pc software for use with the tracking units a3la-dgs and a3la-tss

TN2005-22-V4.0.2

PC SOFTWARE FOR USE WITH THE TRACKING UNITS A3LA-DGS AND A3LA-TSS

Version 4.0.2

September 22, 2005

Copyright © 2002 – 2005 by NAL Research Corporation

The specifications in this document are subject to change at NAL Research’s discretion. NAL Research assumes no responsibility for any claims or damages arising out of the use of this document, the use of Terminal Software, Server for Terminal Modems Software or from the use of the A3LA-IGS based on this document, including but not limited to claims or damages based on infringement of patents, copyrights or other intellectual property rights. NAL Research makes no warranties, either expressed or implied with respect to the information and specifications contained in this document. Performance characteristics listed in this document are estimates only and do not constitute a warranty or guarantee of product performance.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3

1.1 Backwards Compatibility ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4

1.2 Improvements ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4 2.0 TERMINAL SOFTWARE FOR PC ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6

2.1 System Requirements …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6

2.2 Running the Terminal Software …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6

2.3 How to Chat …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 25

2.4 How to Use SMS …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 30

3.0 A3LA-DGS TERMINAL SOFTWARE FOR PDA ……………………………………………………………………………………… 31


3.2 Running the Terminal Software …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 31

3.3 How to Chat …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 44

4.0 SERVER FOR TERMINAL MODEMS SOFTWARE ……………………………………………………………………………… 47


4.2 Running the Server for Terminal Modems Software …………………………………………………………………… 47

5.0 UTILITIES ……………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………… 81

5.1 Message Translators …………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………… 81

5.2 GUI Version of Message Translator ……………….…………………………………………………………………………… 81

5.3 Command Line Version of Message Translator ………………..………………………………………………………… 82

5.4 Required Format to Send E-Mail Messages to the A3LA-DGS …………………………………………………… 83

5.5 How to Send E-Mail Messages to the A3LA-DGS ………………………………………………………………………… 83

5.6 Required Format to Send E-Mail Messages to the A3LA-TSS …..……………………………………………….. 83

5.7 How to Send E-Mail Messages to the A3LA-TSS ………………………………………………………………………… 84

5.8 Remote Configure of the Terminal Units …….……………………………………………………………………………… 84

5.9 GUI Version of Remote Configure …………………………………………….………………………………………………… 84

5.10 Command Line Version of Remote Configure ………………………………….………………………………………… 85

6.0 KNOWN PROBLEMS ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 87

6.1 Server for Terminal Modems Software ………………………………………………………………………………………… 87

6.2 Terminal Software for PC ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 87

6.3 A3LA-DGS Terminal Software for PDA …………………………………………………………………………………………… 88

6.4 Backward Compatibility Issues …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 88

APPENDIX A—INSTALLATION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 90 APPENDIX B—HANDSHAKING ALGORITHM ………………………………………………………………………………………… 99 APPENDIX C—DOCUMENT TYPE DEFINITIONS FOR XML FORMATTED GPS REPORTS ……………… 103 APPENDIX D—USING BLUETOOTH ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 105

NAL Research Corporation (TN2005-22-V4.0.2) 2

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS are satellite tracking terminals. They are stand-alone units each relying

on a built-in micro-controller and a global positioning system (GPS) receiver for operation instead of

external data terminal equipment (DTE). As satellite tracking terminals, the modems’ main function is to

send GPS reports to a server, at a configurable interval, to let the server know its location as well as its

velocity. This main function is aided by the modems’ ability to receive request for GPS reports from a server,

chat with a server, and allow a server to remotely change a number of its operating parameters.

The main difference between the A3LA-DGS and the A3LA-TSS is the way in which they communicate

with a server. The A3LA-DGS is able to communicate with a server by means of data connections to another

modem, data connections through the RUDICS system (a modem bank, which interfaces with the server

using telnet), and short-burst data (SBD). The A3LA-TSS, on the other hand, is able to communicate with a

server by means of SBD, and short message service (SMS) messages. The A3LA-TSS also has the

advantage that in SMS mode when callable is set to true the user can continuously be in a voice connection

on a connected handset.

Another difference between the A3LA-DGS and the A3LA-TSS is that the A3LA-DGS has four modes of

operation while the A3LA-TSS has two modes of operation. These modes are listed below.

A3LA-DGS Modes of Operation

Mode 1: as a tracking terminal sending GPS reports by SBD

Mode 2: as a tracking terminal sending GPS reports by 2Way or dial-up data

Mode 3: In regular mode similar to an A3LA-D (regular satellite modem without GPS)

Mode 4: In GPS mode (manufacturer’s default setting): similar to an A3LA-DG (satellite modem with

GPS)

A3LA-TSS Modes of Operation

Mode 1: as a tracking terminal sending GPS reports by SBD

Mode 2: as a tracking terminal sending GPS reports by SMS

The intent of this document is to describe the different software programs for the A3LA-DGS and A3LA-

TSS. The software programs in this document correspond to the A3LA-DGS version 3.3.n and the A3LA-TSS

version 1.0.n. Including an “n” in the version number refers to all version numbers that have the rest of the

version number. Both modems use the same software. The two main programs are the Terminal Software

Version 4.0.n and the Server for Terminal Modems Software Version 4.0.n. Both of these software packages

are developed by NAL Research specifically for the A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS. There are two different

versions of the Terminal Software—one runs on personal computers and the other (for A3LA-DGS only) runs

on PDAs. There are also various utility programs.

The modems are configured with the Terminal Software. The Server for Terminal Modems Software can

be used to receive GPS reports from A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS units in the field. In order to take advantage

of chatting between the modems and the server, both of these programs are needed. Also, if the A3LA-DGS

modem is configured for mode 2Way mode, the Server for Terminal Modems program must be used by the

server since it handles the handshaking necessary to receive reports by dial-up data.


NOTE: Since the A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS uses the modems’ address books to store values the address

books need to be used cautiously. On the A3LA-DGS addresses 80 through 91 in the address book should

NOT be used. On the A3LA-TSS addresses 80 through 100 should not be used. To be safe, it is

recommended to not use the address book on these modems.

1.1 Backwards Compatibility

NAL Research Corporation continues to support old A3LA-IGS / -DGS firmware versions. Please note

that the versions of the software that runs on the PCs does not necessarily correspond to the versions on

the modems themselves. In version 3.2.2 the RF board changed from the Sebring to the Daytona. The table

below summarizes which firmware versions support the listed features.

SUPPORTED A3LA-IGS/ -DGS FIRMWARE VERSIONS

FEATURES

2.0 2.1 2.2 2.2.1 3.0,

3.0.1 3.1

3.2,

3.2.1,

3.2.2

3.3

Terminal Software 3.2 Can Configure ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Server for Terminal Modems 3.2

Accepts GPS Reports in 2Way Mode ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Server for Terminal Modems 3.2

Accepts GPS Reports from SBD Mode1 ● ● ● ● ● ●

Can be Called During one of the

Tracking Modes (2way and SBD) ● ● ● ● ● ●

Can Make Remote Updates To ● ● ● ● ●

Can Chat With ● ● ● ●

Can Include Text Identifier with SBD

GPS Reports ● ● ●

Has TIM-LP GPS Receiver ● ●

Responses to Remote Updates

Includes Items that were Changed ●

1.2 Improvements

The following changes are those made to the software since the last version.

1 A3LA-IGS’ with firmware versions 2.0 - 2.1 send GPS reports in XML format for SBD mode instead of a compressed format (see appendix C for the DTD). However, the Server for Terminal Modems software as well as the SBD Message Translator utility expects the GPS reports to be in a compressed format. Therefore, these programs are unable to translate GPS reports from SBD mode for these firmware versions. In fact, if the Server for Terminal Modems program is used to retrieve SBD GPS reports from an A3LA-IGS with a firmware version of 2.0 – 2.1, the program may delete the e-mail containing the GPS report without logging it, depending on the program’s properties.


Improvements to the A3LA-DGS Firmware Since 3.2.2

• Responses to remote updates sent by SBD send the remote update string as part of the response in

order to make tracking remote updates more accurate.

Improvements to Terminal Software for PC Since 3.2.1

• Can now configure both the A3LA-DGS and the A3LA-TSS modems.

Improvements to the Server for Terminal Modems Software Since 3.2.1

• E-mail Accounts can be used at the same time.

• Can now receive updates from A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS modems.

Improvements to the Message Translator Programs Since 3.2.1

• Can now translate messages from A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS modems.

Improvements to the Remote Configure Programs Since 3.2.1

• Can now translate messages from A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS modems.


2.0 TERMINAL SOFTWARE FOR PC

Terminal Software was developed to allow the user to easily communicate with the A3LA-TSS and A3LA-

DGS. This program works with the A3LA-TSS and A3LA-DGS in all of its modes of operation and provides an

easy to use interface for configuring the A3LA-TSS and A3LA-DGS.

2.1 System Requirements

Before installing the Terminal Software, make sure your computer meets the following requirements:

• Windows® XP/2000 (The software will run on other versions of Windows, but has not been

extensively tested on them)

• Pentium® II 266MHz (Pentium® II 300MHz or faster for XP) with 256MB of RAM

• 4MB video card with DirectX® 8.0 compatible drivers

NOTE: On some computers with older versions of DirectX, the software may not appear correctly. If

this happens, then go to “http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/” and download the latest

version of DirectX. We recommend at least version 9.0.

• 21MB available on hard disk

• 800 x 600 screen resolution (looks best with a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768)

NOTE: The Terminal Software is designed to work with the active configuration profile of the A3LA-TSS and

A3LA-DGS set for ATE1, ATV1 and ATQ0, which is the manufacturer’s default profile. In case the active

configuration profile was changed and needs to be restored, perform the steps below:

• Enter either REGULAR or GPS Mode (see the next section for instructions).

• Enter AT&V command to view the active configuration profile settings.

• If the active configuration profile needs to be restored to default settings, enter AT&F0 command.

• Enter AT&W0 command to store the settings in non-volatile memory.

• Enter AT&Y0 command to indicate an active configuration profile.

2.2 Running the Terminal Software

The Terminal Software must first be installed by following the instructions in Appendix A. Once

installed, the software can be accessed from the Windows® “Start” menu in the “NAL Research” folder. Each

time the software is loaded; the A3LA-TSS or A3LA-DGS must be OFF and must remain OFF until further

instructions from the Terminal Software.

Selecting the Firmware Version

From the “Options / Properties / Firmware Version” menu, select “A3LA-TSS” for A3LA-TSS modems and

select “A3LA-IGS/DGS” for A3LA-IGS or A3LA-DGS modems.


If A3LA-TSS is selected

If A3LA-DGS is selected


Setting the Terminal Software Properties

After the Terminal Software is loaded, its properties can be changed to reflect the hardware setup and

user’s preferences. However, “Bits per second”, “Data bits”, “Parity”, “Stop bits”, and “Flow control” should

be kept at their default settings unless the program is being used with a specialized unit. There are three

types of properties that can be set; port properties, dialing properties, and preference properties. In order

to set the port properties and the dialing properties, the program must be disconnected from the COM port

by clicking the disconnect icon.

Port Properties

To set the port properties, open the “Port Properties” window by choosing “Set Port Properties…” from

the “Options / Properties” menu or clicking the “P” icon on the main form. The following table describes the

port properties.

PROPERTY DEFAULT DESCRIPTION

COM Port COM1 The COM port the A3LA-TSS or the A3LA-DGS is connected to.

Bits per second 19200 The baud rate setting of the COM port—DO NOT CHANGE THIS VALUE

Data Bits 8 The data bits setting of the COM port—DO NOT CHANGE THIS VALUE

Parity None The parity setting of the COM port—DO NOT CHANGE THIS VALUE

Stop Bits 1 The stop bits setting of the COM port—DO NOT CHANGE THIS VALUE

Flow Control None The flow control setting of the COM port—DO NOT CHANGE THIS VALUE


Dialing Properties

To set the dialing properties, open the “Dialing Properties” window by choosing “Set Dialing Properties…”

from the “Options / Properties” menu or clicking the “D” icon on the main form. The following table

describes the dialing properties.

Preference Properties

To set the preference properties, click the appropriate item from the “Options / Properties” menu or

click the appropriate icon on the main form. The following table describes the preference properties.


SIM card type Civilian

Type of SIM installed inside the A3LA-TSS or A3LA-DGS—either

“Civilian” or “Government.” Terminal Software uses this information

to provide the correct help settings.

Phone number (000) 000-0000 Terminal Software uses this information to setup ATD command.

Country/region 1 This field appears only when the SIM card type is “Civilian.” Terminal

Software uses this information to setup the ATD command.

Landline or

Satellite Landline

This field appears only when the SIM card type is “Civilian.” Terminal

Software uses this information to setup the ATD command.

Call type N/A This field appears only when the SIM card type is “Government.”

Terminal Software uses this information to setup the ATD command.


Firmware Version A3LA-TSS

This property informs the software what version of the modem will be

used. After entering any operation mode, this property cannot be

changed.

ECHO Selected If ECHO is checked, the characters typed locally will appear on the

screen.

ANS Selected If selected, incoming calls will be answered by “ATA” command

immediately.

SMS Selected If selected, SMS messages will be displayed immediately unless the SMS

storage is full.

Session File

The properties of the Terminal Software can be saved as a session file for later use by choosing “Save

Session” from the “File” menu. All session files have a tgs extension, which stands for terminal with GPS

session. The information stored in a tgs file includes all of the port properties, dialing properties, and

preference properties. The default session file is stored as “Default.tgs” in the “Session” sub-folder of the

installation directory. Users can either click on any tgs file to start the Terminal Software with the properties

set to the values in that particular session file or can “Open” a tgs file from the “File” menu. The A3LA-TSS


or A3LA-DGS must be powered OFF when loading a tgs file and can only be powered ON when instructed by

the software.

