IOP Edit Configuration
I/O Processor Edit Configuration
The configuration menu contains setup preferences for the data port. This is
the serial port on the computer which is directly connected to a base station
AVL data modem (Direct to Com Port, Radio, or Radio With Tweo Com Ports - e.g. FLEETWARE R210B
or Kenwood KGP-1B), phone connection (Hayes AT), Read From File (data stored in a file), or a network
connection (E-Mail, TCP/IP, UDP, SMPP, HTTP, or FTP) - which is the most commonly used hardware interface.
You can also select the protocol depending on what device you are communicating with (each protocol uses a
different format for sending data).
Close IOP When RASTRAC Closes
Select this check box if you want the IOP to automatically close when you
close the RASTRAC viewer application on the same computer. Do not select this option if there
will be more than one RASTRAC viewer connected to the IOP.
Vehicle ID Name
Press this button to enable and set up the Vehicle ID name for this IOP. You
can use this option if you have a GPS device that does not contain a vehicle ID
in the data format. The name entered will be used to track the vehicle in the
RASTRAC viewer. This option is useful if you connect a handheld GPS unit
directly to the Com port for tracking. Warning: You cannot have more than one GPS
input device when using this option. You can only add a vehicle ID to a single
GPS device. If more than one GPS device is updating, all position updates
will have the same vehicle ID.
Hardware/Interface
This is the device that you want the IOP to use to communicate with the
vehicle modems. Choose one of the following:
Direct to Com Port
Use this setting if you are connecting directly to the computer’s serial port. A SMS base modem, radio base modem,
or a handheld GPS receiver directly connected to the serial port
on your computer would be examples for this setting. Select "Properties"
to set up the Com port.
Com Port Properties:
Com Port
This is the serial port on your computer which is directly connected to the
base station AVL modem.
Baud Rate
This is the serial communication data rate in baud, or symbols (bits), per
second. Its setting should match the output data rate of your base station AVL
modem. If you’re not sure, use "9600."
Parity
Parity is the parity setting of the serial communication port. It should
match the output parity setting of your base station AVL modem. If you’re not sure, use "None."
Data Bits
Data Bits is the number of data bits in each serial transmission frame. It
may be 7 or 8, and should match the output "data bits" setting of your base
station AVL modem. If you’re not sure, use "8."
Stop Bits
Stop Bits is the number of stop bits in each serial transmission frame. It
may be 1 or 2, and should match the output "stop bits" setting of your base
station AVL modem. If you’re not sure, use "1."
Hayes AT
Use this setting if you are tracking vehicles with analog cellular telephone-based
AVL modems (or any other phone based system). Analog cell phones are no longer available
but Hayes AT is still supported for other possible dial-up modems. After you click on the button,
select "Properties". If your vehicles will be calling in periodically to report
locations and events, you should select the "Automatically Answer Incoming
Calls" button. If you have more than one modem installed in your computer, you can
select which one to use in the ‘Select Device (modem)’ list box. The other entries allow you to
manually dial out and hang up the telephone connection and do not need to be set now.
Radio
Use this setting if you are connecting to a base station radio. Select
"Properties" to set up the Com port. See properties for Direct to Com Port section
above.
Radio With Two Com Ports
Use this setting if you are connecting to a base station radio that requires
an additional communications port (you need two com ports for this selection).
This option is used if you are using FleetSync and GPS tracking. Select
"Properties" to set up the auxiliary Com port. See properties for Direct to Com Port
section above.
E-Mail
Use this setting if the IOP is sending/receiving information from an e-mail account.
The RASTRAC IOP will process MIME Version 1.0 encoded messages
if they are sent in Base64 encoding or plain text. Select "Properties" to set
up any required parameters for the E-Mail settings (like IP address, port
number, user name, password, and automatic read time).
E-Mail Properties:
Set up these parameters like any other e-mail account. You will need to have
an e-mail account already active. Put your receive e-mail information under
the POP3 section and the send information under the SMTP section.
The IP address/POP3 Server should be your POP3 server address (e.g. pop.server.net) use port
110 and enter your user name and password. Don't check the ‘Leave mail messages on the server’
box unless you don't want to delete your messages from the e-mail server (use
this option for testing, so the messages won't be removed – every time you log
in you will get the same messages because they are not deleted). The ‘Get E-Mail Every: nnn Sec’
is used to for automatically reading messages from the e-mail server. If you
set it to 60, every minute (60 seconds) the RASTRAC IOP will log in and read all e-mail messages.
If you leave it set to 0, the RASTRAC IOP will never read the e-mail. You can also press the ‘Get E-Mail Now’
button to retrieve your e-mail messages. The RASTRAC IOP acts just like any other e-mail reading program.
