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TopBackground Of Containers Transportation And The Supporting Technologies
Intermodal container monitoring is considered a major security issue in many major logistic companies and countries worldwide (Potyrailo et al., 2012, p. 133). Current representation of the problem, we face today, originated in 2002, right after the 9/11 attacks. Then, a new worldwide Container Security Initiative (CSI, 2002) was considered that shaped the perception of the transportation operations. Now more than 80 larger ports all over the world contribute to its further development and integration into everyday transportation operations and improve the regulations for the developing regions. Although, these new improvements allow us to feel safer and secure, constant management of transportation operations has become a very difficult problem for conventional data analysis methods and information systems (Andziulis et. al., 2012, p.40).
Integration of many new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and other safety and security regulations into the existing cargo handling operations and processes is likely to be the main solution. As an example, some industrial applications already include new RFID ISO standards, but with limited applicability. Early work exploring RFID is the landmark 1948 paper by Harry Stockman, titled “Communication by Means of Reflected Power” (Stockman, 1948, p.1196). The choice of the applied communication technology often depends on the used frequency. Frequency reflects numerous factors, including not only technical considerations, but also international availability and economic considerations. One of the most known monitoring systems is the ConTracer. But even this known product is applied mostly in theory, to evaluate the potential risks and their prevention methods. Research is now being done to estimate the efficiency of the installations in terms of cost. Still, this main solution has many research related communication and data analysis problems.
Key Terms in this Chapter
CSI: Container Security Initiative is a program intended to help increase security for maritime containerized cargo shipped to the United States from around the world. CSI addresses the threat to border security and global trade posed by the potential for terrorist use of a maritime container to deliver a weapon.
JADE: Java Agent Development Framework is a free software for the development of agents, implemented in Java.
LF RFID: The LF band covers frequencies from 30 KHz to 300 KHz and LF RFID systems operate mostly at 125 KHz or 134 KHz. LF RFID provides a short read range of 10 cm but is not very sensitive to radio wave interference.
LabVIEW: Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench is a development environment for a visual programming language from National Instruments.
GIS: Geographic information system is a system designed to capture, store, analyze and present various types of geographical data.
RFID: Radio-frequency identification is the wireless non-contact use of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects.
RTK: The Real Time Kinematic is a technique used to enhance the precision of position data derived from GPS systems. The RTK is based on measurements of the phase of the signal's carrier wave and provides real-time corrections up to centimetre-level accuracy.
TDMS: Technical Data Management Streaming is a file format (National Instruments Corporation) optimized for saving measurement data to disk and used in NI LabView software.