Bing Maps Fleet White Paper[1]

8/3/2019 Bing Maps Fleet White Paper[1]

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DevelopingFleetandAssetTrackingSolutionswithWebMaps


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IntroductionMany organizations have mobile eld staff that perform business processes away from the ofce which include

sales, service, maintenance, and delivery scenarios. These workers operate vehicles and are responsible for

expensive equipment and products not to mention important clients and government constituents. Tracking

these assets and vehicles to make sure they are being used correctly is not an easy task; it is also difcult for

management to continuously monitor eld operations to ensure that they are operating at maximum efciency.

Enterprise eet and asset tracking software helps, however it is traditionally very complicated and costly due to

proprietary hardware, software, and custom implementations. Traditional eet systems were often deployed on

premise and require specialized hardware, software, and maintenance.

Some of these eet management applications use traditional Geographic Information Systems (GIS) products

to display vehicle and asset locations, which add to the complexity and cost. A number of organizations have

invested heavily in eet management solutions, while others have avoided eet management completely due tothe cost of entry barrier and the total cost of ownership.

Traditional GIS systems are good for spatial data creation, maintenance, and analysis. While it is possible to do

eet and asset tracking within a GIS system, GIS is typically not designed to handle the larger real-time data

streams involved with eet management. Also, (and all too often), eet and asset tracking systems use propri-

etary GPS tracking equipment that are locked-in to a specic software solution. Organizations have invested

heavily in GPS equipment only to nd out later that it was specic to one vendors software and could not be

re-purposed. GPS tracking equipment should not be limited to one software vendor or another.

Due to the aforementioned costs and complexity, new approaches are gaining in popularity such as complete

outsourcing of the eet management software using Software as a Service (SaaS) or Cloud computing models.

This approach is easy to start, easy to deploy, and includes a pay as you go model. It is great for simple eet sce-

narios. However, since organizations do not control the data, more sophisticated scenarios requiring integration

with other systems such as dispatch, HR, and billing are difcult if not impossible. In effect hosted eet solutions

become another enterprise point solution.

Typical eet and asset tracking features often include:

Currentandhistoricalpositions Showing current vehicle and asset position and historical locationsbread crumbs

Dispatch Allowing visual (and automated) inspection of vehicle and asset positions and selections of clos-est asset.

Geo-fencing When an asset has entered or exited certain geographical areas

Reporting Any type of historical reports including miles driven, after hours usage, speeding etc

Alerts Can notify software users of eld issues such as a vehicle leaving an assigned area.

Routing Can be integrated with eet and asset tracking software to optimize stop order or assignments.


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Figure 1 Shows asset tracking with integrated video capture, sovideo can be played back referenced to asset location.

Fleet and asset tracking solutions add tremendous value to organizations, by reducing fuel and maintenance

costs, discouraging misuse, and optimizing eld operations. This value can be enhanced by leveraging web

mapping services and integrating with existing business processes. Organizations should consider a software +

services approach to eet tracking, where web mapping like Bing Maps are leveraged, and core tracking data ishosted on premise for easier integration and maintenance.

Fleet and asset tracking applications can be implemented in various ways as discussed previously, either on

premise, SaaS/Cloud service, or a hybrid of both known as software + services. Fleet and asset tracking applica-

tions require a number of architectural components implemented together, these include hardware, software

and connectivity capabilities.

User Interface Common users of eet and asset tracking applications are dispatchers and managers. The

user interface provides the application navigation and data visualization features to see eet and asset

tracking information. This includes a list of assets, status, current location etc. Reports are also part of the

user interface and can be tabular reports or reporting capabilities that leverage the map. These compo-

nents are often implemented as a rich client, but more commonly now as web user interfaces that can be

easily accessed whether running on premise or as a cloud application.

Database A database is required to store eet and asset data. This includes eet settings but more im-

portant is the current and historical eet location data (latitude and longitude) coming from GPS equip-

ment. Any database could be used but if implemented with a spatial database such as SQL Server 2008,

there are a lot of built in spatial features that can benet an application, such as optimized spatial queries

to nd nearby assets, provide geo-fences etc.