It reads the mail and deletes it. Then, it processes the e-mail message and sends the information to
the RASTRAC viewer. If the update data does not contain a vehicle ID in the message, it uses the name
before the '@' of the e-mail address for the vehicle ID (e.g. SUPPORT@RASTRAC.COM would be vehicle ID: SUPPORT).
ORBCOMM uses IDs like CGC5X2 (originating from CGC5X2@ORBCOMM.NET).
Set up the IP address/SMTP Server (e.g. mail.server.net) and port 25. Select
a ‘From Address’ so if mail messages being sent (e.g. to an ORBCOMM unit) fail, they can be
returned to a valid e-mail address (possibly use a company e-mail address). You
can check the ‘Send message in subject field’ box if your mobile unit is set up to send messages back in the subject field
instead of the body of the e-mail text message.
WARNING: This is an e-mail reading program. If you connect it to your regular
e-mail account, all of your messages will be read and deleted from the server
(unless you select the ‘Leave mail messages on the server’ option).
You should be connecting to an e-mail account set up specifically
for receiving data from a mobile unit (e.g. ORBCOMM interface).
In vehicle settings, set up the vehicle ID to be the first part of the e-mail
address (before the @) and set up the TELCO MIN to be the server host address
(e.g. orbcomm.net). SUPPORT@RASTRAC.COM would be Vehicle ID ‘SUPPORT’ and the TELCO MIN would be ‘RASTRAC.COM’.
TCP/IP Network
Use this setting if the IOP is sending/receiving information over a TCP/IP network
(e.g. GPRS, LAN, Internet, etc...). Select "Properties" to set up any required
parameters for the TCP/IP network settings (like port number for the ‘netserver’).
UDP Network
Use this setting if the IOP is sending/receiving information over a UDP network (primarily GPRS).
Select "Properties" to set up any required
parameters for the UDP network settings (like port number for the ‘netserver’).
SMPP
Use this setting if the IOP is sending/receiving information over a TCP/IP network
using a SMPP (short message peer-to-peer). SMPP is used for sending SMS (short message service)
text messages using TCP/IP instead of having a SMS base modem connected to the Com Port.
Select "Properties" to set up any required
parameters for the network settings (like port number for the ‘netserver’).
Click the 'Properties' button for SMPP and set up the SMPP fields for sending and receiving short messages (SMS).
Set up the System ID (user name), Password, and System Type (you will get this information from the SMPP service provider).
The System Type is used to categorize the type of system (e.g. “VMS” (voice mail system) , “OTA” (over-the-air activation
system) - leave the field blank (empty) if not required). If there is a Service Type then enter it, otherwise leave this
field blank (empty). System Type and Service Type are optional and may not be required. If you have a Source Address then
enter it (e.g. 5010000000), otherwise leave it blank (empty), The Source Address (if available) is the address (MIN/Phone number)
of the IOP (message sender). A System Short Code can be used as the source address. Enter the Source TON (e.g. 3) and NPI
(e.g. 9). Enter the Destination TON (e.g. 1) and NPI (e.g. 1). You can also select a 'Receive Port Number'.
Select a receive port number only if your SMPP requires two different ports for transmitting and receiving (e.g. smsc.tlxt.net).
Do not select a receive port number unless the SMPP requires an additional TCP/IP connection to receive updates on.
By default the IOP will use one TCP/IP connection to communicate with the SMPP server (bind transceiver - both transmit and receive).
On systems with two persistent TCP/IP connections, the IOP will open one connection for transmitting data (bind transmitter) and one
connection for receiving data (bind receiver). You will need to set up the TCP/IP Network Properties to keep a persistent TCP/IP
connection open for receiving and transmitting data.
FTP
Use this setting if the IOP is sending/receiving information over a TCP/IP network using FTP (file transfer protocol).
FTP is only supported by protocols written specifically for FTP (e.g. SecTrack InmarsatD+ using through FTP).
HTTP
Use this setting if the IOP is sending/receiving information over a TCP/IP network using HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol).
HTTP is only supported by protocols written specifically for HTTP (e.g. InmarsatD+ using XML through HTTP).
Read From File
Use this setting if the IOP is reading information from a file. This settings is primarily used for testing
by saving vehicle updates from an over the air interface (e.g. UDP) to an ASCII text file (e.g. Extended RMC).
The data format must be in readable ASCII text (not binary).
Protocol
This is the "language" that you want the IOP to "speak" when communicating
with the hardware device. Choose one of the following:
NMEA-0183
Use this setting if the location data from the device is in NMEA-0183 format.