Choosing the Option Buttons

After the properties have been set, the Terminal Software is ready to be used to configure the A3LA-TSS

or A3LA-DGS or communicate with the A3LA-TSS or A3LA-DGS in one of its operation modes. If the

software is set for the A3LA-TSS, two buttons, “CONFIGURE” and “OBSERVE TRACKING”, will be displayed

and if the software is set for the A3LA-DGS, four buttons, “CONFIGURE”, “TERMINAL GPS”, “REGULAR” and

“GPS”, will be displayed instead. The “CONFIGURE” button allows the program to configure the A3LA-TSS or

A3LA-DGS. If using the A3LA-TSS, the “OBSERVE TRACKING” button can be used to observe the operations

of the A3LA-TSS in the tracking mode and communicate with the modem. If using the A3LA-DGS, the

“Terminal GPS”, “Regular” and “GPS” buttons force the A3LA-DGS into one of its operation modes.

The COM port will be connected (opened) automatically when an option button is clicked. Users can also

manually open the COM port by clicking the connect icon and close the COM port by clicking the

disconnect icon. However, the program may not work properly if the COM port is disconnected manually

during the operation of any of the option buttons. Note that the status “Connected” does not necessarily

mean that the A3LA-TSS or A3LA-DGS is connected to the Iridium network. It only means that the Terminal

Software has successfully established communications with the COM port.

CONFIGURE Button for A3LA-TSS and A3LA-DGS

The purpose of the “CONFIGURE” button is to give users the ability to configure the Start-Up

parameters of the A3LA-TSS and A3LA-DGS, and store them permanently in the non-volatile memory of the

A3LA-TSS or A3LA-DGS. Below are instructions on how to configure the Start-Up parameters.

NOTE: Make sure the firmware version property of the software is set correctly for the modem. If this is not

set correctly when the modem is turned on, the software may pop up a warning message. To set the

firmware version property, select the appropriate version from the “Options / Properties / Firmware Version”

menu.

NOTE: After the A3LA-TSS or A3LA-DGS is turned OFF, it needs approximately 20 seconds to reset before

the next power cycle.

To Configure Start-Up Parameters for Firmware Versions greater than 2.1

• Make sure the unit is OFF and then click the “CONFIGURE” button.

• Turn ON the unit when instructed by the Terminal Software and wait for the “MODEM ON” message

to appear underneath of the status bar.

• The unit should begin loading the address book information into its memory, which takes

approximately one minute. DO NOT ENTER ANY KEYSTROKES FROM THE KEYBOARD WHILE THE

ADDRESS BOOK INFORMATION IS BEING ACCESSED OR LOADED.

• If the “CONFIGURATION SETTINGS” screen does not appear, follow the troubleshooting steps

below.


• Once the “CONFIGURATION SETTINGS” screen appears, the Start-Up parameters can be changed.

At anytime, the “?” icon can be selected. This will cause a help window to pop up when the Start-Up

parameters are clicked.

• Click the “OK” button when finished to save the Start-Up parameters.

• Wait for the confirmation screen to appear and then turn off the unit.

• The unit is now ready to use the new Start-Up parameters.

To Configure Start-Up Parameters for Firmware Versions 2.0 and 2.1

• Make sure the A3LA-IGS is OFF and then click the “CONFIGURE” button.

• Turn ON the A3LA-IGS when instructed by the Terminal Software and wait for the “MODEM ON”

message to appear underneath of the status bar.

• When the password box appears, enter the correct password and click “OK” within 15 seconds.

NOTE: the default password is “12345678”. The password must be exactly 8 characters and can

include any alphanumeric character as well as symbols such as /, <, and @. However, it cannot

include the “ (double quote) character, space character, or the _ (underscore) character.

• If the “CONFIGURATION SETTINGS” screen does not appear, follow the troubleshooting steps

below.

• Once the “CONFIGURATION SETTINGS” screen appears, the Start-Up parameters can be changed.

At anytime, the “?” icon can be selected. This will cause a help window to pop up when the Start-Up

parameters are clicked.


• Wait for the confirmation screen to appear and then turn off the A3LA-IGS.

• The A3LA-IGS is now ready to use the new Start-Up parameters.

Troubleshooting

• Close the Terminal Software and turn OFF the A3LA-TSS or A3LA-DGS.

• Check the power and COM port cables to see if they are properly connected.

• Make sure that the COM port is available and not being used by any other programs.

• Make sure that the Terminal Software and the modem are referenced to the same COM port.

• Restart the Terminal Software and follow the instructions for configuring the A3LA-TSS and A3LA-

DGS again.


For A3LA-TSS

Destination Type (Used in SBD and SMS Mode)

“Destination Type” parameter is the type of the destination address that the A3LA-TSS sends reports to

in SMS mode or chats with in both SBD and SMS modes. The destination type can be either a phone

number or an e-mail address.

Phone Number (Used in SBD and SMS Mode)

If “Phone Number” is selected for the “Destination Type” parameter above, the A3LA-TSS will use this

“Phone Number” parameter to send reports to the server modem in SMS mode, and to chat with the server

modem in both SBD and SMS modes.

Email Address (Used in SBD and SMS Mode)

If “Email Address” is selected for “Destination Type” parameter above, the A3LA-TSS will use this “Email

Address” parameter to send reports to the server modem in SMS mode, and to chat with the server modem

in both SBD and SMS modes.

Time between Reports (Used in SBD and SMS Modes)

The “Time between Reports” parameter sets how often the A3LA-TSS attempts to deliver GPS

information in SBD and SMS modes. The minimum frequency is 1 minute, and the maximum frequency is

64800 minutes (= 1080 hr. 0 min.) or 45 days. If the frequency is set to 0 minutes, the SBD email reports

or the SMS reports will be sent out continuously. For more information, please see the “Time between

Reports” section for A3LA-DGS.


Number of Tries (Used in SBD and SMS Modes)

The “Number of Tries” parameter defines the maximum number of attempts that the A3LA-TSS will

make to deliver GPS information. If the GPS information is delivered, then the modem ignores the rest of

the tries. Each try takes 45 seconds. For more information, please see the “Number of Tries” section for

A3LA-DGS.

Identifier (Used in SBD and SMS modes)

The "Identifier” parameter sets the identifier for the A3LA-TSS. In SBD mode, the serial number (SN),

which is the IMEI number of the modem, is included in the e-mail. The identifier can be also included in the

SBD e-mail if the “ID in Reports” parameter below is set to be included. In SMS mode, the identifier can be

included in the SMS report if the “ID in Reports” parameter below is set to be included. The '”Server for

Terminal Modems” software uses this identifier to identify modems that make reports.

ID in Reports (Used in SBD and SMS Modes)

In SBD mode, if the “ID in Reports” parameter is set to be included, the identifier will be placed inside

the SBD attachment of the SBD e-mail. If the “ID in Reports” parameter is set not to be included, only the

serial number (IMEI) can be read from the subject line or the name of the attachment. In SMS mode, the

identifier will be included in the SMS message if the “ID in Reports” parameter is set to be included.

Password (Used in SBD and SMS Modes)

The value of the “Password” parameter must be provided in order to make a remote update to the

A3LA-TSS.

Callable (Used in SBD and SMS Modes)

The A3LA-TSS will accept incoming calls if the “Callable” parameter is set to “Yes”. If the “Callable”

parameter is set to “No”, the A3LA-TSS will not accept incoming calls and the modem will turn off the RF

board and GPS receiver when it does not need them in order to conserve power. The RF board and GPS

receiver will be turned back on when tracking mode is escaped out of by entering “+++” or when it is time

to deliver a GPS report. The following table describes what happens when the RF board and the GPS receiver

need to be turned back on.

NOTE: While the RF board is turned off, the modem may not send any messages over the RS232 to the

attached device. Also, when both the RF board and the GPS receiver are off, the A3LA-TSS will turn the GPS

receiver on first because it uses less power.

State Action (Command) Result

GPS is OFF

RF is ON

Escape Tracking Mode

(+++)

The A3LA-TSS will run the AT command, turn the GPS receiver on,

and then run the ATI3 command.

GPS is OFF

RF is OFF


(+++)

The A3LA-TSS will turn the GPS receiver on, turn the RF board on,

and then run the ATI3 command.

GPS is ON

RF is OFF N/A This state should not happen.


Start-Up Mode

The “Start-Up Mode” parameter determines the tracking mode (SBD or SMS) that the A3LA-TSS goes

into if it is not forced into the escape mode within the first 15 seconds after it is turned on. The SBD mode

uses Short Burst Data (SBD), and sends GPS information to an e-mail account via the Internet. In order to

use the e-mail account, an airtime provider must be contacted first. The SMS mode sends GPS information

to a server modem or a user's e-mail account by SMS.

In the SMS mode, the A3LA-TSS sends GPS reports to either a phone number of the server modem or

an e-mail address by Iridium’s Short Message Service (SMS). If the “ID in Reports” is set to be included in

GPS reports, the identifier will be included in the user data field of the SMS format. The GPS report is saved

in numeric format and can be converted to text format with NAL Research’s Server for Terminal Modems

software. The A3LA-TSS automatically sends GPS reports at a pre-set time interval established by the user

through the Time between Reports parameter. The server modem or the email server that the A3LA-TSS

reports to must be connected to a computer. The computer is responsible for handling the handshaking

between the server and the remote modems. NAL Research’s Server for Terminal Modems software can be

installed on the server computer to handle this handshaking responsibility. The Server for Terminal Modems

software can also be used for reconfiguring some of the A3LA-TSS Start-Up parameters remotely (see

section on Server for Terminal Modems Software). To make a remote update the correct password must be

provided with the update. For more information on the SBD mode, please see the “Start-Up Mode” section

for A3LA-DGS.

In SBD mode, the A3LA-TSS sends GPS reports by SBD to a predefined email address or other location.

If the “ID in Reports” is set to be included in the GPS reports, the identifier will be included in the .sbd

attachment otherwise the report will be 30 bytes in length. The IMEI number of the modem is always sent

with the SBD messages. The Server for Terminal Modems can also receive SBD reports from the A3LA-TSS.

NOTE: After configuring all of the Start-Up parameters, the Terminal Software will get the current date and

time (GMT) from the time settings of the computer and save the timestamp at the address book 90. The

format of the timestamp is as follows: YYYYMMDDHHMMSSHH (ex: 2005060112304520)


For A3LA-DGS

Number to Dial (Used in 2Way and SBD Modes)

The “Number to Dial” parameter is the phone number of the modem that the A3LA-DGS will call to

transmit GPS reports (2way only) and to initiate chat sessions (2way and SBD).

Callable (Used in 2Way and SBD Modes for Firmware Versions 2.2 and Later)

The “Callable” parameter determines whether or not the A3LA-DGS will accept incoming calls or not.

The A3LA-DGS will accept calls if the parameter is set to “Yes” and will not accept calls if the parameter is

set to “No”. By setting the parameter to “No”, the A3LA-DGS is limited to receiving remote updates only

when it sends a GPS report.

When the “Callable” parameter is set to “No”, the A3LA-DGS will turn off the RF board and GPS receiver

when it does not need them in order to conserve power. The RF board and GPS receiver will be turned back

on when tracking mode is escaped out of or when it is time to deliver a GPS report. The following table

describes what happens when the RF board and the GPS receiver need to be turned back on.

NOTE: While the RF board is turned off, the modem may not send any messages over the RS232 to the

attached device. Also, when both the RF board and the GPS receiver are off, the A3LA-DGS will turn the GPS

receiver on first because it uses less power.


State Action (Command) Result


(+++)

The A3LA-DGS will run the AT command, turn the GPS receiver

on, and then run the ATI3 command. GPS is OFF

RF is ON Initiate Chatting

(***)

The A3LA-DGS will run the AT command, turn the GPS receiver

on, pause for a valid position fix, and then dial out to send the

report.


(+++)

The A3LA-DGS will turn the GPS receiver on, turn the RF board

on, and then run the ATI3 command. GPS is OFF

RF is OFF Initiate Chatting

(***)

The A3LA-DGS will turn the GPS receiver on, pause to get a valid

position fix, turn the RF board on, roll on the CREG? command

until the modem is registered, and then send out the report.

GPS is ON

RF is OFF N/A This state should not happen.

Type of Calls (Used in 2Way and SBD Mode)

The “Type of Calls” parameter lets the A3LA-DGS know if the number in the “Number to Dial” parameter

is a public switched telephone network (PSTN) phone number or an Iridium phone number. Choose

“Landline” for PSTN phone numbers and “Satellite” for Iridium phone numbers.

Time between Reports (Used in 2Way and SBD Modes)

The “Time between Reports” parameter is the time interval at which the A3LA-DGS delivers GPS reports.

The minimum value for the “Time between Reports” parameter is 0 minutes and the maximum value for the

“Time between Reports” parameter is 64800 minutes (or 45 days). The A3LA-DGS will round the time

between reports down to the maximum value if a number greater than 64800 is entered. If the “Time

between Reports” parameter is set to 0, the modem will continuously send GPS reports by SBD, if it is in

SBD mode, or will keep trying to initiate chatting, if it is in 2way mode. If a faster rate of sending GPS

reports is desired, the A3LA-DGS can be put into a state in which it continuously transmits GPS reports at

the rate faster than once a second. To obtain this continuous state the A3LA-DGS must be in a connection

with another modem. Therefore, the A3LA-DGS must be in 2Way mode or receive a call in SBD mode to

enter this state. Once a connection is made and the A3LA-DGS delivers the GPS report, the server must

send a command to the modem to cause it to start transmitting GPS reports continuously. The Server for

Terminal Modems software handles the handshaking necessary to do this.

Start-Up Mode (Used in All Modes)

The “Start-Up Mode” parameter determines the operation mode (SBD, 2Way, Regular, or GPS) that the

A3LA-DGS goes into if it is not forced into a mode within the first 15 seconds after it is turned on.

In the Regular or GPS mode, the A3LA-DGS behaves similarly to an A3LA-I or an A3LA-IG modem

respectively. Users are referred to the documents below (available upon request from NAL Research).