Solution Overview and Architecture


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Figure 2 Showing a commoneet/asset tracking solutionarchitecture

Business Logic Fleet and asset tracking software also requires features to process GPS messages, geo-

fences, reports, alerts etc. This is often provided in the server and/or database and can be implemented

with any application server technology.

GPS Tracking Equipment Devices that send GPS positions of eet assets, as well as other information such

as speed and direction, or in some cases vehicle specic data such as ignition status. This could be a cell

phone equipped with internal GPS, but due to battery performance and reduced consistency of tracking,

many organizations prefer dedicated GPS tracking equipment. Dedicated GPS tracking equipment typically

involves a box containing key components (rmware, wireless card etc), a GPS receiver, a wireless antenna,

and wiring for power and other vehicle sensors. As mentioned previously, proprietary, software specic,

devices should be avoided to prevent vendor lock-in. Some good examples of open eet tracking hard-

ware include the Sierra Wireless PinPoint XT device or the Enfora Spider MT.

Wireless Service Is required to transmit GPS data from the mobile asset to the server. This is typically pro-

vided by a wireless carrier (although it could be satellite if vehicles are out of traditional wireless coverage

areas). The GPS equipment is congured to send GPS messages to a server/port on a preset frequency or

when some event occurs e.g. the ignition is turned on.

GPS Messages & Data GPS tracking equipment locates the asset position by triangulating with known

satellite positions. Once position is determined, the device will transmit information to a specied server.

This information is commonly transmitted as NMEA 0183 strings, a standards based format specied

by the National Marine Electronics Association, over UDP/TCP to a known server port. The information

includes earth position (latitude, longitude), elevation (above sea level), direction, speed, and on some

devices virtual odometer readings. It can also contain extended information from sensors connected to the

device such as ignition on/off, door open/close, temperature.

Mapping Features To visualize eet and asset information a mapping product is typically used in eetand asset tracking solutions. Use of a web mapping platform like Bing Maps is ideal, which eliminates

the complexity of using traditional GIS for eet tracking applications. Web mapping displays are ideal for

supporting the latitude, longitude location records generated by GPS. The position and history of vehicles

can be easily shown against worldwide map and imagery resources without complex mapping platforms.

Additionally, web mapping platforms provide geo-coding (e.g. customer locations) and reverse geo-cod-

ing (e.g. get an address from the vehicle lat/long) services. Routing is also available which provides drive

distance, time, directions, and often route vectors for vehicle stops.


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Figure 3- Bing Maps Platform and Features Showing Bing Maps platform, datasets, APIs and applications.

As mentioned earlier, there are trade-offs to implementing eet and asset tracking as either on premise software

and/or external SaaS/Cloud services: as follows

On-premise Software Advantages Better data control

Reduced ongoing costs in larger eets

Easier integration with other systems (e.g. dispatch, billing, GIS etc)

Easier customization (e.g. new reports)

SaaS/Cloud Service Advantages

Easier setup

Reduced support and maintenance

Each approach has advantages, but a hybrid solution of on premise software + services gives you the best of

both worlds. Web mapping platforms, like Bing Maps, provide a good balance for enabling eet and asset

tracking solutions. They provide easy to use base maps, imagery, geo-coding, and routing as a set of developer

services, which can easily be integrated with other business systems.

Bing Maps PlatformBing Maps is a commercial platform from Microsoft that provides a set of geospatial services. Organizations can

leverage some or all of these services when building eet and asset tracking solutions. The Bing Maps service

platform provides data resources and comprehensive APIs for developing high performance web mappinginterfaces. Bing Maps includes modern web technologies that bring GIS services to the non-GIS user with easy to

use web interfaces, intuitive navigation, and high performance search results.


