storage of databases and conducts identity identification and security control. Modular designed, Global Location Distribute Center (GLDC) consists of five functional modules including User Agency Service (UAS), Express Give out Service (EGS), Communication Interface (CI), Database Application Service (DAS) and Storage Service (SS). Each module can be individually operated in Windows, NT/2000 or Linux platform, and thus users can freely choose them according to system scale and capacity. In the software system of GLDC, the part connected with specific car terminal is designed to be independent communication interface (CT). Therefore it can realize parallel operations of private network terminal and public network terminal, and also freely expand the types of terminal without revising service programs.

The main functions of each functional module:

1) GLDC essential service

GLDC essential service is to handle registration request of the users and authenticate their identities. As a result, only legal users can get access to the service provided by GLDC. This system transmits a user’s commands of monitoring, controlling and operating a mobile objective to different communication interfaces in accordance with the types of mobile objectives, and transmits GPS location data package to the user who monitors the mobile objective. At the same time, the system transmits GPS location data to the storage server to reserve the tracks of the mobile objective and transmits warning data to warning passages.

2) Communication Interface

Global Location Distribute Center (GLDC) can support various types of mobile vehicle unit (including private network vehicle transceiver and public vehicle transceiver). Communication interface transforms the commands from GLDC into private communication agreements that can be applied to vehicle unit, and also transforms GPS location data from vehicle unit into the data package formats to the Center, which makes the essential service of GLDC independent from specific types of vehicle transceiver.

3) Database Service

Database Service includes all the business related to databases, such as authentification of users, authentification of users’ authorities, daily record of memory system, and supply of original data for search and billing.

3. Global Location Monitor Center (GLMC)

Global Location Monitor Center (GLMC) can be respectively applied monitor branches, or be monitor centers that are connected by remote dial, or be ones that are connected through Internet. The main function is to make different kinds of information available on electronic maps vividly, conveniently and speedily, and to transmit the user’s calls and commands vividly, conveniently and speedily, both of which are the main concerns of the users.

GLMC mainly consists of GIS application, communication and electronic maps. The communication interfaces receive different kinds of information about vehicles and then transmit to GIS application, through which the users can conveniently send various instructions to mobile units and also freely adjust information display settings.

Inside:
Geographical information of certain areas is stored in the electronic maps, including road information, building information and so on. Electronic maps in different scales that contain different detailed information are available on the requirements of users. Electronic maps are transferred by GIS application.

Communication interface, playing a role like Information Bridge, is designed to control information exchanges between GIS application and servers, and send or receive information mutually between MMI and servers, which ensures speedy and stable information exchanges between mobile units and the monitor center.

GIS application plays the role like a MMI. Its main functions are as the followings:

GPS technology solves the problem of positioning mobile objectives. To realize monitor on mobile objectives, location data must be transmitted back to the monitor center or the users through communication network establishments. The communication methods of GPS monitor system includes private communication network (such as conventional radio communication and trunked communication. Hereafter referred as “private network” for short) and public communication network (such as GSM short message service and GPRS data service. Hereafter referred as “public network or GSM” for short), through which the radio communication of data from mobile transceiver to the monitor center can be realized.

Private network system demands the operation units to build radio communication network and possess frequency resources. The private communication network can provide fast and flexible monitor service, which therefore is particularly suitable to GPS monitor service in single city and area.

The whole structure of the system can be used in different communication conditions and systems with various coverage and target capacities.

As illustrated:

4. Private network

The whole structure of the system can be used in different communication conditions and systems with various coverage and target capacities.

As illustrated

The system consists of conventional or trunked communication system, basic station control units and computer remote communication network. Through the computer remote communication network, basic station is connected with data integration center.

There are two types of basic station control unit, which are master station and auxiliary station. There is only a master station control unit in the system. Its function is to manage the status queue of the present mobile control units，queue of unanswered mobile control units, queue of answered mobile control units and queue of warning mobile control units; to receive data from DAP and then transmit them to GLDC through computer remote communication network; to implement commands from GLDC, such as to continuously track DAP or to produce commands towards DAP ; to relieve warnings and etc. The auxiliary station control unit is designed to reduce the controlling blind zones of DAP caused by radio communication blind zones. Several auxiliary station control units may be set to receive responding data from DAP and transmit data to GLDC through computer remote communication network.

The master station and auxiliary station both can receive remote control commands and maintain their own programs. The structure of basic station is as following:

Adopting conventional communication methods, the radio communication network of the conventional or trunked communication system is connected with DAP and basic stations. Radio transceiver transmits data to or receives data from the conventional or trunked communication system; DAP transmits data to or receives data from the conventional or trunked communication system.

Through the computer remote communication network, basic station is connected with GLDC.

5. GSM

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), the main mobile telephone system network at present, is an advanced wireless digital cellular communication system. At present, GSM network has covered most areas in China and the online roaming of mobile phones has been a well developed and reliable service. Except voice service, GSM also provides short message service, both of which enable users to transmit voice and data across districts. GSM short message service allows users to send short information in a comparatively economic way. As present, both China Mobile Communication Company and China Unicom Mobile Communication Company have established nation-wide network. Therefore we can enjoy the convenient service provided by GSM network all over the country. The coverage of GPS Monitor System can be greatly enlarged with the platform provided by short message service. GPS Intelligent Information Platform covers areas where the short message service has covered. The nation-wide monitor on mobile objectives can be realized through short message service. When the mobile communication system are developing into the third generation, the existing short message data service will be replaced by wireless data packet exchange service, which will greatly improve the transmission rate of data and communication capacity and thus will provide a better communication platform for GPS Intelligent Information Platform.

Taking advantage of GSM network, a national GPS Intelligent Information Platform can be established to realize online roaming and centralized monitor of mobile objectives. Wherever the mobile objectives are, they can be found by the monitor center of the registered place and at the same time can receive local short messages or messages from the registered place. The warning signals that the mobile objectives send can be displayed in the local monitor center.

The network structure of GSM is as following:

GLDC handles all kinds of information and reacts correspondingly to the information. GLDC can transform command information (such as locking a car, stopping a car) into the format suitable for GSM short message sending and then send the information to SMSS for storage and transmission through DCTS or DDN. Meanwhile, GLDC can receive all kinds of information from DAP through DCTS or DDN.

6. The characteristics of Stracom’s Intelligent Information Platfom

· The operation system adopts stable Linux platform while the databases adopts Oracle, which ensures the stability and reliability of the system

· The system adapts open structure that can be expanded according to actual construction scales. The maximum volume of User Branch Center that can be supported by the system is 2047.

· The vehicle transceiver interface agreement is open to be connected with various types of vehicle transceiver (private network /GSM/ GPRS) produced by different factories. The maximum volume of vehicle transceiver that can be supported by the system is 100,000.

· The monitor terminal software adopts DAP’s private GPS Pack, which possesses functions such as automatic map-changing, dynamic marking, road matching, fast roaming and so on, and supports transformation between electronic maps data formats such as MapInfo, ArcInfo, AutoCAD and so on.

· The system provides application programming interface and supports users to automatically develop application system for special industries.