Documents for the A3LA-D:

Product Information Model A3LA-D


TN2005-39-V3.3.0 (How to Use Model A3LA-D)

TN2005-38-V3.3.0 (General Description of Model A3LA-D)

TN2005-69-V3.3.0 (SatTerm Software Manual)

Documents for the A3LA-IG:

Product Information Model A3LA-DG

TN2005-14-V3.3.1 (How to Use Model A3LA-DG)

TN2005-15-V3.3.1 (General Description of Model A3LA-DG)

TN2005-16-V3.3.1 (Extended AT GPS Commands)

TN2005-70-V3.3.0 (SatTerm-G Software Manual)

NOTE: The commands differ somewhat in the A3LA-DGS and the A3LA-DG in that the A3LA-DGS writes

the response to the AT+PA command to the SBD send buffer and on the A3LA-DGS the remote side can

use the AT+PA command to read NMEA messages. The A3LA-DGS is also limited to the AT+PA command

and 3 NMEA messages: GGA, ZDA, and PUBX0.

Under SBD and 2way modes, the A3LA-DGS operates as a stand-alone tracking terminal without the

need for user intervention or interface. No additional hardware or software is required except for DC input

power.

In SBD mode, the A3LA-DGS sends GPS reports to an e-mail address as an e-mail attachment. If the

“IDs used in SBD” parameter is set to send only the IMEI number (SN), which is associated with a particular

A3LA-DGS unit, in the e-mail, the standard file size of the e-mail attachment will be intentionally kept at 30

bytes to minimize cost. The IMEI number will be placed in the Subject Line of each e-mail message. If users

select to send both the IMEI number (SN) and the identifier (ID) in the e-mail through the “IDs used in

SBD” parameter, then the ID will be placed inside the attachment. The GPS report is saved in numeric

format and can be converted to text format with NAL Research’s SBD Message Translator software or Server

for Terminal Modems software. The A3LA-DGS automatically sends GPS reports at a pre-set time interval

established by the user through the Time between Reports parameter. The figure below gives a quick

overview of how SBD mode works for the civilian Iridium gateway.

NOTE: When obtaining a SIM card from an Iridium service/airtime provider (ISP) for the A3LA-DGS, the ISP

must first assign an e-mail address to each A3LA-DGS unit before the SBD mode can be used. Both the IMEI

number of the A3LA-DGS and a valid e-mail address must be provided to the ISP.


SendBuffer

ReceiveBuffer

Internet

Iridium Satellite NetworkTerminal Modem

E-mail Account

(Optional)

User E-mail

[email protected]

In 2way mode, the A3LA-DGS sends GPS reports directly to another modem in text format. The 2way

mode has a client-server architecture whereby the A3LA-DGS (also known as the remote modem or client)

makes calls to a server modem in truly real-time. The phone number the A3LA-DGS uses to dial into a

server is defined in the Number to Dial parameter. Users must also specify whether the phone number uses

a PSTN line or the Iridium network in the Type of Call parameter.

RemoteModem

Serial Port Device

Server Modem

RemoteModemRemote

Modem

A server modem can be an actual landline or satellite modem or can be the RUDICS system, which

acts as a modem emulator. As shown in the figure above, the server modem must be connected to a

computer. In the case of the RUDICS system, it is connected via a telnet connection. The computer is

responsible for handling the handshaking between the server modem and the remote modems; the server

modem is only a medium for communication. NAL Research’s Server for Terminal Modems software can be

installed on the server computer to handle this handshaking responsibility. The Server for Terminal Modems

software can also be used for reconfiguring some of the A3LA-DGS Start-Up parameters remotely (see

section on Server for Terminal Modems Software). The Start-Up parameters can be changed remotely by a


server whenever the A3LA-DGS reports in or at any time if the Callable parameter is set to Yes. To make a

remote update the correct password must be provided with the update. Appendix B has descriptions on the

format of the low level data transfer protocols between the server modem and the A3LA-DGS.

Number of Tries (Used in 2Way or SBD Modes)

The “Number of Tries” parameter defines the maximum number of attempts the A3LA-DGS will make to

deliver a GPS report if it has problems delivering the report. In SBD mode, a GPS report is assumed to be

successfully sent if the character 1 is returned as the first parameter from the AT+SBDI command and a

valid position fix was obtained. In 2way mode, a GPS report is assumed to be successfully sent if the done

message is received from the server modem and a valid position fix was obtained.

In 2way mode, a GPS report transmission takes approximately 45 seconds and the transmission may

take longer than 45 seconds if the transmission was partly but not fully completed or a report was delivered

but a valid GPS fix could not be obtained. If the cumulative time for the dial attempts exceeds the “Time

between Reports” parameter, then the A3LA-DGS immediately terminates the current call cycle and starts a

new one regardless of whether or not it has made the number of attempts specified by the “Number of

Tries” parameter. Therefore, if using the A3LA-DGS in 2Way mode, it is recommended that the value of the

“Number of Tries” parameter be carefully calculated so that the cumulative time for all the dial attempts

does not exceed the value of the “Time between Reports” parameter.

In SBD mode, the A3LA-DGS rolls on sending out SBD messages instead of waiting before the next try.

Therefore, while the A3LA-DGS is busy sending out reports in 2Way mode, “+++” cannot be used to escape

out of the tracking mode. Also, in SBD mode, if the “Callable” parameter is set to No, the GPS is turned off

once the first GPS report is written and the A3LA-DGS uses the first report rather than new reports for all of

the attempts specified by the “Number of Tries” parameter.

When the A3LA-DGS cannot establish a connection either via SBD or 2way after four (4) consecutive

attempts it will manually force network renegotiation by executing the AT+COPS=1 command. The number

of failed attempts is calculated by adding the failed Number of Tries and the failed number of Time between

Reports.

In 2way mode, the A3LA-DGS always establishes a connection with the server first before acquiring a

GPS fix to give the GPS receiver time to search for the highest number of satellites. In the case where the

“Number of Tries” parameter is greater than 1, the A3LA-DGS will wait until a GPS fix is acquired before

stopping to dial in. If a GPS report cannot be successfully sent after all of the attempts, specified by the

“Number of Tries” parameter, the A3LA-DGS will save a GPS report for the next call cycle. Up to three old

GPS reports may be stored in its non-volatile memory. These reports include the first two and the last

missed GPS reports. On the next successful connection, the A3LA-DGS will send all of its saved reports

along with the current GPS report.

NOTE: When the A3LA-DGS is sending Emergency SBD reports or when the “Time between Reports”

parameter is 0, missed reports are not buffered in memory.


Identifier (Used in 2Way and SBD Modes – Used in 2Way Mode Only for Firmware Versions 2.0-3.2.2)

The value of the “Identifier” parameter (example: platform name) will be embedded with each GPS

report that is transmitted by dial-up data (2way). The identifier will also be embedded with each GPS report

that is transmitted by e-mail (SBD) if the “IDs used in SBD” is set to “SN & ID”.

IDs used in SBD (Used in 2Way and SBD Mode)

The “IDs used in SBD” parameter specifies how the A3LA-DGS is identified in GPS reports sent by SBD.

If “SN only” is selected, then only the IMEI number (SN) associated with the A3LA-DGS can be read from

the subject line of the SBD e-mail or the name of the attachment of the SBD e-mail. If “SN & ID” is selected,

the Identifier (ID) will also be placed inside the attachment. An exception to this is that if the user forces the

A3LA-DGS into 2way or SBD mode only the IMEI number will be sent with Emergency SBD messages when

the emergency switch is triggered.

Password (Used in 2Way and SBD Modes)

The value of the “Password” parameter must be provided in order to make a remote update to the

A3LA-DGS. Only for versions 2.0 and 2.1, this password must also be provided to configure the A3LA-IGS.

OBSERVE TRACKING for A3LA-TSS

Unlike the “Terminal GPS” button for A3LA-DGS, the “Observe Tracking” button for A3LA-TSS does not

force the A3LA-TSS into its operation mode. If the “Observe Tracking” button is clicked and the A3LA-TSS is

turned on, the terminal screen will appear right away. The A3LA-TSS goes into the start-up mode (either

SBD or SMS), which is set by the user previously, within the first 15 seconds after it is turned on. The user

can escape out of tracking mode at any time during the boot up sequence with the A3LA-TSS.

When the A3LA-TSS is not trying to deliver a GPS report, it can escape out of the tracking mode by

using the “Escape” button or by entering “+++”. While escaped out of the tracking mode, the A3LA-TSS will


not attempt to send any GPS reports. In the escape mode, the standard AT commands to communicate with

the modem and the AT GPS commands can be used to obtain GPS information. When escaping out of the

tracking mode, the ATI3 command will be executed if the A3LA-TSS is successfully escaped. After executing

the ATI3 commands, the Terminal Software will load the address book information if not already loaded and

save the information in order to be able to perform remote updates in case any remote update arrives by

SMS while the modem is in the escape mode. Please see the “Remote Update” section below for more

information on remote updates. After loading the information, the software will set the SMS indications

according to the current SMS property setting.

NOTE: If the A3LA-TSS escapes out for the first time after it is turned on, the software will use the SMS

property set by the user to set the SMS indications. After that, the software will automatically set the SMS

property to display SMS immediately whenever the A3LA-TSS enters the chat mode, and it will set the SMS

property not to display SMS immediately whenever the modem returns to the tracking mode so that

incoming SMS messages will be buffered while the modem is in the tracking mode.

NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT SET THE SMS INDICATIONS OF THE MODEM MANUALLY BY RUNNING THE

AT+CNMI COMMAND DURING THE CHAT MODE.

The following picture shows what the Terminal Software will look like when the A3LA-TSS is escaped out of

the tracking mode and when it is in the chat mode.

Escape Mode

Chat Mode


In order to switch the modes between the escape and chat modes, while the A3LA-DGS must return to

the tracking mode before escape out or initiate chatting, the A3LA-TSS can initiate chatting from the escape

mode or can escape from the chat mode as well without returning to the tracking mode. In any cases, the

A3LA-TSS’s SMS indications will always be reset to the appropriate SMS setting. Whenever the modem

enters the chat mode, the Terminal Software will always reload the address book information to update the

settings for chatting.

While the A3LA-TSS is in the escape mode or in the chat mode, if the A3LA-TSS is not busy running

commands and not in connection, it can return to the tracking mode by using the “Track” button. Entering

“+++” directly to the modem to return to the tracking mode is not allowed. However, if the modem is in a

connection, it is allowed to enter “+++” to escape the data mode. When returning to the tracking mode, the

software will set the SMS property and the SMS indications not to display SMS immediately first. Then, the

software checks if there are any SMS messages buffered in the SMS storage. If there are any buffered

messages, the software will delete the entire SMS messages except remote update messages. The deleted

messages will be displayed in the window and logged to the log file before returning to the tracking mode.

Then, the ATI3 command will be executed if the A3LA-TSS is successfully returned.

Remote Updates

If any remote updates arrive by SMS while the A3LA-TSS is either in the escape mode or in the chat

mode, the Terminal Software will send commands to the A3LA-TSS to perform the remote updates. The

following describes how the Terminal Software processes the remote updates:

- If a remote update arrives, the Terminal Software will check the last remote update timestamp by

reading the address book 90. If the software determines by the date timestamp that the newly

received remote update was sent before the last remote update, then it will be ignored.


- If the date timestamp and the remote update format are valid, the software will update the

configuration settings of the A3LA-TSS and the date timestamp. The software will try maximum five

times if the update fails.

- If the update is successful, the software will send the response. If the destination or the protocol

(SMS or SBD) is updated, the response will be sent to the new destination by the updated protocol,

either SBD or SMS.

SMS Log File

Both in the escape mode and the chat mode, if the A3LA-TSS is set to display SMS immediately, all the

incoming SMS messages including chat messages, chat responses and remote updates will be converted into

easy to read format and be logged to the log file. If the A3LA-TSS is set not to display SMS immediately,

regardless of the operation mode, all the newly received SMS messages will be buffered in the SMS storage,

and these messages will be logged to the log file if the software or the A3LA-TSS views them by running

“AT+CMGL” command or if the users view them either by using the SMS window, by using the “AT+CMGL”

AT Command Table, or by running the “AT+CMGL” command manually. All the outgoing SMS messages will

be logged to the log file if they are generated and sent by the Terminal Software. In other words, if the SMS

messages are sent either by the chat window, the SMS window or the AT Command Table, the messages will

be logged to the log file. The GPS reports that are sent by the A3LA-TSS will not be logged.

TERMINAL GPS Button for A3LA-DGS

This button forces the A3LA-DGS into one of its tracking modes (2Way or SBD) regardless of the value

of the “Start-Up Mode” parameter. However, it does not change the value of the “Start-Up Mode”

parameter. After the A3LA-DGS is forced into a tracking mode, it will load the address book information and

begin delivering GPS reports according to its Start-Up parameters. When the A3LA-DGS is not trying to

deliver a GPS report, it can escape out of the tracking mode and operate as though it were in GPS mode

(see the “GPS Button” section below for information on operating the A3LA-DGS in GPS mode). While

escaped out of the tracking mode the A3LA-DGS will not attempt to send any GPS reports. The A3LA-DGS

can return to the tracking mode in two different ways. One way will return preserving the time between

reports unless the time between reports has passed, in which case it will send the next GPS report right

away. The other way will return and send the next GPS report right away regardless of whether or not the

time between reports has passed.

To escape out of the tracking mode, type “+++” or use the “+++ <Escape>” button. To return to the

tracking mode either type “+++” on the screen or use the “+++ <Return>” button. To return to the

tracking mode and force the next GPS report to be sent right away either type “---” on the screen or use the

“--- <Return with Report>” button. When escaping out of and returning to tracking mode, the ATI3

command will be executed if the A3LA-DGS successfully escaped or returned. The following picture shows

what the Terminal Software will look like when escaped out of tracking mode.


REGULAR Button for A3LA-DGS

This button forces the A3LA-DGS to operate as an A3LA-I modem regardless of the value of the “Start-

Up Mode” parameter. However, it does not change the value of the “Start-Up Mode” parameter.

GPS Button for A3LA-DGS

This button forces the A3LA-DGS to operate as an A3LA-DG modem regardless of the value of the

“Start-Up Mode” parameter. However, it does not change the value of the “Start-Up Mode” parameter. There

are differences between the A3LA-DGS operated as an A3LA-DG and the standard A3LA-DG as indicated

below:

• There is only one AT GPS command available—AT+PA=n, where n is an integer from 1 to 3.

