The right driver – flexible integration.
The creation of integrated security systems (ISS) is the process of building a complex of technical security equipment operating in a single information space, which allows creating arbitrary models of interaction between various systems that satisfy virtually any requirements of the facility's operation services. The software package acts as an integrating environment that solves the problems of administration and management of the entire system as a whole.
When building a new facility and having sufficient funds from the investor, an integrated system can be obtained from one of the major manufacturers such as Honeywell or Siemens. Here, initially, all the technical means of various security systems operate under the control of a single software product. However, much more often a situation arises when it is necessary to either integrate existing disparate technical means of security or adapt to the corporate standards of the customer's security service. In this case, various security systems created on the basis of diverse, but serial hardware platforms, are combined into a single ISS based on top-level software. The process of interaction with the equipment is resolved at the level of a set of drivers — special software products responsible for the interface with specific equipment.
Previous experience and history of creating the ISS by our specialists led to the construction of the basic structure of the ISS based on the Russian-made LyriX software package (SP). The choice of this structure is justified by the principles of organization and the use of technologies that ensure the openness of the system for third-party developers: standard module docking technology (CORBA) and database technology (JDBC). In addition, LyriX uses a technology that ensures the universality of the use of various software products, namely: the XML format for storing object settings, configuration files, and for exporting and importing object settings.
Today, I would like to share some of the problems that arise when integrating various systems and emphasize the importance of the facility operation service in creating the optimal structure of the integrated security system.
The process of developing drivers for specific equipment depends to a large extent on the state of “openness” of the software and hardware offered by the manufacturer of this equipment:
there is a complete lack of any open information about the possibility of interaction with this equipment, which may occur if the customer already has a system from a unique manufacturer;
the manufacturer provides a protocol for direct interaction with the equipment, usually via a COM port. In this case, it is possible to implement an independent driver that ensures the execution of all equipment functions within the scope of the exchange and control protocol provided by the manufacturer;
Currently, many manufacturers have come to their senses and provide their own software applications that interact with the equipment. Interaction can be carried out via universal software interfaces, a database, or shared files at the information level. In this case, the capabilities of the driver being developed are limited by the framework of the software interface provided by the manufacturer.
In the case of developing a direct protocol driver, it is not always possible to agree with the equipment manufacturer on providing a complete protocol. Especially in terms of implementing equipment management functions. Some manufacturers, offering an open protocol only for exchanging information, close the functions associated with managing and configuring equipment. This is more typical of manufacturers of imported equipment that provide integrated systems of their own production to the market.
When developing a hardware driver based on a manufacturer's software application, one has to deal with the problem of additional debugging not only of the product being developed, but also of the one offered as the source. This is especially true for software products of domestic production. All software products are tested before being released, but no one is immune from errors, especially programmers. And sometimes it is even impossible to predict a situation that may arise at an object, but still, with regret, one has to state the sufficient rawness of individual software products that one had to deal with when developing hardware drivers. This problem is typical not only for domestic developers. Errors are also found in imported applications. And in such cases, the reaction (both in time and in relation to the problem) to eliminate the remark is fundamental.
The problem of debugging software directly at the facility deserves special attention. Quite often, one has to deal with the fact that, despite the presence of a technical task, the task is set «live», in discussions and conversations with the customer. In this case, a friendly and professional interface between the developer and the customer is of great importance. Not always, especially at the first stages of creating a system, does a clear and distinct vision of the final implementation appear. But, unfortunately, the smart knowledge and ideas of developers in the case of objects unique in structure and novelty do not always coincide with the ideas of the real customer. Consequently, in the course of implementing the task, and more often at the stage of subsequent operation of the implemented one has to deal with some discrepancies between the idea of the system and the functioning mechanism. It is at this stage that the degree of literacy and foresight of the developer is revealed. The possibility of upgrading the system due to the internal capabilities and resources of the system without significant involvement of additional funds and costs determines the cost and quality of the implemented solution.
This period is most valuable in terms of eliminating «uncaught features» and refining the adopted technical solutions to perfection in order to avoid them in subsequent implementations. First of all, this concerns the process of debugging the software part of the system, since deep and random testing of the system is carried out.
The use of the LyriX PC allows you to successfully solve unexpected problems, such as integrating the ISS with systems that are not directly related to security, namely, automation and life support systems for facilities and/or a complex of information systems. Thus, at present, at one of the large public and sports facilities, our specialists have implemented a comprehensive system that includes the ISS, automation systems and information systems. The use of a personal card of the ISO 15693 standard as a single identification feature made it possible to combine various databases into a common information space, providing a range of security and commercial services:
— access control to protected areas;
— automatic car parking;
— resort payment and access control system;
— equipment rental;
— automatic storage lockers;
— hotel system;
— club system.