INTEROPERABILITY EXPERIMENTS AT OBSEA
Joaquin del Rio1, Tom O’Reilly2, Daniel Mihai Toma1, An oni Manuel1
1-SARTI Resea ch G oup. Uni e si a Poli ècnica de Ca alunya (UPC). Spain
2-MBARI Mon e ey Bay Aqua ium Resea ch Ins i u e. USA
In oduc ion
ESONET needs a Web po al wi h eal- ime web in e ace om
online obse a o ies. In o de o do so, online da a a e u gen ly
needed. This was one s ong demand du ing he 2009 e iew o
ESONET in B ussels.
Ac ually each obse a o y has hei own so wa e a chi ec u e
and da a managemen p ocesses. Some s anda ds can be ap-
plied on op o each obse a o y’s da a managemen in o de
o access da a om in e ne in a s anda d way. Some o hese
s anda ds can be Senso WebEnable, IEEE1451.0. o ini ia i es
like Da aTu bine o high speed eal ime da a s eaming.
The use o hese s anda ds in an obse a o y o access da a and
me ada a om a gene al web in e ace can p o ide in e ope -
able da a isualiza ion om he use poin o iew.
Ano he issues, no ela ed wi h da a access o da a isualiza-
ion, a e impo an o a chi e in e ope abili y be ween obse -
a o ies as plug and wo k capabili ies o he ins umen . Ini ia-
i es as MBARI PUCK p o ocol ( o RS232 o IP), in e aces like
he Sma Senso Boa d (I eme ,UPC) o ecen ly he SID, Sen-
so In e ace Desc ip o (52No h), a e being es ed a Wes e n
Medi e anean Obse a o y OBSEA.
O he in e ope abili y issues o s anda diza ion abou access
o da a a chi es is now s a ing a OBSEA aking in o accoun
he expe ience abou p e ious ini ia i es like SeaDa aNe and
s anda ds p oposed by INSPIRE o me ada a speci ica ion like
ISO19115 and Ne CDF o da a anspo .
Time synch oniza ion in cabled obse a o ies by E he ne ne -
wo ks can be achie ed implemen ing IEEE1588 P ecision Time
P o ocol (PTP) e sus NTP o SNTP o applica ions wi h needs
o synch oniza ion unde milliseconds. Ac ual obse a o ies had
been deployed be o e IEEE1588 2 was eleased, and o hese
eason junc ion boxes a e no equipped wi h IEEE1588 2 E he -
ne swi ches. Some es expe imen s has been ca y ou in o de
o es PTP unde non PTP swi ches in o de o e alua e he ime
synch oniza ion accu acy o hese ype o ne wo ks. Figu e 4
shows one o he es se up o p o ide GPS in o ma ion o an
ins umen h ough a IEEE1588 synch oniza ion ne wo k.
Abou OBSEA
OBSEA is a cabled sea loo obse a o y 4 km o sho e Vilano a i
la Gel u (Ba celona, Spain) coas loca ed in a ishing p o ec ed
a ea, and in e connec ed o he coas by an ene gy and com-
munica ions mixed cable.
The main ad an age o ha ing a cabled obse a o y is o be
able o p o ide powe supply o he scien i ic ins umen s and
o ha e a high bandwid h communica ion link. In his way, con-
inuous eal ime da a is a ailable. The p oposed solu ion is he
implemen a ion o an op ical E he ne ne wo k ha ansmi s
con inuously da a om ma ine senso s connec ed o he obse -
a o y. Wi h OBSEA, we can pe o m a eal ime obse a ion o
mul iple pa ame e s in he ma ine en i onmen . SARTI esea ch
g oup om he Technical Uni e si y o Ca alonia (UPC) is de-
o ed mainly in he design and deploymen o senso ne wo ks,
om he elec onical, mechanical and da a managmen poin o
iew. In his case, OBSEA was a new challenge, and now i is a
pe ec place whe e scien is a e able o collec da a, es new
ins umen a ion and p ocedu es.
IEEE-1451 and OGC SWE In eg a ion in o ac ual Obse a o-
ies
In mos cases, ac ual obse a o ies a e using a p op ie a y Da a
Managemen and Ins umen con ol amewo k. We can di-
ide he in e ope abili y p oblems in di e en pa s om bo -
om (ins umen o senso side) o op (use access o eal- ime
da a and a chi e). A igu e 2 we can see a simple app oach o
achie e in e ope abili y o eal ime da a. The in eg a ion a he
ac ual p op ie a y Da a Managemen sys em o di e en obse -
a o ies o di e en se ices like IEEE1451 se e o SWE SOS
se e can o e access o da a using web clien s wi hou dis-
u bing he ac ual unc ionali y o he obse a o y.