However, “Date”, “Time”, “Location”, and “Velocity” buttons can also be used to obtain GPS

information in a more readable format.

• GPS information is available ONLY when the A3LA-DGS is not connected to the Iridium satellite

network.

The GPS information is written to the SBD send buffer instead of being returned directly to the user. The

GPS information can be displayed only if echo command on the modem is set to 1 (ATE1).


2.3 How to Chat

Chatting using an A3LA-TSS Modem

Chatting using an A3LA-TSS modem is done with SMS messages. The type of server that the modem is

able to chat with can be either a modem capable of sending SMS messages or an e-mail account. Also, the

server must be controlled by a program, such as the Server for Terminal Modems software, which

understands how to chat with A3LA-TSS modems, in order for chatting to work.

NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT SET THE SMS INDICATIONS OF THE MODEM MANUALLY BY RUNNING THE

AT+CNMI COMMAND DURING THE CHAT MODE. If the modem is set manually not to display incoming SMS

messages immediately during the chat mode, it will cause the following:

- The incoming SMS messages will no longer be displayed immediately.

- The users can still view the received SMS messages manually by running the AT+CMGL command.

If the viewed messages are new CHAT messages from the server, they will be displayed in the chat

window. However, NO CHAT RESPONSE WILL BE SENT.

- If the viewed messages are REMOTE UPDATE messages, NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN. Please do not

delete these remote update messages. These updates will be processed when the modem returns to

the tracking mode.

- The SMS messages that are viewed by running the AT+CMGL command will be logged to the log file

if they are newly viewed.

Entering the Chatting Mode

Unlike chatting using an A3LA-DGS, chatting using an A3LA-TSS does not need to be initiated between

the A3LA-TSS and the server. Chat messages and chat message responses can be received at any time,

whether the A3LA-TSS is escaped out of the tracking mode or not (if the Callable parameter is set to Yes),

and are displayed in the chat window. However, chat messages and chat message responses can and will

only be sent when the Terminal Software is in the chat mode. To enter the chat mode, click the “<Chat>”

button, which is available whether the A3LA-TSS is escaped out of the tracking mode or not. When the

“<Chat>” button is clicked, if the A3LA-TSS is in the tracking mode, the software will cause the modem to

escape out. Once the modem is escaped out of the tracking mode or if the modem was already escaped out

of the tracking mode, the software will read the modem’s configuration from the phone book memory and

enter the chat mode. Once the software is in the chat mode, it will pop up the “Chat” window and will cause

the A3LA-TSS to send reports to the server every three minutes by running the “AT+PR” command. The

users can also send the GPS reports to the server manually at any time, if the A3LA-TSS is not busy running

commands, either by using the “AT+PR” AT Command Table or by running the “AT+PR” command directly.

NOTE: The reports that the software sends every three minutes, while in the chat mode, as well as the SMS

messages and responses, will be sent to the phone number or e-mail address that the modem is set up to

send SMS message to, even if the modem is currently set up to send reports using SBD.

Leaving the Chat Mode


When leaving the chat mode, the software can cause the modem to return to the tracking mode or

leave the modem escaped out of the tracking mode. To leave the chat mode and cause the modem to return

to the tracking mode, click either the “Track” button on the “Chat” window or the “<Track> button on the

main window. To leave the chat mode and leave the modem escaped out of the tracking mode, click the

“<Escape>” button on the main window.

Chat Window

The “Chat” window can be opened and closed at any time without starting or ending the chat mode. To

open the “Chat” window, choose “View Chat Window” from the “Options” menu or press the F2 key. If chat

messages are received while the “Chat” window is closed, the “Chat” window will appear automatically.

Sending Process

The process of sending a chat message using the chat windows is as follows. The user types a message

in the “Message” box and clicks the “Send” button. If the message was sent successfully, the “Send” button

becomes the “Cancel” button and the message is left in the “Message” box until the response for that

message is received or the “Cancel” button is clicked. If the “Cancel” button is clicked the message is moved

to the “Conversation” box, but is displayed in Italics, meaning that the software has not yet received a

response for it. Whenever the software receives a response for a chat message, it will try to match it to a

sent chat message. If the response matches a chat message that was cancelled, it will find it in the

“Conversation” box and display it in Regular font. Otherwise, if the response matches a chat message that

has not been cancelled, the software will move the chat message from the “Message” box to the

“Conversation” box and display it in Regular font.

Example 1:


Example 2:

Conversation Box and Log File Box

The Terminal Software keeps a record of the conversation with the server in two places – the

“Conversation” box and the SMS log file. The contents of the “Conversation” box are not saved between

program executions, whereas the SMS log file is. The SMS log file can be viewed in the “Log File” box. To

switch back and forth between the “Conversation” box and the “Log File” box, use the “View Log File” and

“View Conversation” buttons.

The “Conversation” box displays messages received from the server in red and messages sent to the

server in blue. This box is only cleared when the “Clear Conversation” button is clicked. The user may want

to clear the “Conversation” box with the “Clear Conversation” button for privacy. If a more permanent

record of the conversation is desired, the user may refer to the SMS log file or may copy the contents of the

conversation window with Ctrl+c before clearing.


The SMS log file contains a record of chat messages and chat message responses. However, the SMS

log file may also contain a record of other SMS messages. Therefore, when the “Clear Log File” button is

clicked, the SMS log file will be cleared of all SMS messages including those which are not related to

chatting.

In the SMS log file, chat related SMS messages can be distinguished from other SMS messages by their

labels. The labels for chat related SMS messages are “CHAT SENT”, “CHAT RECEIVED”, “CHAT RESPONSE

SENT”, and “CHAT RESPONSE RECEIVED”. These labels are self-explanatory; however, the content of the

chat related SMS messages need some more explanation. If the SMS message is for a chat message, the

first three characters are a header used to implement the chatting protocol and the rest of the characters

comprise the message. The first character “s” means that the message is a chat message. The next two

characters are the hexadecimal reference number, which is used to help match responses to chat messages

and to tell if the chat message was received in order. If the SMS message is for a chat message response,

the first character “r” means that the message is a chat message response. The next two characters are the

hexadecimal reference number of the chat message the response is for. The following four characters are

the hexadecimal checksum of the chat message that the response is for. Finally, the last two characters are

the length of the chat message that the response is for. The reference number, checksum, and length are all

used to match the response to the appropriate chat message.

Message Box

The “Message” box is where messages to be sent to the server are entered. The length of messages is

limited to 157 characters. Some characters may be counted twice, due to the way SMS messages are

formatted, or may not be allowed depending on whether the server is a modem or an e-mail account.

Therefore, a count of the actual SMS characters is shown below the message window. If the server is an e-

mail account, the count includes the length of the e-mail address plus one for a separating space. The

message window can be cleared by clicking the “Clear Message” button.

Chatting using an A3LA-DGS Modem

Chatting using an A3LA-DGS modem takes place while connected with a server. The server can be either

a modem or the RUDICS system, which acts as a modem emulator. Also, the server must be controlled by a

program, such as the Server for Terminal Modems program, which understands how to chat with A3LA-DGS

modems, in order for chatting to work.

Chatting can be initiated by either the A3LA-DGS or the server. To initiate chatting using the A3LA-DGS

modem, click the “*** <Chat>” button. The “*** <Chat>” button cannot be used and will be disabled if the

modem is currently sending reports or connected to the server. Otherwise, when the “*** <Chat>” button

is clicked, the A3LA-DGS will execute the ATI3 command and call the server to send the request for

chatting. If the server accepts the request, the Terminal Software will open the “Chat” window for chatting.

For the A3LA-DGS to accept a request for chatting from the server, it must have its “Callable” property set

to true. The server, then, can call the A3LA-DGS, while it is in the tracking mode, and send a request to

start chatting. If this happens, the Terminal Software will accept the request and display the “Chat” window

with alarm sounds.


Once chatting has begun, the Terminal Software will cause the A3LA-DGS to send a GPS report once

every 10 seconds to the server. This updates the location of the A3LA-DGS for the server while chatting.

The “Chat” window can be closed at any time without ending chatting. If the A3LA-DGS is chatting with

the server, the software does not allow using the “+++ <Escape>” or “*** <Chat>” buttons. To open the

“Chat” window, choose “View Chat Window” from the “Options” menu or press the F2 key at any time. If

messages are received while the “Chat” window is closed, the “Chat” window will appear automatically. To

end chatting as well as the connection, use the “Hang up” button.

• Conversation Window: This window will display messages received from the server in red and messages

sent from the A3LA-DGS in blue. This window is only cleared when the “Clear Conversation” button is

clicked. The user may want to clear the conversation field with the “Clear Conversation” button for

privacy. If a more permanent record of the conversation is desired the user may copy the contents of

the conversation window with Ctrl+c before clearing.

• Message Window: Messages can be typed in the message window even when not in chat mode. The

length of messages is limited to 127 characters. The message window is only cleared when the “Clear

Message” button is clicked or the message was successfully sent, in which case, the message is moved

to the conversation window. Therefore, if the connection is lost unexpectedly while a message was being

sent, the message will be left in the message window so that the user may resend the message at a

later time.

• Send Button: When the send button is clicked the A3LA-DGS will attempt to send the text in the

message window to the server until it receives a response from the server that the message was

successfully delivered. While the A3LA-DGS is sending the message, the “Send” button will change to a

“Cancel” button. Clicking the “Cancel” button will cause the program to stop sending the message.

Even if sending is cancelled, the message may have still been delivered to the terminal modem. Please

refer to the following pictures for an illustration of sending a message.


• Hangup Button: This button will end chat mode and hang up the connection. If a message was in the

middle of sending, it will be cancelled.

2.4 How to Use SMS

When the A3LA-TSS is in the escape mode or the A3LA-DGS is in the Regular or the GPS mode, Short

Message Service (SMS) allows the modem to send messages to and receive messages from another modem

or an email address. The message can be up to 160 characters long with civilian SIM cards.

Setting SMS Indications

The SMS indications determine how SMS messages are treated when they are received by the modem.

There are several ways that the modem can handle received messages. The Terminal Software makes it

easy to set the SMS indications to two useful settings by providing a “Display SMS Immediately” property.

When this property is set, the modem will display SMS messages immediately without buffering them in the

SMS storage of the modem. On the other hand, when this property is not set, the modem will buffer SMS

messages in the SMS storage of the modem without displaying them. To set the “Display SMS Immediately”

property, select the “Options | Properties | Display SMS Immediately” menu item or select the “SMS” icon

on the main form. Except for in the following cases, the “Display SMS Immediately” property can be set at

any time.

• There is no SIM card or an invalid SIM card is used.

• The SMS storage of the modem is full.

• The modem is connected to another modem, and it is in the data mode.

• The modem is busy executing a command.

NOTE: If the SMS storage is full, SMS messages cannot be received, displayed immediately, or stored until

at least one message is deleted from the storage. To see the capacity of the SMS storage of the modem,

execute the “AT+CPMS?” command.

When the modem is just turned on, by default, the SMS indications are set to buffer SMS messages in

the SMS storage of the modem without displaying them. If using the A3LA-TSS, whenever the software

forces the modem to change the operation mode, it will try to reset the SMS indications of the modem


automatically. Please see the “OBSERVE TRACKING for A3LA-TSS” section above for more information. If

using the A3LA-DGS, when the software forces the modem into Regular or GPS mode, it will try to set the

SMS indications of the modem automatically according to the SMS property. Whenever the “Display SMS

Immediately” property is selected, the software will check if there are any received unread messages in the

buffer and display them in the “SMS” window if there are any.

When an SMS message is received by the modem, it arrives packed. If the “Display SMS Immediately”

property is selected, the message will appear with a leading “+CMT:” string on the main screen and the

software will automatically translate it, log it in the “SMSLog.txt” log file, and display it in the “SMS” window.

Otherwise, if the “Display SMS Immediately” property is not selected, the message will be stored in the SMS

buffer of the modem and the “SMS” window can be used at any time to view or delete the message.

Example: Displaying SMS messages immediately

Using the “SMS” Window


The “SMS” window can be used to view, delete or send SMS messages at any time, if the modem is not

busy, regardless of the SMS indications.

Viewing Messages

The “View” button can be used to view the following messages:

• Received Unread Messages: Messages stored in the SMS memory of the modem that have not been

viewed. Received unread (i.e. new) messages will be logged in the log file, “SMSLog.txt”.

• Received Read Messages: Messages stored in the SMS storage of the modem that have been

viewed.

• Stored Unsent Messages: Messages written by using AT+CMGW command and stored in the SMS

storage of the modem that have not been sent. Currently, there is no command to send unsent

messages in the SMS storage.

• Stored Sent Messages: Messages stored in the SMS storage of the modem that have been sent.

However, currently, it is not supported to send unsent messages in the SMS storage.

• All Stored Messages: All of messages in the SMS storage. If there are unread (i.e. new) messages in

the storage, they will be logged in the log file, “SMSLog.txt”.

• Log File: The sent and received SMS messages will be logged in the “SMSLog.txt” file, which is in

the same directory as the Terminal Software.


Example: Viewing “Received Read Messages”

Deleting Messages

The “Delete” button can be used to delete messages in the SMS storage. The “Delete” button will be

enabled if there is at least one viewed message in the list.

Sending Messages

Step 1 - Set the Destination Address

The destination address is where the SMS message will be sent. First choose the type of destination

address (Phone number or Email address) and then enter the destination address.

Step 2 – Set the Validity Period

The validity period determines how long the SMS service center will try to deliver the SMS message.

The SMS service center will discard the message after the validity period expires if it has not been delivered.

The validity period can either be absolute, meaning the SMS message will expire after a certain date and

time, or relative, meaning the SMS message will expire after a certain amount of time passes once the SMS

service center receives the message. The table below shows how the relative validity period is determined

from the Relative VP Value.

Relative VP Value (RVPV) Relative Validity Period

0 – 143 (RVPV + 1) * 5 minutes

144 – 167 ((RVPV – 143) * 30 minutes) + 12 hours

168 – 196 (RVPV – 166) * 1 day

197 – 255 (RVPV – 192) * 1 week

Step 3 – Write the Message

An SMS message may be up to 160 characters. However, please note the following:

• The following characters are counted as two characters in SMS: ^ { } [ ~ ] |

• If sending the SMS message to an email address, the length of the message includes the length of

the email address plus 1 for a space between the email address and the message.


