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SkySMC - System Monitoring and Control - Description

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This System Monitoring Control (SMC) solution comes as a software, installed on a server module. 

The solution is modular and can be delivered in various configurations. The scope of delivery depends on the order.

The system includes a pedagogically enhanced monitoring environment and a simulated ATC environment. It connects to the various training laboratories by SkyRadar. The monitoring system is by default connected to special training infrastructure and optionally to an environment for remote monitoring experiments. It is accessible from all computers in the available laboratories including radar labs, electrical installations, electro-mechanics, electronics. 

The SMC solution provides the important use cases in line with EASA's Easy Access Rules for ATM-ANS (Regulation (EU) 2017/373) ATSEP.BAS.SMC.

Features of the SMC Solution:

  • monitoring availability, performance and events related to ATC subsystems and network devices (i.e. SkyRadar NextGen Radar and Motor)
  • software features include:
    • Configurable Monitoring Software in "FreeScopes" style
    • Comfortable graphical configurator with block diagrams
    • Continuous (graphs over time) and discrete analytics (status indicators)
    • Various communication protocols including SNMP, JSON

The System Monitoring and Control Solution includes by default on a separate server:

  • a simulated ATC environment (default)

It allows for connection to (examples):

  • the 8 GHz Training Radar, motor and server (extension)
  • the Radar and Tower simulator (extension)
  • a representative hardware infrastructure consisting of 3 rack servers, enforced errors in software and hardware (extension)
  • technical training labs, enabling to set up a monitoring system and to train error fixing (extension)

SkyMon-Increased-requests-per-second-after-refreshing-the-website

 

POSSIBLE USE CASES & EXERCISES 

Main monitoring and control architecture (examples)

The scope of delivery depends on the order.

Surveillance

  • Radar stations: radar unit with transmitter/receiver and antenna,
  • data-communication,
  • System health surveillance (e.g. temperature),
  • Processing,
  • Display

Communication

  • Tx/Rx,
  • Circuit management
  • Networks,
  • HMI,
  • Standby facilities,
  • Recording

Navigation

  • NDB
  • VOR
  • ILS
  • DF

Facilities

  • Power,
  • UPS and battery,
  • Environmental (heating,
    cooling),
  • Fire and security

DP

  • Pedagogical FDPS
  • Data communications

System Configuration

  • Equipment of channel switching, software-based or physical switching
  • Parameter settings
  • Choice of monitoring strategies, sensors, protocols (e.g. SNMP, JSON)
  • Working with OIDs (Object Identifiers)
  • SMC across FIRs and country borders

Monitoring and Control Functions

Monitoring Functions

  • Status
  • Parameters

Control Functions

  • Switching
  • Parameterization
  • Set configurations

Equipment Operating (Principles of Ergonomics of HMI and SMC central system and subsystem)

  • Permissions,
  • Ergonomic conventions (e.g. green is
    good or safe, red is fail or unsafe)

Views

SkySMC includes the following views:

  • Monitoring-View - for monitoring and control (Devices, Parameters, Charts, Grouping)
  • DCS-View - for the perspective of a distributed control system
  • Site-View - giving the physical perspective. This view has been developed for distance learning contexts to simulate the "physical" contact with devices
  • Admin-View - the place where the teacher sets the stage, e.g. inserts errors.

Monitoring-View

In the following we introduce the major building blocks of the Monitoring-View:

  • Devices,
  • Parameters,
  • Charts,
  • Grouping

Devices (software building blocks)

Devices are the units to be monitored.
The SMC solution includes e.g.

  • NGINX - a commonly used is a web server that can also be used as a reverse proxy, load balancer, mail proxy and HTTP cache. The ATC environment includes a sample websites, its IP is 172.17.02.
  • SNMP server - SNMP is widely used in network management for network monitoring. SNMP exposes management data in the form of variables on the managed systems organized in a management information base (MIB) which describe the system status and configuration. These variables can then be remotely queried (and, in some circumstances, manipulated) by managing applications. In the example it is a pure SNMP server. IP 172.17.03
  • Flight Data Processing System (server) - it is a web service on IP 172.17.04. This pedagogical FDPS provides simulated data on arriving and departing flights. The events happen faster than in reality in order to see changes faster.