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Bing Maps allows organizations to focus on value added layers and features of eet and asset tracking, without

devoting internal resources to common mapping layers and services. But it also integrates easily with existing

GIS systems, while supporting development of easy to use web interfaces accessible to non-GIS eet tracking

users. In addition, the Bing Maps Enterprise Content Network enhances performance by providing manydistributed service nodes, that reduce internet latency, while providing improved scalability and redundancy. This

provides a reliable web mapping platform for eet & asset tracking solutions.

Bing Maps APIsBing Maps offers various APIs for integrating maps and location into eet tracking applications. These include

web mapping controls and web services.

AJAX/JavaScriptAPIs These APIs are primarily for web browser development. There is direct support for

KML, GeoRSS, native vectors, and raster tile layers. Advantages of these APIs include working directly in a usersbrowser without specialized plug-ins beyond the ubiquitous JavaScript. Many UI features (such as panning/

zooming etc) are part of the APIs. UI development with these API building blocks is relatively easy, and entry

skill level is not high. JavaScript will also work with any web server technologies making the implementation

very exible. Disadvantages are seen with the richness of possible applications, and performance limitations

due to JavaScript implementations. JavaScript also lacks advanced UI features such as animation, rich graphic

design, transparency etc. For eet and asset tracking, the JavaScript APIs provide vector overlay which is ideal for

showing real-time and historical positions.

SOAP/XMLAPIs SOAP/XML web service APIs support server side calls. Requests can be made with rich result

objects in XML. Advantages include ease of use with .NET and other development technologies that support

SOAP/XML, running as multithreaded background services, (e.g. bulk geo-coding), and support of any type of

UI, including older browser versions, mobile, and smart clients. Disadvantages are that maps returned are static,

lacking any navigation controls, so these features need to be developed as part of the application. For eet and

asset tracking, using the SAOP/XML API is ideal for reverse geocoding.

SilverlightAPIs These APIs use Microsoft Silverlight technology, which are primarily .NET based APIs

with code that runs inside the users browser. Advantages include ease of development with .NET, powerful

UI features such as animation, rich graphic design, and transparency. In addition managed client side code

means high performance display of large vector data sets and in some cases GPU accelerated graphics (10x

performance increases are not uncommon).

Applications can use combinations of Bing Maps APIs, i.e. Silverlight for visualizing data and SOAP/XML for

geo-coding. Bing Maps APIs provide high performance, feature rich enhancements for use with eet and assettracking applications.

ImportantFeatures BingMapsAJAXControl BingMapsWebService BingMapsSilverlightControl

Native web browser

functionality?

Yes No Yes

Integration with GIS Vector and Raster No Vector and Raster

Routing with vectors Yes Yes Via Bing Maps Web Services

Reverse geo-coding Yes, ad hoc Yes, large volume Via Bing Maps Web Services

Trafc incidents/ow Yes No Yes


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Figure 6 Shows one vehicle with real time trafc ow information from Bing Maps.

Figure 7 Shows one vehicle with Birds Eye imagery

Figure 5 Shows Bing Maps with a eet tracking application showing current vehicle positions, each vehicle can be

selected for more information.


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ConclusionFleet and asset tracking solutions provide signicant value to organizations with mobile resources. By

implementing a eet solution that combines on premise software with Cloud mapping services, organizations can

maximize benets and minimize costs. The Bing Maps platform provides easy to use web mapping features with

scalable high performance maps, imagery, geocoding, and routing services. For eet and asset tracking solutions

this translates to reliable and responsive display views of mobile assets, customer locations, and the routes

between them.

More Information

Bing Maps Overview -hp://www.microso.com/maps/

Bing Maps APIs - hp://www.microso.com/maps/developers/

Enfora Spider MT - hp://www.enfora.com/index.cgi?CONTENT_ID=25&User:LANGUAGE=en

Sierra Wireless Airlink XT - hp://www.sierrawireless.com/product/AirLink/pinpointXT.aspx

Documents

Bing Maps Fleet White Paper[1]