• If the SMS message contains any unsafe characters that might arrive or be converted differently,

the software will display a warning message if the check box showing below is checked.

Step 4 - Send

Use the “Send” button to send the SMS message. The button will be disabled if the modem is busy or

not available.

Example: Sending a SMS Message (Phone Number, Relative)


Example: Sending a SMS Message (Email Address, Absolute)

Sending SMS Messages to the Modem by using an Email Account

SMS messages can also be sent by the user’s email account to the modem (A3LA-D, A3LA-DG, A3LA-

DGS or A3LA-TSS). In order to send a SMS message, perform the following steps:

• Choose the “None” option in “Mail Sending Format”. If using Outlook Express, it can be found under

“Tools | Options…”.

• Place the phone number of the modem followed by “@msg.iridium.com” in the destination email

address line. For example: [email protected]

• The sender’s email address will be included in the user data field of the SMS message automatically.

It will be placed before the user’s message starts and any data in the subject line will be ignored. To

exclude the sender’s email address from the SMS message, place “NO” in the subject line.

• Enter the actual message in the text field. The maximum length of the user data of the SMS

message is 160. Please note that the length of the user data includes the length of the sender’s

email address plus 1 for a space unless “NO” is placed in the subject line.

• Send.


Example: Sending a SMS Message by Using the Email Account

NOTE: When sending SMS emails to the modem by email account, some characters in the user data field of

the SMS message may arrive differently in the modem. This happens because most email servers use

standard ASCII characters (ISO-8859-1 decimal codes) while SMS uses another 7-bit alphabet format.

Therefore, some of the SMS characters might not be supported by the email server or some of the ASCII

characters might not be supported by SMS.

Sending SMS Messages to the Modem by Using the “Iridium Web Site”

SMS messages can be also sent by using the Iridium website, www.iridium.com. Please do the following

to send a SMS message to the modem:

• Go to www.iridium.com

• Click on “Send a Satellite Message”

• Enter the phone number of the modem

• Type the message to send

• Click “Send Message”


Example: Sending a SMS Message by Using the “Iridium Web Site”


3.0 A3LA-DGS TERMINAL SOFTWARE FOR PDA

The A3LA-DGS Terminal Software for PDA has mostly the same options and capabilities as the Terminal

Software for PC. Either software can be used to configure/re-configure the Start-Up parameters of the A3LA-

DGS as well as communicate with the A3LA-DGS in any of its operating modes. However, the A3LA-DGS

Terminal Software for PDA does not support any file transfer protocols (XMODEM, YMODEM, ZMODEM, etc.).

Third-party terminal emulator software such as TermForce may be used if any file transfer is needed.

NOTE: Currently, the A3LA-DGS Terminal Software for PDA does not support A3LA-TSS modems. To

configure the A3LA-TSS, “Config A3LA-TSS” software, one of NAL Research’s utility programs, can be used.

The “Config A3LA-TSS” software works the same as the A3LA-DGS Terminal Software for PDA, but it has

only one “Configure” button and can configure only A3LA-TSS. Please see the “Configure Button for A3LA-

TSS” for Terminal Software for PC section above and the section for A3LA-DGS Terminal Software for PDA

below for more information.


Before installing the Terminal Software make sure your PDA meets the following requirements:

• Windows CE 3.0 or higher version

• 2.7MB available memory

NOTE: The Terminal Software is designed to work with the active configuration profile of the A3LA-DGS set

for ATE1, ATV1 and ATQ0, which is the manufacturer’s default profile. In the case that the active

configuration profile was changed and needs to be restored, perform the steps below:

• Enter either REGULAR or GPS Mode (see the next section for instructions).

• Enter AT&V command to view the active configuration profile settings.

• If the active configuration profile needs to be restored to default settings, enter AT&F0 command.

• Enter AT&W0 command to store the settings in non-volatile memory.

• Enter AT&Y0 command to indicate an active configuration profile.

3.2 Running the Terminal Software

The Terminal Software must first be installed by following the instructions in Appendix A. Once installed,

the software can be accessed by clicking on “NALTerminal” from the Windows® “Program Files | NAL |

Terminal” folder on the PDA. Each time the software is loaded; the A3LA-DGS must be OFF and must remain

OFF until further instructed by the Terminal Software. If using a Bluetooth connection, please see Appendix

E for more information. If using a serial connection and the PDA has a built-in Bluetooth, ensure that

Bluetooth is turned off.

Setting the Terminal Software Properties

When the Terminal Software is loaded, the “Properties” window will appear after the intro screen

appears and disappears automatically. Unlike the Terminal Software for PC, the only setting in the

“Properties” window that can be changed is the COM port. Most PDAs use COM1 for the serial connection. If

using a Bluetooth connection, use the Bluetooth’s Outbound COM port, which can be found in the Bluetooth

Settings on the PDA, as the COM port for the Terminal Software. The software uses 19200 for bits per


second, None for parity, 1 for stop bits, and 8 for data bits by default. When the “OK” button is clicked, the

software will connect to the COM port if the port is available and the “Properties” button will be disabled. To

open the Properties window, the COM port must be disconnected. Also, when the “Properties” window is

open, the COM port cannot be connected.

Users can also choose “Connect” from the “Options | Connect” sub-menu or click the “Connect” button

in the upper left corner of the screen to force COM port communications. If the connection is successful, the

status should change to “Connected” and the “Disconnect” button should appear instead of the “Connect”

button. If the COM port is not available, the software will send an error message.

NOTE: The status “Connected” does not necessarily mean that the A3LA-DGS is connected to the Iridium

network. It only means that Terminal Software has successfully established connection to the COM port.

Choosing the Option Buttons


After the Terminal Software has been loaded and the COM port has been selected, the program is ready

to be used to configure the A3LA-DGS or communicate with the A3LA-DGS in one of its operating modes.

The “Configure” button allows the program to configure the A3LA-DGS, while the other option buttons force

the A3LA-DGS into one of its operating modes.

Once the software has forced the A3LA-DGS into one of its operating modes, several options will

become available. The “Refresh” option, found in the “Options” menu, can be used to refresh the COM port

connection. If using a Bluetooth connection, this option can be helpful to reestablish the Bluetooth

connection when the connection is lost or the port is jammed. Also, the “Refresh” option will enable all of the

buttons in case they were disabled due to the connection being lost or any other reason. Another option in

the “Options” menu is the “Clear” option which can be used at anytime to clear the terminal screen. The “L”

button at the top right corner of the screen enlarges the text size of the terminal screen. After clicking the

“L” button, the button will turn into the “S” button, which can be used to go back to the original text size.

Configure Button

The purpose of the “Configure” button is to give users the ability to configure the Start-Up parameters

of the A3LA-DGS and store them permanently in the A3LA-DGS’ non-volatile memory. Below are instructions

on how to configure the Start-Up parameters. For descriptions of the Start-Up parameters of the A3LA-DGS

please see the descriptions in Section 2.0.

NOTE: After the A3LA-DGS is turned OFF, it needs about 1 minute to reset before the next power cycle.

NOTE: After configuring all of the Start-Up parameters, the Config A3LA-TSS software will get the current

date and time (GMT) from the GPS information and save the timestamp at the address book 90 if the

modem is connected to the GPS antenna and the GPS information is valid. However, if the software fails to

get valid GPS information or the GPS antenna is not connected, it will ask for time zone and the daylight

saving time setting, calculate the current date and time (GMT) from the time settings of the PDA, and save

the timestamp at the address book 90. The format of the timestamp is as follows: YYYYMMDDHHMMSSHH

(ex: 2005060112304520)

To Configure Start-Up Parameters for Firmware Versions greater than 2.1

• Make sure the unit is OFF and then click the “Configure” button.

• Turn ON the unit when instructed by the Terminal Software and wait for the “MODEM ON” message

to appear underneath of the status bar.

• The unit should begin loading the address book information into its memory, which takes

approximately one minute. DO NOT ENTER ANY KEYSTROKES FROM THE KEYBOARD WHILE THE

ADDRESS BOOK INFORMATION IS BEING ACCESSED OR LOADED.

• If the “Configure” screen does not appear, follow the troubleshooting steps below.

• Once the “Configure” screen appears, the Start-Up parameters can be changed.


• Do not turn the unit off or close the Terminal Software while the “Waiting…” message is on the

screen. Wait for the confirmation screen to appear and then turn off the unit.

• The unit is now ready to use the new Start-Up parameters.


To Configure Start-Up Parameters for Firmware Versions 2.0 and 2.1

• Make sure the A3LA-IGS is OFF and then click the “Configure” button.

• Turn ON the A3LA-IGS when instructed by the Terminal Software and wait for the “MODEM ON”

message to appear underneath of the status bar.

• When the password box appears, enter the correct password and click “OK” within 15 seconds.

NOTE: the default password is “12345678”. The password must be exactly 8 characters and can

include any alphanumeric character as well as symbols such as /, <, and @. However, it cannot

include the “ (double quote) character, space character, or the _ (underscore) character.

• If the “Configure” screen does not appear, follow the troubleshooting steps below.

• Once the “Configure” screen appears, the Start-Up parameters can be changed.


• Wait for the confirmation screen to appear and then turn off the A3LA-IGS.

• The A3LA-IGS is now ready to use the new Start-Up parameters.

Troubleshooting

• Close the Terminal Software and turn OFF the A3LA-DGS.

• Check the power and COM port cables to see if they are properly connected.

• Make sure that the COM port is available and not being used by any other programs.

• Make sure that the Terminal Software and the A3LA-DGS are referenced to the same COM port.

• Restart the Terminal Software and follow the instructions for configuring the A3LA-DGS again.

Terminal GPS Button

This button forces the A3LA-DGS into one of its tracking modes (2Way or SBD) regardless of the value

of the “Start-Up Mode” parameter. However, it does not change the value of the “Start-Up Mode”

parameter. After the A3LA-DGS is forced into a tracking mode, it will load the address book information and

begin delivering GPS reports according to its Start-Up parameters. When the A3LA-DGS is not trying to

deliver a GPS report, it can escape out of the tracking mode and operate as though it were in GPS mode


(see the “GPS Button” section below for information on operating the A3LA-DGS in GPS mode). While

escaped out of the tracking mode the A3LA-DGS will not attempt to send any GPS reports. The A3LA-DGS

can return to the tracking mode in two different ways. One way will return preserving the time between calls

unless the time between calls has passed, in which case it will send the next GPS report right away. The

other way will return and send the next GPS report right away regardless of whether or not the time

between calls has passed.

To escape out of the tracking mode type “+++” or use the “Escape” button. To return to the tracking

mode either type “+++” on the screen or use the “Return” button. To return to the tracking mode and force

the next GPS report to be sent right away either type “---” on the screen or use the “--- <R/Report>”

button. When escaping out of and returning to tracking mode, the ATI3 command will be executed if the

A3LA-DGS successfully escaped or returned. The following pictures show how the Terminal Software will

look before and after escaping out of the tracking mode.

Before After

NOTE: While using the Bluetooth communication, if the Bluetooth connection is lost right after clicking the

“Return” or “R/Report” button, the software might miss the response from the A3LA-DGS and might not

display the correct set of command buttons. In this case, refresh the Bluetooth connection by using the

“Refresh” option, located in the “Options” menu, and use the edit box and the “Enter” button to enter

“+++”. This should correct the problem.

To enter commands while the A3LA-DGS is escaped out of the tracking mode, click the “Command”

button. This should cause the “G” button, an edit box, and the “Enter” button to appear. Commands can be

sent to the A3LA-DGS by entering them in the edit box and clicking the “Enter” button. To access the GPS

commands, click the “G” button to replace the edit box with a drop down list box of GPS commands. The “<”

button will cause the software to go back to the previous screen. The following picture shows how the screen

will look before and after clicking the “Command” and “G” buttons.


Regular Button

This button forces the A3LA-DGS to operate like an A3LA-D modem regardless of the value of the

“Start-Up Mode” parameter. However, it does not change the value of the “Start-Up Mode” parameter.

GPS Button

This button forces the A3LA-DGS to operate like an A3LA-DG modem regardless of the value of the

“Start-Up Mode” parameter. However, it does not change the value of the “Start-Up Mode” parameter. There

are differences between the A3LA-DGS operated as an A3LA-DG and the standard A3LA-IG as indicated

below:

• There is only one AT GPS command available—AT+PA=n, where n is an integer from 1 to 3.

However, “Date”, “Time”, “Location”, and “Velocity” menu items can also be used to obtain GPS

information in a more readable format. These menu items are located in a drop-down list box,

which appears after clicking the “G” button. The AT+PA command can be entered by typing directly

in the edit box and clicking the “Enter” button, or by using the drop-down list box and clicking the

“Enter” button. Please see the following pictures.

• GPS information is available ONLY when the A3LA-DGS is not in a data connection.

• The GPS information is written to the SBD send buffer instead of being returned directly to the user.

The GPS information can be displayed only if echo command on the modem is set to 1 (ATE1).


3.3 How to Chat

Chatting with a server can be started either by calling the server to initiate chatting or by receiving a

call from the server for chatting.

Initiating Chatting

The “Chat” button can be used to initiate chatting with a server. The “Chat” button cannot be used and

will be disabled if the modem is currently sending reports or connected to the server. Otherwise, if the

“Chat” button is clicked, the A3LA-DGS will execute the ATI3 command and call the server to send the

request for chatting. If the server accepts the request, the Terminal Software will open the chat window for

chatting.


Receiving a Request for Chatting

If the A3LA-DGS is in a tracking mode and receives a request for chatting from the server, the software

will accept it and display the “Chatting begun!!!” button with beeping sounds. If the “Chatting begun!!!”

button or “Show” from the “Chat” menu is clicked, the chat window will be opened and the beeping sounds

will stop.

Once chatting has begun, the Terminal Software will cause the A3LA-DGS to send a GPS report once

every 10 seconds to the server. This is to update the location of the A3LA-DGS for the server while chatting.