The IEEE 1451 p o ides a speci ica ion o add a digi al laye o
memo y, unc ionali y, and communica ion o senso s. Fo ex-
ample i enables senso s o be con ollable and hei measu e-
men s accessible h ough a ne wo k wi h su icien in o ma ion
on he senso cha ac e is ics and his o y.
OGC Senso Web Enablemen (SWE) p o ides a speci ica ion o
Web-enabled senso s o be accessible and, whe e applicable,
con ollable ia he Web. SOS p o ides a b oad ange o in e op-
e able capabili y o disco e ing, binding o, and in e oga ing
indi idual senso s, senso pla o ms, o ne wo ked cons ella-
ions o senso s in eal- ime, a chi ed o simula ed en i on-
men s.
Up o now, we can conside hese s anda ds in he op le el se -
ices o p o ide eal- ime da a o use s in a s anda d way.
Figu e 1 OBSEA S uc u e
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PUCK p o ocol and Senso ML wi h Senso In e ace Desc ip-
o (SID)
Ano he app oach o ins umen manu ac u e s is o imple-
men PUCK p o ocol in hei ins umen i mwa e. PUCK has
been o mally p oposed as an OGC Senso Web Enablemen
s anda d. PUCK does no i sel ully implemen in e ope abili y,
bu a he p o ides he lowe ie in a hie a chy o s anda ds ha
achie e his goal. PUCK p o ocol is a simple command p o ocol
ha helps o au oma e he con igu a ion p ocess by physically
s o ing in o ma ion abou he ins umen wi h he ins umen
i sel . The p o ocol de ines a small “PUCK da ashee ” ha can
be e ei ed om e e y complian ins umen ; he da ashee
includes a uni e sally unique iden i ie o he ins umen as
well as me ada a ha includes manu ac u e and model. Ad-
di ional in o ma ion called “PUCK payload” can be s o ed and
e ie ed om he ins umen . The payload o ma and con en
a e no cons ained by PUCK p o ocol, and can include execu -
able d i e code ha implemen s a s anda d ope a ing p o ocol
as well as me ada a ha desc ibe he ins umen in a s anda d
way, o any o he in o ma ion deemed ele an by he obse -
ing sys em. PUCK p o ocol commands augmen a he han
eplaces exis ing ins umen commands, and so manu ac u e s
do no ha e o abandon hei exis ing so wa e. PUCK p o ocol
is simple, and eadily implemen ed in e en simple ins umen
p ocesso s; se e al manu ac u e s now implemen MBARI PUCK
p o ocol in hei ins umen s. PUCK p o ocol was o iginally de-
ined o ins umen s wi h an RS232 in e ace. A p oposed e i-
sion ex ends he p o ocol o E he ne in e aces; he “IP PUCK”
p o ocol includes he use o Ze ocon o enable easy ins alla ion
and disco e y o senso s in an IP ne wo k.
The OBSEA eam has de eloped an au oma ic algo i hm o
de ec he ins alla ion o RS-232 PUCK ins umen s. The hos
compu e pe iodically in e oga es he se ial po s o a PUCK
enabled ins umen . When he hos ecei es a PUCK esponse
om he se ial po , he hos e ie es he UUID o de e mine
i a new ins umen has been ins alled. I so, he hos e ie es
he PUCK payload and uses his in o ma ion o collec da a om
he ins umen and egis e i in WEB using s anda ds like IEEE
1451.0 o OGC SWE.
The de ec ion algo i hm o IP PUCK-enabled ins umen s is
based on he Ze ocon s anda d. When an IP PUCK ins umen
is plugged in o a local a ea ne wo k (LAN), i au oma ically ge s
an IP add ess and is egis e ed as a PUCK se ice ia Ze ocon .
An applica ion ha uns in he same LAN can disco e he in-
s umen and e ie e he PUCK payload h ough PUCK p o o-
col and au oma ically egis e he new ins umen in a s anda d
way in WEB.
Thus s anda d IEEE-1451 and OGC SWE componen s can be
au oma ically e ie ed and ins alled by he hos when a PUCK-
enabled ins umen is plugged in, o e coming he di icul ies o
manual ins alla ion.