Parameters (software building block)

The SMC solution includes a variety of parameters. By connecting them through drag and drop to the devices, the specific parameters are read out. The parameters include:

  • NginxStatus
  • SnmpParameter
  • LoadAverage
  • FlightData
  • CpuIdle
  • CpuSystem
  • CpuUser
  • RamUsed
  • RamFree
  • RamCached

When we click on the parameters (e.g. NginxStatus), we can choose different values. Request per seconds, the active connections of the server, or the number of requests that are in reading or writing state or those which are waiting.

We can for instance refresh the included example website. Consequently the requests per second in the Nginx server will increase.

The pedagogical Monitoring and Control system has additional training oriented tools, e.g. to generate some 100 or 1000 requests per second.

The parameter blocks are configurable. Countless additional parameters can be added, using the standardized Object Identifier Codes (by ITU or/and ISO).

Charts (software building block)

Then we should connect the device to a parameter, e.g. CpuIdle (defining how much of the CPU is idle). And then connect it to a chart. The Gauge chart updates every few seconds. 

The line chart allows you to display the history. Several gauges can be connected to the parameters.

Different devices use different parameter types. The NGINX server for instance provides its statistics via HTTP. The SNMP server provides its data via the SNMP protocol. 

When we click on the parameters (e.g. NginxStatus), we can choose different values. Request per seconds, the active connections of the server, or the number of requests that are in reading or writing state or those which are waiting. We can for instance refresh the website. Consequently the requests per second in the Nginx server will increase:

DCS-View

The DCS view shows the system from the perspective of a Distributed Control System. The DCS view shows subsystems in a logical context.  All components in the DCS are logically connected with their corresponding elements in the Monitoring View

Site-View

The Site-View has been developed for contexts, where the trainee is working in simulated or emulated environments.

It gives the trainee the possibility to "walk" through the virtual world.

Admin-View

The teacher view allows to preset the components and to insert errors or degraded performance.

Grouping (software building block)

The component “DiagramPack” is like a folder. It helps us to package / group / classify our diagrams.

It allows us to create groupings and substructures and thus make sure that the screens are always understandable and never overloaded.

SkySMC Object Package I

This subset of the solution includes:

  • Including Logic, 3D site view and the 2D monitoring view.
  • Included components are a variety of
    • virtualized servers, networks, databases, applications, etc
    • simulated UPS, cooling systems, buildings, server & technical rooms, etc.
  • The students can monitor the environment and learn to run through escalation routines in case of system degradation

SkySMC Radar Tower Package

This package includes logic and objects to work on Surveillance towers.

  • Components including Logic, 3D site view and the 2D monitoring view.
  • Included components are radar tower and building, amplifiers, A/D converters, mixers, duplexers, transmitters, receivers.

OPTIONAL: Special Physical Training Infrastructure

A physical environment represents in a simplified way a typical ATC facilities.

This subset of the laboratory shall help to gain hands-on experience in bug-discovery and fixing. It includes:

  • connection to the SMC solution
  • physical environment of 3 servers, applications and databases, a physical network with routers and software switches, monitoring points and emulated data. Monitoring can be made on power supply, UPS and battery, environmental factors (heating, cooling), as well as fire and security
  • the teacher is able to degrade the system

OPTIONAL Technicial Training Laboratories

The system allows to even include technical training laboratories which allow to set up training and monitoring infrastructures for 

  • electronics (analog, sequential, combinatory) lab
  • analog and digital communication lab
  • microprocessors lab
  • trouble-shooting lab

The monitoring environment is able to include a variety of different labs, including the NextGen radars, the ATC Radar and Tower Simulator, or various electronical and electro-mechanical labs.

Prerequisites