The messages that are sent to the server will start with the <S> tag and the messages that are

received from the server will start with the <R> tag. While messages are being sent, the “Send” button will

be changed to the “Cancel” button, and the edit box will be disabled along with the corresponding “C”

button. Please refer to the following pictures for an illustration of sending a message. Messages, which are

in the process of being sent, can be canceled at anytime before they are moved to the conversation box by

clicking the “Cancel” button. However, even if a message was cancelled it still may have been sent to the

server. The “L” button can be used to change the text size for the conversation box and the “C” buttons

clear either the edit box or the conversation box. The color button changes the font color for the

conversation box.


The chat window can be closed at any time without ending chatting by clicking the “X” button or by

choosing “Hide” from the “Chat” menu. If the A3LA-DGS is chatting with the server, the software does not

allow using the “Escape” or “Chat” buttons. Also, there will be an “Open the window” button on the top of

the screen to indicate that the A3LA-DGS is still chatting. This button can be used to open the chat window

again. If messages are received while the chat window is closed, the button will blink and the software will

make beeping sounds. Please see the following picture.

Chatting can be ended at anytime by clicking the “Hang up” button. If the connection is lost without

using the “Hang up” button, chatting will end and the software will pop up a message saying that chatting

has ended. If the connection with the server is lost while sending a message, the message will not be moved

to the conversation box and the message will remain in the edit box of the chat window for the next chatting

session.


4.0 SERVER FOR TERMINAL MODEMS SOFTWARE

When the A3LA-DGS or the A3LA-TSS is used as a remote tracking modem, its main purpose is to

communicate with a server by transmitting GPS information. This main function is aided by the ability of the

A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS to respond to calls or pings from, chat with, and receive remote updates from the

server. The communication between the remote modem and the server necessary to provide these functions

is made possible by means of server modems, e-mail accounts, and RUDICS accounts (A3LA-DGS only).

The Server for Terminal Modems software was developed to simultaneously support all the methods of

communicating remotely with the A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS. This program makes it easy to take full

advantage of all of the features of the A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS as remote tracking modems. In addition to

handling the handshaking required for 2way mode (A3LA-DGS only) and chatting, the program

communicates with modems attached to COM ports, communicates with POP3 servers and SMTP servers,

and acts as a RUDICS server and RUDICS client to support both incoming and outgoing communication with

remote A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS modems.

NOTE: The program no longer uses the TerminalModem COM object, which has been integrated into the

program. If you are using a program that relies on the TerminalModem COM object, contact NAL Research

Corporation for help.


Before installing the software, make sure your server computer meets the following requirements:

• Windows® XP/2000/NT (The software will run on other versions of Windows, but has not been

extensively tested on them)

• Pentium® II 266MHz (Pentium® II 300MHz or faster for XP) with 256MB of RAM

• 4MB video card with DirectX® 8.0 compatible drivers

NOTE: On some computers with older versions of DirectX, the software may not appear correctly. If

this happens, then go to “http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/” and download the latest

version of DirectX. We recommend at least version 9.0.

• 12MB available on hard disk

• 800 x 600 screen resolution (looks best with a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768)

4.2 Running the Sever for Terminal Modems Software

The Server for Terminal Modems software must first be installed by following instructions in Appendix A.

Once installed, the software can be accessed from the Windows® “Start” menu in the “NAL Research” folder.

The software may also be started with Session files, which are explained in a later section.


File Menu—New Session/Open Session/Save Session/Exit

When the software is opened, a default session file is loaded. The default session is stored as

“Default.gts” in the “Session” subfolder of the installation directory. Session files are XML 1.0 compliant files

with a “.gts” extension, which stands for GPS Server for Terminals Session.

The information stored in a “.gts” session file includes:

• All of the information of the “Configure Communication Links” screen

• Status of the Log Reports to a Single File option

• Log File Name

• Status of the Log Reports to Individual Files option

• Logging Directory

• Logging ID

• Status of the Batch File option

• Batch File Name

• Message Format

• 2Way Transmission Mode

• Remote Change List File Name

• Number List from the Contact Remote Modems screen

The following options are available under the File Menu:

• New Session: Choose this option and type a unique file name to create a new session file.

• Open Session: Choose this option and select a file to load a different session at run time other than

the Default.gts session.

• Save Session: Choose this option to save a session.


Note: To load a session at startup, instead of running “NALServerforTerminalModems.exe”, double click a

session file that was previously saved. This will force the Server for Terminal Modems software to run with

the properties already set to the values in the session file.

Communication Menu—Configure Communication Links…

The Server for Terminal Modems software can communicate with remote modems via three kinds of

links. These three types of links are server modems, e-mail accounts, and RUDICS accounts. A summary of

the usage of these links is shown in the table below.

LINK TYPE USAGE

Server Modems

Receive reports from A3LA-DGS modems during connections.

Receive reports (including emergency reports) from A3LA-TSS modems by SMS.

Initiate connections or chatting with A3LA-DGS modems.

Initiate reports from A3LA-TSS modems by SMS.

Chatting with A3LA-DGS modems during connections.

Chatting with A3LA-TSS modems by SMS.

Send remote updates to A3LA-DGS modems during connections.

Send remote updates to A3LA-TSS modems by SMS.


E-mail Accounts

Receive reports (including all emergency reports) from A3LA-DGS modems by SBD.

Receive reports from A3LA-TSS by SMS (including emergency reports) and SBD.

Initiate reports from A3LA-TSS modems by SMS.

Chatting with A3LA-TSS modems by SMS.

Send remote updates to A3LA-DGS modems by SBD.

Send remote updates to A3LA-TSS modems by SMS.

RUDICS Accounts

Receive reports from A3LA-DGS modems during connections.

Initiate connections or chatting with A3LA-DGS modems.

Chatting with A3LA-DGS modems during connections.

Send remote updates to A3LA-DGS modems during connections.

The information provided on the “Configure Communication Links” screen is automatically used in other

parts of the program, such as the “Contact Remote Modems” screen. This is so that the information only has

to be entered once in one central place. Therefore, if an error is encountered while trying to use the

program, the “Configure Communication Links” screen should be checked to make sure that the correct

information is entered. If a link is not applicable to the use of the program, then it can just be left blank or

with the default values.

Before the program can receive any reports, one or more communication links must be setup. Please

refer to the following sections for information on setting up the three types of communication links.

Communication Menu—Configure Communication Links…/Server Modems Group Box

The Server for Terminal Modems software will work with most Hayes-compatible landline modems but

not necessarily work with all landline modems. The program can have multiple server modems running at

one time. To add a server modem, click the “Add…” button. The program will determine which ports are

available to use and then pop up the “Add Server Modem” window. Before the server modem can be added,

its properties must be set. Once the properties have been set, click the “Add” button to finish to process of

adding a server modem.


The following is a list of properties required for a server modem and their descriptions.

PROPERTIES DESCRIPTION

COM port COM port the server modem is connected to.

Baud Rate The baud rate between the modem and server computer. MUST BE “19200” FOR SATELLITE MODEMS.

Parity Parity setting of the modem. MUST BE “None” FOR SATELLITE MODEMS.

Data bits Data bits setting of the modem. MUST BE “8” FOR SATELLITE MODEMS.

Stop bits Stop bits setting of the modem. MUST BE “1” FOR SATELLITE MODEMS.

Receive SMS Messages

This option will cause the Server for Terminal Modems software to set up the modem to receive SMS messages immediately without storing them in the SMS memory by running the AT+CMNI=2,2 command. This option needs to be checked in order for the server modem to communicate with A3LA-TSS modems by SMS.

Manage Connection for Satellite Modems

This option will cause the Server for Terminals software to check the satellite signal strength occasionally with the AT+CSQ command. If the satellite connection has been lost, the program will renegotiate the connection with the AT+COPS=1 command. This option should only be used with satellite modems.

Even though a server modem has been added, it does not necessarily mean that it is ready to be used.

It only means that the Server for Terminal Modems software has successfully established communications

with the COM port. It is up to the user to check that the modem is connected to the right COM port and

make sure the power is on.

When a server modem is added, the COM port is automatically opened. The COM port remains open

until the server modem is removed. Therefore, after a server modem is added, only the “Receive SMS

Messages” and “Manage Connection for Satellite Modems” options can be modified. To modify these

properties, click the “Edit” button. If the other properties, such as COM port, need to be changed, then the

server modem will need to be removed and added again with the different properties.

Understanding and Troubleshooting SMS Commands and Errors

AT+CMNI=2,2 - Causes the modem to receive SMS messages immediately without storing them in the

SMS memory. If this command returns an error, it may be because the SMS memory is

full. A serial communications program, such as SatTerm (from NAL) or HyperTerminal can

be used to view/delete messages in the SMS memory. Use the AT+CMGL=4 command to

list all of the messages in the SMS memory. This command will show the message

number followed by the message. Then use the AT+CMGD=# command, where # is the

number of the message to delete.

+CMT - Displayed when an SMS message is received.

AT+CMGS - Sends an SMS message.

+CMS ERROR:331 - No network service. This usually means that the modem is not getting enough signal

strength.

+CMS ERROR:300 - Phone failure. This does not necessarily mean that the command did not work. However,

the program will assume that the command did not work. If this error continues to occur,

restarting the modem will most likely get rid of it. If restarting the modem does not fix

the problem, try deleting some messages from the SMS memory as described in the


description of the AT+CMNI=2,2 command.

+CMS ERROR:302 - Operation not allowed. This does not necessarily mean that the command did not work.

However, the program will assume that the command did not work. If this error continues

to occur, restarting the modem will most likely get rid of it. If restarting the modem does

not fix the problem, try deleting some messages from the SMS memory as described in

the description of the AT+CMNI=2,2 command.

Communication Menu—Configure Communication Links…/E-mail Accounts Group Box

The Server for Terminal Modems software can have multiple e-mail accounts to communicate with

remote modems. To add an e-mail account, click the “Add…” button. The program will pop up the “Add E-

mail Account” window. If the e-mail account will only be used for receiving, then only the properties under

“Information for Retrieving” need to be entered. On the other hand, if the e-mail account will only be used

for sending, only the properties under “Information for Sending” need to be entered. Once the properties

have been entered, click the “Add” button to finish to process of adding an e-mail account.


The following is a list of the properties for an e-mail account and their descriptions.

PROPERTIES DESCRIPTION

Display Name This is a name given to identify this e-mail from other e-mail accounts.

POP3 Server This is the address or domain name of the POP3 server.

User Name This is the user name that is used to sign into the POP3 server.

Password This is the password for the user name that is used to sign into the POP3 server.

Delete Mail on Server

If set to Yes, any e-mail that is used by the program, such as ones containing reports, remote update responses, and chat messages, will be deleted from the server as it is retrieved. On the other hand, if set to No, the program will not delete any mail on the server and will remember the mail that has been retrieved so that it is not retrieved again. When set to No, the retrieval process may be slowed down if too many messages build up on the e-mail server.

Auto Retrieve Frequency

This is the number of minutes between retrieve attempts (0 minutes means continuously). This is only used if auto retrieve is enabled.

Auto Retrieve Enabled / Disabled

If “Enabled” is selected, the program will automatically login to the POP3 server to retrieve e-mails at the frequency given by the “Frequency” field. Otherwise, in order for the program to retrieve e-mail using the e-mail account the user must tell the program to retrieve the e-mail. This is done by selecting the e-mail account on the main window in the “Current Activity” list and clicking the “Retrieve” button.

SMTP Server This is the address or domain name of the SMTP server.

From Address

The From Address is where the program tells the SMTP server that the e-mail is from. The SBD service requires the From Address to be a valid e-mail address. This is used by SBD service to send error messages to. However, the program does not retrieve error messages. Also, the From Address need when using the e-mail account to chat with a remote A3LA-TSS modem so that the A3LA-TSS knows where the message came from.

After an e-mail account is added, it can easily be edited by selecting it and clicking the “Edit” button.

Unlike the server modems, any of the properties can be changed at any time. However, the display name

must be unique among all of the other e-mail accounts.

The status of the POP3 and SMTP clients as well as counts for the types of e-mails on the POP3 server

can be viewed from the main window, by selecting the e-mail account in the “Current Activity” list. If there

was an error in the operation of the POP3 or SMTP client, the status will show the error. The counts in the

Last column are the counts for the last connection to the POP3 server. The Filtered Out e-mails are those e-

mails which are not needed by the program and therefore were not retrieved. The Already Retrieved e-mails

are those e-mails which have been retrieved by the program and will not be retrieved again.

Communication Menu—Configure Communication Links…/RUDICS Account Group Box

A RUDICS account allows communication with a remote A3LA-DGS by means of a modem emulator.

This modem emulator is the RUDICS system. Iridium maintains the modems in a modem bank and they are

communicated with via telnet. Where as a COM port connects the server to an actual server modem, a

telnet connection connects the server to the RUDICS system.

In order to use the RUDICS system, a RUDICS account needs to be setup. When contacting a service

provider to set up a RUDICS account, the SIM card numbers that are to be enabled for the account as well

as the IP address (Local IP Address) and port (Local Port) of the server will need to be provided. Once the


account has been setup, the service provider should supply the DNIS (Group #) and the IP address (Server

IP Address) and ports (Server Ports) for the RUDICS server. As the diagram below shows, the DNIS (Group

#) is called by an A3LA-DGS, with a SIM card enabled for the RUDICS account, to contact the server. When

the RUDICS system receives the call from the A3LA-DGS, it uses the Local IP Address and Local Port to

initiate a telnet connection with the server. When the server needs to contact an A3LA-DGS, with a SIM

card enabled for the RUDICS account, it must first establish a telnet connection with the RUDICS system

using the Server IP Address and Server Ports. Then, after connecting to the RUDICS server and executing

some initialization commands, the server can dial the MSISDN-C number of the RUDICS enabled SIM card in

the A3LA-DGS it would like to connect to.

