Taxi Driver Online

To me it looks like a Game Boy Advanced.

_________________
IDFIMH

Lots of buttons on it. I thought it was touch screen ?

Seamless GPRS & PMR roaming !!

What a claim !!!

Here we are talking about two complete incompatible different technologies. If Auriga claims that the unit supports GPRS & PMR, then one can accept it BUT Seamless Roaming between the TWO is simply not practical because each technology uses different on-air radio protocols. Network operators have spent millions to get seamless roaming between GSM and 3G to work. They have just managed to do it and two technologies are far closer to each other and can physically linked to each other within their radio network structure.

Relative to other PMR based data despatch systems, I had some respect for Auriga system but such claim have simply put them in the same league as other ones now.

Not a good idea in the taxi game.

I expect they will last until a driver gets the hump with a job and then thumps it.

Erm, it's very easy to do this; the same application layer protocol can be transported over different network/link layer protocols.

Type "OSI 7 layer model" into Google.

_________________
Next time you wave, use all your fingers.

This is because link establishment on 3G is a bit on the slow side (RACH power control loop). You could quite easily have a GSM modem and a 3G modem side-by-side and talk the same application layer protocol on both, simultaneously.

Getting a continuous stream of speech packets to arrive in sequence over multiple media is a completely different kettle of fish to doing the same with the small, infrequent status messages for a taxi system.

_________________
Next time you wave, use all your fingers.

Either you have made this comment due to lack of basic understanding of communication or trying to justify a similar comment which was made by your company in your previous advertisement.

Lets assume it was he first one:

Lets just consider the first 2 basic layers out of 7 Layers of the OSI Model:

Physical layer 1: To support this you need two types of RADIOS i.e. PMR and GPRS radios. Yes it can be done at much high cost.

Data Link Layer 2 says: At this layer, data packets are encoded and decoded into bits. It furnishes transmission protocol knowledge and management and handles errors in the physical layer, flow control and frame synchronization..

This is the BIG problem. In PMR data packets are encoded using proprietary protocol. Auriga has its own protocol. There is no international standard in PMR based systems. That is why the data heads supplied by your company cannot be used by Auriga or Autocab customers, etc.

Yes, there is an international standard for GPRS data protocol and it is called TCP/IP. That is why mobile phones from Nokia can connect to GPRS as well as phones from LG or Ericsson, etc.

This is where stops seamless roaming concept between the two systems.

If you EVER get the seamless roaming working between PMR and GPRS, I will put a full page ad in national newspaper and apologise.

Either you have no idea or trying to fool people. I will wait for the day to see it live in action somewhere. If any reader out there has this feature in place or get it in future please let us all know.

I agree that we are talking about two differant technologies and as for seemless roaming, well, maybe they will just have too demostrate it working.

The way I see GPRS and PMR working hand in hand is where the unit goes out of range of the pmr base stations and once it has tried to log on to them then it will start a GPRS connection, this would not be seemless as there would be a in built delay between the unit completing its search for a pmr channel then moving onto making the gprs connection.

The other way would be too make the data unit more inteligent and it knows that when it reaches or goes into certain areas or crosses bourndaries that instead of PMR then it should start up a GPRS connection, again there would be a transition phase from PMR to the GPRS setup etc.

A lot of data companies say that they have units that have GPRS and PMR but at the end of the day, what does the customer want too acheive?

Fool. That statement is complete rubbish. You have completely missed the point, and obviously don't know where to begin with the OSI 7-layer model. This is the kind of statement I'd expect to hear from a sales/marketing type person who doesn't have a proper handle on digital communications engineering.

TCP is a transport (layer 4) layer protocol.
IP is a network (layer 3) layer protocol.

The link (layer 2) layers for HSCSD/GPRS/EDGE/3G will feature all sorts of additional framing that embellishes fragments of the IP data that it carries, perform link establishment, power control and forward error correction. And they will each be different for the supporting physical-layer technology.

A taxi data system would use the same APPLICATION (layer 7) layer protocol. For GPRS/3G the transport layer embellishment may be TCP/UDP, for PMR it will be whatever is provided.

The principal reason why data systems are not interoperable is that they use different APPLICATION layer protocols. Thus GPRS solutions from different suppliers will not be interoperable either.

_________________
Next time you wave, use all your fingers.

I think you have misunderstood the fundamental problem. The problem lies much lower than layer 7 which is the Application layer, which I presume it falls in your expertise area. Unfortunately you cannot resolve radio communications issues through the Application layer! The problem is more fundamental and it lies further down the line of OSI Seven Layer Model which is Data link and network layers.

Many data despatch system providers start life with writing booking application i.e. layer 7. Those that they do a good job of it, they sell well. Then they try to expand their business and move to radio communications side and add data heads, GPS, etc. This is where most of them fail badly because they don’t have an in-depth knowledge of lower layers and they have little clue on Data link, network layer and how transmissions should be used to ensure data delivery in transport layer, etc. Now PMR data despatch system providers are jumping on GPRS bandwagon without have the expertise in this area. I wish life was that simple.

I don’t want to get into an in-depth technical discussion purely because this is not the correct forum and these types of postings does not make sense to most readers on this forum.

My final point: I look forward to the day that someone shows me seamless GPS/PMR roaming in action. Time will only prove my point.

How dare us PMR companies jump on the GPRS bandwagon!

You don't want to get into a technical discussion because you clearly don't have a concrete technical understanding to put forward coherent arguments. Discuss it with me at Sandown if you like, because this is going to go around in circles here (who are you anyway?)

The OSI model provides a framework for an application to work across multiple and different different physical layer media. It's as simple as that. It cannot be refuted. A taxi system providing "GPRS/PMR roaming" is merely an instance of the OSI model being applied.

The sacrifice that some PMR providers will have to take, though, is in making their "roaming" systems incompatible with their legacy systems. This may be, for instance, due to TCP/IP not providing broadcast or multicast capability. However it's not a bitter pill to swallow.

My last point: I have worked on various layers (from Physical to Application) of various protocol stacks over the past 15 years. This includes the likes of LAPB, X25, TCP/IP, 3G (WCDMA), MPT1327, IR2008 and other bespoke protocols.

_________________
Next time you wave, use all your fingers.

Does anyone know how much the new system will cost per car for a 140 car fleet, that already has Auriga.
I know I could ring them, but then they want to sell me everything, and it gets on my tits.

Ask them at the show next week. Then again you could look at the other systems as well.

Golden rule - never be an early adopter (its called beta testing and you do it for them and they dont pay you).

Do Auriga still use Microsoft SQL if they do this normally requires a per seat/user license, usually very expensive?

Jason it isnt who you think it is ie its not me however he seems to be winding you up so he must have a point.

as a clue I would be looking towards Wales