An impo an componen o achie e he plug and play capa-
bili y wi h PUCK p o ocol is he payload in o ma ion a ached
o each ins umen . The payload should desc ibe en i ely he
unc ionali y o he ins umen s in a s anda d way and should
be machine and human eadable. To accomplish his ask Sen-
so ML wi h Senso In e ace Desc ip o (SID) can be used, which
p o ides s anda d models and an XML encoding o desc ibing
senso s, measu emen p ocesses, and ins umen con ol in o -
ma ion.
As we know, ins umen s a e using p op ie a y command p o-
ocols o communica e. The de elopmen o so wa e d i e s
is needed in o de o in eg a e hem in each pla o m. SID can
help o a oid he p ocess o w i e ins umen d i e s. The gene -
a ion o a machine eadable documen wi h in o ma ion abou
how o communica e and pa se he in o ma ion will help he
plug and play p ocess.
Figu e 3 shows how se ices unning a SID in e p e e can es-
ablish he connec ion o a senso and a e able o communica e
wi h i by using he senso p o ocol de ini ion o he SID. SID
ins ances o pa icula senso ypes can be eused in di e en
scena ios and can be sha ed among use communi ies.
(be o e) Figu e 2 Access o eal- ime da a using s anda ds like SWE
SOS o IEEE1451
Figu e 3 SID in e p e e in a da a Acquisi ion Sys em (p oposed o
OGC by 52No h)
The Sma Ocean Senso s Conso ium
The Sma Ocean Senso s Conso ium (SOSC) is a g oup o
manu ac u e s and use s dedica ed o imp o ing he eliabil-
i y, u ili y and economy o hyd og aphic senso ne wo ks. The
SOSC aims o accomplish hese goals h ough he de elop-
men , adop ion and p omo ion o p ac ical s anda d in e aces
and p o ocols. The SOSC was ounded on he ini ia i e o Cana-
dian ins umen manu ac u e RBR L d in ea ly 2009 ollowing
an OGC-sponso ed in e ope abili y wo kshop in S John’s New-
oundland. Neil Ca e o Memo ial Uni e si y’s Ma ine Ins i u e
was elec ed i s conso ium chai man. Senso manu ac u e
membe s include Eu opean companies SEND Elec onics Gmbh
and SiS Gmbh, as well as manu ac u e s om Canada and he
USA. Non-manu ac u e membe s include ep esen a i es om
ESONET, SARTI-UPC, he Mon e ey Bay Aqua ium Resea ch Ins i-
u e (MBARI), he US Ocean Obse a o ies ini ia i e, NOAA, and
o he o ganiza ions. Membe s pledge o o e and use ins u-
men s ha comply wi h in e aces and s anda ds designa ed as
“conso ium app o ed”. Membe ship is open o o ganiza ions
ha sha e conso ium goals, and membe ship eques s a e sub-
jec o app o al by he SOSC chai man.
The SOSC collabo a es wi h he Open Geospa ial Conso ium
(OGC), which has es ablished he Senso Web Enablemen sui e
o in e ope abili y s anda ds. The wo conso ia ha e signed a
o mal memo o unde s anding, esol ing ha hey will coope -
a e o pu sue common goals. SOSC manu ac u e s plan o p o-
ide a s anda d desc ip ion o each o hei ins umen s, and a e
e alua ing he OGC’s Senso ML ma kup language o his pu -
pose. The manu ac u e s also ag ee o de ine a s anda d p o o-
col o uniquely iden i y he make, model, and se ial numbe o
each complian ins umen . The wo conso ia ha e ag eed o
collabo a e on o mal submission o PUCK as an OGC s anda d.
Ins umen manu ac u e s p o ided e y use ul eedback o he
OGC s anda d wo king g oup du ing his p ocess, and SOSC
membe SARTI-UPC has ac ually implemen ed an “E he ne
PUCK” ins umen o e i y he easibili y o he p oposed s an-
da d. The SOSC and OGC also wo k oge he o demons a e
senso ne wo k echnologies such as PUCK, OGC Senso Web
Enablemen , IEEE 1451, and o he s anda ds. These “li e” dem-
ons a ions a e held a con e ences, and usually in ol e SOSC-
OGC eam membe s and senso s dis ibu ed ac oss he plane ,
in eg a ed in eal- ime hanks o he In e ne and in e ope abil-
i y s anda ds.
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