RUDICS Iridium Network Telnet

Server

A3LA-DGS

RUDICS Enabled SIM Card

MSISDN-C

DNIS (Group #)

Server IP Address Server Ports

Local IP Address Local Port

To setup the Server for Terminal Modems program to use a RUDICS account, enter the Local IP

Address, Local Port, Server IP Address, and Server Ports of the account in the appropriate fields in the

“RUDICS Account” group box on the “Configure Communication Links” screen. To accept connections from

remote A3LA-DGS’, click the “Start Listening” button. If the program was successfully able to start listening

for RUDICS connections, the “Start Listening” button will change to the “Stop Listening” button. Click the

“Stop Listening” button to stop listening for RUDICS connection attempts.

NOTE: If there is a firewall on the server, it may prevent RUDICS connections. If a RUDICS account is

being used, the firewall should be configured to allow RUDICS connections.

Options Menu—Batch File

The batch file is a user-defined batch file or program that is started when a GPS report arrives. It can be

used to process GPS reports as soon as they are received from remote A3LA-DGS or A3LA-TSS tracking

terminals. The GPS report is passed as a parameter to the batch file or program. For example, this file could

be an ftp program sending the current GPS report to multiple servers via ftp each time a report is received.

Or perhaps it could be a mapping program reading, manipulating and displaying real-time GPS reports.

The batch file can be specified by choosing Options Menu/Batch File/Select Batch File. The name of the

current batch file will be displayed near the bottom of the main window. The batch file can be toggled

ON/OFF by selecting Options Menu/Batch File/Batch File Toggle. If the batch file is toggled off, the batch file

label below at the bottom of the main window will be grayed out.


Options Menu—Logging/Log Reports to a Single File

The Log Reports to a Single File option will cause all GPS reports and chatting messages to be logged to

a log file. This option requires that a log file be specified by choosing Options Menu/Logging/Logging

Setup.... The name of the current log file will be displayed near the bottom of the main window and will be

grayed out if not being used.

Since GPS reports can arrive simultaneously through different communication links, logging is done with

XML elements in order to group the related GPS reports while keeping the log files as sequential as possible.

However, the log files are not guaranteed to be XML compliant.

The main element that is used is the “Session” element. All other elements are contained inside of a

“Session” element. A “Session” element is appended to the log file every time a SBD or SMS transaction

occurs, every time a 2Way connection ends, and every five minutes in a 2Way connection that is being used

for transmitting reports continuously or chatting.

The “Session” element has several attributes which keep the log file organized and sequential. These

attributes are described in the following table.

ATTRIBUTE VALUES MEANING

Protocol 2Way, SBD, SMS Identifies the way the transaction was carrier out.

CommLink

Server Modem (n)

E-mail Account (n)

RUDICS Session (n)

Identifies the communication link on the server side.

For server modems, n is the COM port that the server modem is

connected to. For e-mail accounts, n is the unique display name

given to identify the account. For RUDICS sessions, n is the port

being used on the RUDICS system.

RemoteModem

Identifier (n)

IMEI Number (n)

Phone Number (n)

Identifies the modem on the remote side. In the values, n

represents the identifier, IMEI number, or phone number of the

remote modem respectively.

Duration Integer >= 0 The duration of the connection in seconds. This attribute is only

used when Protocol is 2Way and Continued is not displayed.

Continued 1

This is only displayed if the Protocol is 2Way and the remote

modem is still in a connection with the server at the time that the

session element was logged.

Another element that is used is the “MsgFormat” element. This element indicates the current message

format and is included at the beginning of every “Session” element as well as being added every time the

format changes. The possible values of the “MsgFormat” element are the names of the ten message

formats.

Chatting information is logged with “Chat” elements. The “Chat” element has several attributes which

identify the type of chatting information. These attributes are shown below.


ATTRIBUTE VALUES MEANING

Sent 0, 1

Normally 0 means that the element contains a chat message

that was received and 1 means that the element contains a

chat message that was sent. However, if Sent is 0 and the

RefNum, Checksum, and Length attributes are present, the

element represents a response to a sent SMS chat message

with the same RefNum, Checksum, and Length. If this is the

case, then the element is empty.

RefNum Two character

hexadecimal number.

This is used for keeping track of the order of SMS chat

messages. Only used for SMS chatting.

Checksum Four character

hexadecimal number.

Length Two character

hexadecimal number.

These two attributes are used for matching sent SMS chat

messages with responses, from the remote modem, that

indicate that the message was received. Therefore, they only

appear when an SMS chat message is sent or a response to a

sent SMS chat message is received. They are not present if an

SMS chat message is received. Only used for SMS chatting.

All data inside of a “Session” element that is not part of another element belongs to GPS reports

formatted in the current message format.

Options Menu—Logging/Log Reports to Individual Files

The Log Reports to Individual Files option will cause each GPS report to be logged to its own individual

file. A sequential record is kept by including the local time in the name of each file when it is created. This

option requires that a logging directory and a logging id be specified by choosing Options

Menu/Logging/Logging Setup.... The logging directory is the directory that will contain all of the individual

log files. The logging id will be included in the name of each file, so that, in the case of two Server for

Terminal Modems programs running at the same time and using the same logging directory, the individual

log files can be easily distinguished by the logging id.

Each time a GPS report is received, a new log file is created with a unique name determined by the

logging id, date, and time as follows...

NALServer{Logging Id}_{YYYY}{MM}{DD}{HH}{MM}{SS}_{Counter}.txt, where {YYYY} is the current

year, {MM} is the current month, {DD} is the current day, {HH} is the current hour using a 24 hour clock,

{MM} is the current minute, {SS} is the current second, and {Counter} is a counter starting at 1 and

incrementing if more than one report is received at the same time.

The GPS report is logged to the newly created file inside of a “Session” element. See the previous

section about logging to a single log file for information on the “Session” element. The Duration and

Continued attributes will never be present in an individual log file.


Options Menu—Message Format

The message format option controls how GPS reports are translated when they are received by the

Server for Terminal Modems software. The GPS reports are translated before being display on the screen,

logged, or sent to a batch file. As shown in the next few sections, the {} symbol denotes a variable and the

[] symbol denotes that what is enclosed is optional. If the text is not enclosed by {}, then it is literal. The

table below describes the parts of a GPS report.

VARIABLES DESCRIPTION

ID The identifier or IMEI number of the remote modem that delivered the GPS report.

Emergency

Indicates if the report was an emergency report or not. The representation of the

emergency indicator varies for the message formats as shown below.

Indication Easy to Read,

NMEA GGA and VTG GPSI,

Compact Original

Emergency

Not Emergency

Emergency

Normal

1

0

Emergency

(Nothing)

.

ReportNum

For GPSI formats: For Easy to Read Formats and Original formats:

1 means first buffered GPS report 1 means latest buffered GPS report

2 means second buffered GPS report 2 means second buffered GPS report

3 means latest buffered GPS report 3 means first buffered GPS report

BufferedA First buffered report.

BufferedB Second buffered report.

BufferedC Latest buffered report.

Time The UTC time when the GPS information was gathered, given as hours, followed by

minutes, followed by seconds, followed by fractions of a second.

Date The UTC date when the GPS information was gathered, given as month, followed by day,

followed by year.

Lat The latitude of the remote modem, given as degrees, followed by minutes, followed by

fractions of a minute, followed by cardinal direction.

Lng The longitude of the remote modem, given as degrees, followed by minutes, followed by

fractions of a minute, followed by cardinal direction.

Alt The height above sea level of the remote modem in meters.

Speed The speed of the remote modem in kilometers per hour.

Dir The direction of the remote modem, given by degrees from True North.

VerVel The vertical component of the velocity of the remote modem in meters per second.

Ascending is negative and descending is positive


VARIABLES DESCRIPTION

Fix

The type of position fix that the remote modem acquired. The representation of the

types of position fixes varies for the message formats as shown below.

.

Type of Fix Easy to Read GPSI,

Compact NMEA GGA and VTG

Invalid

Valid

2D

Dead Reckoning

Invalid Positing Fix

Valid Position Fix

2D Fix

Dead Reckoning

0

1

2

3

0

1

N/A

6

Type of Fix Easy to Read < 3.2,

Original < 3.2, Original GPSI < 3.2, Compact < 3.2, NMEA GGA and VTG < 3.2

Invalid

Valid

Invalid Positing Fix

(Nothing)

0

1

Sat The number of GPS satellites used in determining the position.

NMEA GGA

NMEA VTG

ZDA

See TN2005-16-V3.3.1 (Extended AT GPS Commands) for the details of each NMEA

message.


NOTE: The GPS report information also includes a report type, which is used to help translate the reports as

well as determine if the sending remote modem supports certain features. The gps_report_convert c++

class source code, which can be found in the “Samples\GPS_Report_Convert” sub directory of the

installation directory, provides a function for determining the report type.

Options Menu—Message Format/Easy to Read

This format displays GPS information in an easy to read plain text string.

FORMAT EXAMPLE

ModemID={ID}

{Emergency}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedC}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedB}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedA}

]]]

UTC Time={Time}

UTC Date={Date}

Latitude={Lat}

Longitude={Lng}

Altitude={Alt} meters

Ground Velocity={Speed} km/h at {Dir} degrees

from True North

Vertical Velocity={VerVel} m/s

{Fix}

Satellites Used={Sat}

ModemID=300001001234567

Normal

Missed 1

UTC Time=14:28:09.56

UTC Date=12-01-03

Latitude=38:46.02350 North

Longitude=077:29.09430 West

Altitude=54.3 meters

Ground Velocity=0.1 km/h at 40.81 degrees from

True North

Vertical Velocity=0.0 m/s

Satellites Used=07

UTC Time=14:31:50.04

UTC Date=12-01-03



Altitude=0.0 meters


True North

Vertical Velocity=0.0 m/s

Invalid Position Fix

Satellites Used=03


Options Menu—Message Format/GPSI

This format displays GPS information in an XML string (see Appendix C for the DTD).

FORMAT EXAMPLE

<GPSI>

<ID>{ID}</ID>

<Emergency>{Emergency}</Emergency>

[{BufferedC}

[{BufferedB}

[{BufferedA}]]]

<Report N={ReportNum}>

<Time>{Time}</Time>

<Date>{Date}</Date>

<Lat>{Lat}</Lat>

<Lng>{Lng}</Lng>

<Alt>{Alt}meters</Alt>

<Speed>{Speed}km/h</Speed>

<Dir>{Dir} degrees from True North</Dir>

<VerVel>{VerVel}m/s</VerVel>

<Fix>{Fix}</Fix>

<Sat>{Sat}</Sat>

</Report>

</GPSI>

<GPSI>

<ID>300001001234567</ID>

<Emergency>0</Emergency>

<Report N=1>

<Time>14:28:09.56</Time>

<Date>12-01-03</Date>

<Lat>38:46.02350N</Lat>

<Lng>77:29.09430W</Lng>

<Alt>54.3meters</Alt>

<Speed>0.1km/h</Speed>

<Dir>40.81 degrees from True North</Dir>

<VerVel>0.0m/s</VerVel>

<Fix>1</Fix>

<Sat>7</Sat>

</Report>

<Report N=0>

<Time>14:31:50.04</Time>

<Date>12-01-03</Date>

<Lat>38:46.01970N</Lat>

<Lng>77:29.06060W</Lng>




<VerVel>0.0m/s</VerVel>

<Fix>0</Fix>

<Sat>3</Sat>

</Report>

</GPSI>


Options Menu—Message Format/Compact

This format displays GPS information as a compact comma delimited string.

Options Menu—Message Format/Original

This format displays GPS information in a format compatible with version 2.1.

FORMAT

{ID}

{Emergency}

[{BufferedC}

[{BufferedB}

[{BufferedA}]]]

{Time},{Date},{Lat},{Lng},{Alt},{Speed}:{Dir},{VerVel},{Fix},{Sat}

EXAMPLE

300001001234567

0

14:28:09.56,12-1-3,38:46.02350N,77:29.09430W,54.3,0.1:40.81,0.0,1,7

14:31:50.04,12-1-3,38:46.01970N,77:29.06060W,0.0,0.0:0.00,0.0,0,3

FORMAT EXAMPLE

ModemID={ID}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedC}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedB}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedA}

]]]

UTC Time={Time}

UTC Date={Date}

Latitude={Lat}

Longitude={Lng}

Altitude={Alt}

[{Fix}]


ModemID=300001001234567

Missed 1

UTC Time=14:28:09.56

UTC Date=12-01-2003




Satellites Used=07

UTC Time=14:31:50.04

UTC Date=12-01-2003



Altitude=0.0 meters


Satellites Used=03


Options Menu—Message Format/NMEA GGA and VTG

This format displays GPS information using the GGA, VTG, and ZDA formats.

Options Menu—Message Format/Easy to Read < V3.2

This format displays GPS information in an easy to read plain text string.

FORMAT EXAMPLE

{ID}

{Emergency}

[{BufferedC}

[{BufferedB}

[{BufferedA}]]]

{NMEA GGA}

{NMEA VTG}

{ZDA}

300001001234567

Normal

$GPGGA,142809.56,3846.02350,N,7729.09430,W,1,07,,54.3,M,,M,,*74

$GPVTG,40.81,T,,M,0.05,N,0.1,K*59

$GPZDA,142809.56,01,12,2003,00,00*60

$GPGGA,143150.04,3846.01970,N,7729.06060,W,0,03,,0.0,M,,M,,*48

$GPVTG,0.00,T,,M,0.0,N,0.0,K*50

$GPZDA,143150.03,01,12,2003,00,00*64

FORMAT EXAMPLE

ModemID={ID}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedC}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedB}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedA}

]]]

UTC Time={Time}

UTC Date={Date}

Latitude={Lat}

Longitude={Lng}

Altitude={Alt} meters

Ground Velocity={Speed} km/h at {Dir} degrees

from True North

[{Fix}]


ModemID=300001001234567

Missed 1

UTC Time=14:28:09.562

UTC Date=12-01-03





True North

Satellites Used=07

UTC Time=14:31:50.038

UTC Date=12-01-03



Altitude=0.0 meters


True North


Satellites Used=03


Options Menu—Message Format/GPSI < V3.2

This format displays GPS information in an XML string (see Appendix C for the DTD).

