Towards a Reference Architecture for Cargo Ports
Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are physical systems whose operations are coordinated, monitored, and controlled by computing and communication functions. These systems are typically heterogeneous, including Internet of Things and information technology subsystems, and can present a myriad of implement...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Future Internet |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/15/4/139 |
| _version_ | 1797605399078109184 |
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| author | Virginia M. Romero Eduardo B. Fernandez |
| author_facet | Virginia M. Romero Eduardo B. Fernandez |
| author_sort | Virginia M. Romero |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are physical systems whose operations are coordinated, monitored, and controlled by computing and communication functions. These systems are typically heterogeneous, including Internet of Things and information technology subsystems, and can present a myriad of implementation details, making them very complex systems. An important type of CPS is a maritime container terminal (cargo port), which is a facility where cargo containers are transported between ships and land vehicles for onward transportation and vice versa. A cargo port performs four basic functions: receiving, storing, staging, and loading for both import and export containers. We present here process patterns that describe the functional aspects of cargo ports and a pattern that describes their structural properties (patterns are encapsulated solutions to recurrent problems). These patterns describe semantic aspects found in any cargo port and can be adapted to describe other CPSs. We decompose these process patterns into use cases that describe their interactions with the system. We then integrate the process patterns with structural patterns to assemble a partial reference architecture (RA) that shows the interactions of all the patterns while also indicating the typical stakeholders found in all ports. We validate the proposed reference architecture, highlighting its theoretical and practical value. Software and system designers of cargo ports need to start from a conceptual and abstract view that is subsequently refined to add more details. The use of reference architectures and patterns is an effective way to organize and describe the functional and non-functional aspects of a system, as well as to unify the design of all its aspects. This is, until now, the only published RA for cargo ports, and it can be a useful guideline for the designers of any type of cargo port. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:00:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d6f69e2c2610420dbe27e42f3a738e15 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-5903 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:00:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Future Internet |
| spelling | doaj.art-d6f69e2c2610420dbe27e42f3a738e152023-11-17T19:20:12ZengMDPI AGFuture Internet1999-59032023-04-0115413910.3390/fi15040139Towards a Reference Architecture for Cargo PortsVirginia M. Romero0Eduardo B. Fernandez1Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USADepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USACyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are physical systems whose operations are coordinated, monitored, and controlled by computing and communication functions. These systems are typically heterogeneous, including Internet of Things and information technology subsystems, and can present a myriad of implementation details, making them very complex systems. An important type of CPS is a maritime container terminal (cargo port), which is a facility where cargo containers are transported between ships and land vehicles for onward transportation and vice versa. A cargo port performs four basic functions: receiving, storing, staging, and loading for both import and export containers. We present here process patterns that describe the functional aspects of cargo ports and a pattern that describes their structural properties (patterns are encapsulated solutions to recurrent problems). These patterns describe semantic aspects found in any cargo port and can be adapted to describe other CPSs. We decompose these process patterns into use cases that describe their interactions with the system. We then integrate the process patterns with structural patterns to assemble a partial reference architecture (RA) that shows the interactions of all the patterns while also indicating the typical stakeholders found in all ports. We validate the proposed reference architecture, highlighting its theoretical and practical value. Software and system designers of cargo ports need to start from a conceptual and abstract view that is subsequently refined to add more details. The use of reference architectures and patterns is an effective way to organize and describe the functional and non-functional aspects of a system, as well as to unify the design of all its aspects. This is, until now, the only published RA for cargo ports, and it can be a useful guideline for the designers of any type of cargo port.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/15/4/139maritime transportationcargo portcyber-physical systemsIoTsoftware patternsprocess patterns |
| spellingShingle | Virginia M. Romero Eduardo B. Fernandez Towards a Reference Architecture for Cargo Ports Future Internet maritime transportation cargo port cyber-physical systems IoT software patterns process patterns |
| title | Towards a Reference Architecture for Cargo Ports |
| title_full | Towards a Reference Architecture for Cargo Ports |
| title_fullStr | Towards a Reference Architecture for Cargo Ports |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards a Reference Architecture for Cargo Ports |
| title_short | Towards a Reference Architecture for Cargo Ports |
| title_sort | towards a reference architecture for cargo ports |
| topic | maritime transportation cargo port cyber-physical systems IoT software patterns process patterns |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/15/4/139 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT virginiamromero towardsareferencearchitectureforcargoports AT eduardobfernandez towardsareferencearchitectureforcargoports |