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Objectives
Vistar’s GlobalWave asset tracking and monitoring system began commercial operation through its subsidiary Vistar Datacom in Canada/U.S. in late 1999. By the end of 2001, operations will also be underway through Regional Operators in Australia, Europe, South Africa and the Middle East, with others to follow. GlobalWave is a proprietary wireless, end-to-end satellite-based packet data system, which operates with a variety of existing L-band geostationary satellites. This system provides tracking, monitoring and control and short message services to a wide variety of fixed and mobile assets, including trailers, railcars, heavy equipment, ships, fixed tanks, pumping stations, meter reading, a variety of fixed and mobile security applications, among others.
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User terminals for this system are characterized by exceptionally low power consumption and low latency, thereby providing near-real time monitor and control. The end user business or Value Added Reseller (VAR) very often accesses the GlobalWave system via Internet, which requires a GlobalWave Value-Added Application Server (GWVAS) to interface GlobalWave data with the back-office business operations of the company.
Initial development of a prototype GWVAS for the GlobalWave DGS System was undertaken in early 2000, but it became clear that the feature set was inadequate to serve specialized market segments (e.g. custom web pages for marine use), was difficult to in
Benefits
This GWVAS application server development will provide convenient and easy to use end-to-end connectivity between the desired terminal sensors(for a variety of applications) and the VAR’s particular back office business processes. This in turn will better meet user and VAR requirements, and facilitate the sale of GlobalWave systems and terminals. The GWVAS SW developed will be immediately incorporated in the commercial GlobalWave system during the course of the work, after suitable acceptance testing.
Features
The GlobalWave system architecture which will be employed in the Pilot Utilisation activity is that for the commercial system illustrated above. The GlobalWave Value-Added Server (GWVAS) platform provides the following functions and has the architecture as shown below.GWVAS Functions:
- store and update message content
- disseminate alarms to customers
- generate & deliver value-added reports on messages
- generate and serve www pages
- receive control and configuration messages
- provide back office terminal, customer and billing info
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This application server is a generic platform of the GlobalWave system, interfacing on one side with the GlobalWave Packet Processing Centre(PPC), and it must be customised to interface on the other side via Internet with specialised back-office application servers which reside on customer premises. The Pilot Utilisation architecture can also be illustrated as below.