This setting is commonly used when you use a "Direct to Com Port" connection
to a GPS receiver.
Extended RMC
Use this setting if the location data from the device is in Extended RMC format (this is an extended
format defined by NMEA-0183 for the GPRMC message string). It includes the GPS data from NMEA RMC including additional
data not supported by the NMEA standard (event, inputs, text messages, sensors, JBUS/OBD bus information, etc...)
Enfora
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in Enfora (E.g. MTG, MTGL, MT-uL, etc...) format.
You may also click on "Properties" to set up additional
parameters.
TAIP
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in TAIP (Trimble ASCII Interface
Protocol) format. You may also click on "Properties" and choose a setting for the ‘Compressed’ option
(used for Hayes AT interface to a analog Cellular AVL unit like the T310 - currently not in production).
Do not select the Compressed format if the TAIP messages aren’t coming from a cellular unit (direct to com port will not be in the
compressed format). You can also select which format to use during a ‘Get Position’ response. The default response is the ‘LN’ data format.
If you are using a GPRS modem or some other communications
device that needs smaller data packets (to keep the communications cost down), then
select one of the other formats. The ‘XS’ and ‘XT’ data formats are binary (not ASCII text) and are therefore not supported
through a cellular connection.
TrimTrac
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in Trimble TrimTrac format (see TAIP).
You may also click on "Properties" to set up additional parameters.
CalAmp
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in CalAmp format.
GenX
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in GenX format.
AirLink
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in AirLink (from AirLink
Communications, Inc.) format. You may also click on "Properties" to set up additional
parameters.
BlueTree
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in BlueTree format.
Antares
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in Antares format.
SANAV
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in SANAV (San Jose Navigations) format.
IntelliTrac
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in IntelliTrac format.
Sierra Wireless
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in Sierra Wireless format.
Inmarsat-D+
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in InmarSat-D+ format (satellite
communications - SkyWave, satamatics, SecTrack).
You may also click on "Properties" to set up additional parameters.
Globalstar
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in Globalstar format (satellite
communications - Axonn AXTracker, Orbit One).
You may also click on "Properties" to set up additional parameters.
ORBCOMM
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in ORBCOMM format (satellite
communications link). You may also click on "Properties" to set up the destination
address of the ‘Get Position’ request. ORBCOMM will respond to the ‘Get Position’
command by returning the GPS location to the selected destination address.
There are usually up to 3 address that can be programmed through the ORBCOMM
network. Select the address that gets routed to your RASTRAC AVL e-mail account.
Kenwood KGP
Use this setting if the vehicle data modems are Kenwood KGP AVL Modems.
Select "Properties" to set up any parameters for the KGP protocol.
Kenwood FleetSync
Use this setting if the vehicles are using Kenwood FleetSync radios. Select
"Properties" to set up any parameters for the FleetSync protocol. Select the ‘Long Message Format
(external MDT)’ option if you are using an external Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) to display
messages. Select the ‘Short Message Format (radio display)’ if you are sending messages to the radio display.
Kenwood FleetSync & KGP
Use this setting if the vehicle data modems are Kenwood KGP AVL Modems and
FleetSync capable radios. Select "Properties" to set up any parameters for the
FleetSync and KGP protocols. Select the ‘Long Message Format (external MDT)’ option if
you are using an external Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) to display
messages. Select the ‘Short Message Format (radio display)’ if you are sending messages
to the radio display. Select "KGP Properties" to
set up any parameters for the KGP protocol.
FLEETWARE
Use this setting if the vehicle data modems are FLEETWARE AVL Modems provided
by Manning NavComp, Inc. Select "Properties" to automatically detect which Com
port the base modem is connected to.
Mentor XGATE
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in XGATE (from Mentor Engineering)
format. You may also click on "Properties" and choose a setting for the IP
address and port number.
GPSIO-8
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in GPSIO-8 (from Ancor Engineering)
format.
PYRAMID
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in Pyramid (from Pyramid
Communications) format. You may also click on "Properties" to set up parameters in the base
modem.
Cimarron
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in Cimarron format.
V-TRACK
Use this setting if the vehicle data is in V-TRACK (from Link Communications)
format.
Custom
Use this setting if you have a custom interface format. Your custom protocol
may require further setup from the "Properties" selection.
Note: Contact Manning NavComp, Inc. to see if a particular hardware device (modem) is supported or
if you need to process the APRS format. New formats are continuously being added.
This is a sample listing of the over 70 different protocols that are currently supported
(some of which are no longer in production or the network is no longer supported (e.g. Analog Cellular and CDPD)).