FORMAT EXAMPLE

<GPSI>

<ID>{ID}</ID>

[{BufferedC}

[{BufferedB}

[{BufferedA}]]]

<Report N={ReportNum}>

<Time>{Time}</Time>

<Date>{Date}</Date>

<Lat>{Lat}</Lat>

<Lng>{Lng}</Lng>

<Alt>{Alt}meters</Alt>

<Speed>{Speed}km/h</Speed>

<Dir>{Dir} degrees from True North</Dir>

<Fix>{Fix}</Fix>

<Sat>{Sat}</Sat>

</Report>

</GPSI>

<GPSI>

<ID>300001001234567</ID>

<Report N=1>

<Time>14:28:09.562</Time>

<Date>12-01-03</Date>

<Lat>38:46.0235N</Lat>

<Lng>77:29.0943W</Lng>




<Fix>1</Fix>

<Sat>7</Sat>

</Report>

<Report N=0>

<Time>14:31:50.038</Time>

<Date>12-01-03</Date>

<Lat>38:46.0197N</Lat>

<Lng>77:29.0606W</Lng>




<Fix>0</Fix>

<Sat>3</Sat>

</Report>

</GPSI>


Options Menu—Message Format/Compact < V3.2

This format displays GPS information as a compact comma delimited string.

Options Menu—Message Format/Original < V3.2

This format displays GPS information in a format compatible with version 2.1.

FORMAT

{ID}

[{BufferedC}

[{BufferedB}

[{BufferedA}]]]

{Time},{Date},{Lat},{Lng},{Alt},{Speed}:{Dir},{Fix},{Sat}

EXAMPLE

300001001234567

14:28:09.562,12-1-3,38:46.0235N,77:29.0943W,54.3,0.1:40.81,1,7

14:31:50.038,12-1-3,38:46.0197N,77:29.0606W,0.0,0.0:0.00,0,3

FORMAT EXAMPLE

ModemID={ID}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedC}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedB}

[Missed {ReportNum}

{BufferedA}

]]]

UTC Time={Time}

UTC Date={Date}

Latitude={Lat}

Longitude={Lng}

Altitude={Alt}

[{Fix}]


ModemID=300001001234567

Missed 1

UTC Time=14:28:09.562

UTC Date=12-01-2003




Satellites Used=07

UTC Time=14:31:50.038

UTC Date=12-01-2003



Altitude=0.0 meters


Satellites Used=03


Options Menu—Message Format/NMEA GGA and VTG < V3.2

This format displays GPS information using the GGA, VTG, and ZDA formats.

FORMAT EXAMPLE

{ID}

[{BufferedC}

[{BufferedB}

[{BufferedA}]]]

{NMEA GGA}

{NMEA VTG}

{ZDA}

300001001234567

$GPGGA,142809.562,3846.0235,N,7729.0943,W,1,07,,54.3,M,,M,,*74

$GPVTG,40.81,T,,M,0.05,N,0.1,K*59

$GPZDA,142809.56,01,12,2003,00,00*60

$GPGGA,143150.038,3846.0197,N,7729.0606,W,0,03,,0.0,M,,M,,*48

$GPVTG,0.00,T,,M,0.0,N,0.0,K*50

$GPZDA,143150.03,01,12,2003,00,00*64

Options Menu—2Way Transmission Mode/Use Remote Change List/Continuous/Standard

The 2Way transmission mode defines the protocol (see Appendix B) used to communicate with a remote

A3LA-DGS that connects to the Server for Terminal Modems program. The 2Way transmission mode only

affects new connections; changing the transmission mode will not change how existing connections are

handled. Three modes can be selected through the “Options/2Way Transmission Mode” menu.

• Standard: This mode specifies the Server for Terminal Modems software to play a “passive” role by

simply waiting to receive GPS reports at a pre-programmed schedule from the A3LA-DGS tracking

terminals without sending back any special instructions or commands to the A3LA-DGS.

• Continuous: In this mode, when a remote A3LA-DGS connects, at a pre-programmed schedule, and

sends over a GPS report, the Server for Terminals software sends a command to the A3LA-DGS

instructing it to maintain the connection and continuously report GPS information faster than once a

second. To terminate this mode, select the appropriate communication link in the “Current Activity” list

box and click the “Hangup” button on the main window.

• Use Remote Change List: This mode allows the Server for Terminal Modems software to modify the

Start-Up parameters of remote A3LA-DGS’ or cause them to start transmitting GPS reports continuously

based on their modem identifiers. Each time an A3LA-DGS gets connected and delivers a GPS report,

the Server for Terminal Modems software searches the loaded Remote Change List for the identifier of

the remote A3LA-DGS. If the program finds that an action is pending for the remote A3LA-DGS, it will

either send an update or a command to transmit GPS reports continuously. If an update is sent and is

successful, the remote A3LA-DGS will modify its non-volatile memory with the new values sent to it and

start using the updated parameters. The next section has a detailed description on how to configure the

Remote Change List.

Options Menu—2Way Transmission Mode/Configure Remote Change Lists…

A Remote Change List can be created, deleted, edited, loaded or unloaded using the Option

Menu/Transmission Mode/Configure Remote Change Lists… When Configure Remote Change Lists… is

chosen, a window as shown below will appear. Each Remote Change List (or file) is stored in a plain text

XML file with an “.rcl” extension. The “.rcl” file is password protected. Although “.rcl” files are plain text,

they must only be modified with the Server for Terminal Modems software otherwise they will be rendered


unusable by the Server for Terminal Modems software. The Remote Change Lists also has information

regarding the status of changes of each A3LA-DGS. This allows the user to see what changes were made

and which are pending.

On the “Configure Remote Changes” window, there are several buttons for managing the currently

loaded Remote Change List (or file) as well as stored Remote Change Lists (or files). These buttons are

explained below.

• “New” and “Delete” Buttons: The “New” button recreates a new Remote Change List, while the

“Delete” button removes an existing Remote Change List. A password must be provided when

creating a new Remote Change List. The password must be entered twice for confirmation.

• “Edit” Button: This button allows the user to edit a Remote Change List by opening the “Edit Remote

Changes” window, which is explained in the next section. The correct password for the Remote

Change List must be provided in order to edit the list.

• “Load” and “Unload” Buttons: The “Load” button loads a Remote Change List into memory, while

the “Unload” button clears the Remote Change List from memory. The “Load” button will be

available for all Remote Change Lists except the one that is currently loaded, while the “Unload”

button will only be available for the Remote Change List that is loaded. Only one Remote Change

List can be loaded into memory at a time. Therefore, loading a Remote Change List will

automatically unload the currently loaded Remote Change List. The Remote Change List that is


loaded into memory will be used to make changes to remote A3LA-DGS tracking terminals

whenever the transmission mode is set to “Use Remote Change List...”

• “Locate” Button: The “Locate” button will identify the location where the Remote Change List is

stored (drive and directory).

NOTE: The currently loaded Remote Change List cannot be deleted, edited, loaded, or unloaded while the

transmission mode is “Use Remote Change List...”.

NOTE: Since remote updates have precedence over chatting, a remote update CAN occur while attempting

to initiate a Chat Session and will prevent the server from requesting chat mode.

Options Menu—2Way Transmission Mode/Configure Remote Change Lists…/Edit

Remote Change Lists can be edited from the Option Menu/2Way Transmission Mode/Configure Remote

Change Lists…/Edit. The password used to create the Remote Change List is required. A window similar to

the one shown below will appear.


In the “Edit Remote Changes” window, all of the A3LA-DGS Identifiers in the Remote Change List will be

displayed. The Add button allows users to add a new Identifier. The name of an existing Identifier can be

modified by double clicking on the Identifier and entering a new one. When an A3LA-DGS Identifier is

selected, the changes that apply to it are shown below in their respective fields. If multiple A3LA-DGS

Identifiers are selected, a red asterisk will appear next to the fields for which not all Identifiers have the

save value. Making a change to any field will cause the change to be made for all A3LA-DGS Identifiers that

are selected.

• “Add”, “Delete”, and “Select All” Buttons: The “Add” button adds an A3LA-DGS Identifier to the list,

the “Delete” button deletes an A3LA-DGS Identifier from the list, and the “Select All” button selects

all of the A3LA-DGS Identifiers in the list.

• “OK”, “Cancel”, and “Apply” Buttons: These buttons are used to accept or cancel changes made to

the Remote Change List. No changes are made to the actual file until the “Apply” or “OK” button is

clicked. Once the “Apply” or “OK” button is clicked, changes are made to the actual file and cannot

be undone except manually. The only difference between the “Apply” and “OK” buttons is that the

“OK” button closes the window, while the “Apply” button keeps it open. The “Cancel” button will

cancel all changes made to the Remote Change List since the last “Apply” button was clicked and

closes the window.

The following is a list of fields used to change an A3LA-DGS’ settings, along with the default values

given to them when a new A3LA-DGS Identifier is added to a Remote Change List.

• “Type of Change” Field (Default: No Change): This field is used to determine what will happen when

the Server for Terminals software finds the remote A3LA-DGS’ Identifier in the Remote Change List.

If the “Type of Change” is “Continuous”, the software will cause the remote A3LA-DGS to transmit

reports continuously. If the “Type of Change” is “Remote Update”, the software will attempt to

update the remote A3LA-DGS’ settings. If the “Type of Change” is “No Change”, the software will

not affect the remote A3LA-DGS.

• “Status” Field (Default: N/A) and “Reset” Button: The “Status” field shows whether or not a change

has been made to a remote A3LA-DGS. This field is only applicable to the A3LA-DGS Identifiers with

the “Remote Update” type of change. If the changes have been made, the field will display “Change

Completed”. Otherwise, it will display “Change Pending”. The status will change back to “Change

Pending” whenever any field for the A3LA-DGS Identifier is modified. Alternatively, the status can

be changed back to “Change Pending”, without changing any fields, by clicking the “Reset” button.

• “Remote Modem Password” Field (Default: 12345678): The password field holds the password for

the A3LA-DGS Identifier. This password is given to the A3LA-DGS during setup using the Terminal

Software for PC or A3LA-DGS Terminal Software for PDA. The password is only needed for and only

enabled for the A3LA-DGS Identifiers with the “Remote Update” type of change. When the Server

for Terminals Modems software attempts to make a change to the remote A3LA-DGS’ Start-Up

parameters, the remote A3LA-DGS first verifies if the password is correct before making any

changes.


• “Update Number to Dial” Field (Default: No): This field determines whether or not the number to

dial is updated when the “Type of Change” is “Remote Update”.

• “Number to Dial” Field (Default: “”): This field holds the number to be used when updating the

number to dial.

• “Remote Modem Calls Satellite or Landline (Default: Satellite): This field indicates the type of

modem for the “Number to Dial”. If the remote modem’s version is 2.0 or 2.1 this field is ignored.

• “Update Frequency” Field (Default: No): This field determines whether or not the time between calls

and number of tries is updated when the “Type of Change” is “Remote Update”.

• “Time between Calls” Field (Default: 1): These fields hold the frequency to be used when updating

the time between calls.

• “Number of Tries” Field (Default: 1): This field determines the number of times that the remote

A3LA-DGS will try to make a GPS report when it fails to complete a report or when it gets an

“Invalid Position Fix”. If the remote modem’s version is 2.0 or 2.1 this field is ignored.

Example

This section presents an example, step by step, of how to create, edit, and use a Remote Change List to

change the report frequency of a remote A3LA-DGS.

A3LA-DGS #1: Identifier = “Modem A”

Number to Dial = Number of the server modem

GPS Report Frequency = 1 minute

Password = abcdefgh

A3LA-DGS #2: Identifier = “Modem B”


GPS Report Frequency = 5 minutes

Password = abcdefgh

A3LA-DGS #3: Identifier = “Modem C”


GPS Report Frequency = 8 minutes

Password = abcdefgh

Step 1: Create a new Remote Change List

• Choose the “Options Menu/2Way Transmission Mode/Configure Remote Change Lists.

• In the “Configure Remote Changes” window, click the “New” button.

• In the “Choose a File” window, enter “Test” for the file name and click the “Open” button.

• In the “Enter Password” window, enter “12345678” in both password boxes and click “OK”.

The Remote Change List has now been created and should appear in the “Remote Change Files” on the

“Configure Remote Changes” window. However, it needs to have a list of A3LA-DGS Identifiers in it to be

useful.

Step 2: Adding Identifiers to the Remote Change List


• Select “Test.rcl” in the “Remote Change Files” list box and click the “Edit” button.

• In the “Enter Password” window, enter “12345678” for the password and click the “OK” button.

• In the “Edit Remote Changes” window, click the “Add” button.

• Type “Modem A” and hit the ENTER/RETURN key.

• Click the “Add” button again.

• Type “Modem B” and hit the ENTER/RETURN key.

There should now be a list of two identifiers. However, no updates will be made unless they are

specified.

Step 3: Specify an update in the Remote Change List

• Select the “Modem A” Identifier in the “Modem Identifiers” list box by clicking on it.

• Change the “Type of Change” to “Remote Update”.

• Change the time between calls to 5 minutes by clicking the up arrow on the “Minutes” box.

• Save the changes and close the “Edit Remote Changes” window by clicking the “OK” button.

Now, the Remote Change List is ready to be loaded.

Step 4: Load the Remote Change List

• Select “Test.rcl” in the “Remote Change Files” list box.

• Click the “Load” button.


Even though the Remote Change List is loaded, it will not be effective until the transmission mode is

changed to “Use Remote Change List...”.

Step 5: Change the transmission mode

• Click the “Close” button to close the “Configure Remote Changes” window.

• Choose the “Options Menu/2Way Transmission Mode/Use Remote Change List…

Now that the Remote Change List is loaded and in use, the change will be made to the A3LA-DGS when

it reports in. The following timeline shows what should happen as the A3LA-DGS’ call in.

…about 1 minute later

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem A” calls in.

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem A” delivers report.

• Server for Terminals software finds “Modem A” in the Remote Change List.

• Server for Terminals software updates the frequency of the A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem A”

from 1 minute to 5 minutes.

• In the Remote Change List, the “Status” of “Modem A” is changed from “Change Pending” to

“Change Completed”.

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem A” hangs up.

...about 4 minutes later

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem B” calls in.

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem B” delivers report.

• Server for Terminals software finds “Modem B” in the Remote Change List.


• Sever for Terminals software does not update the A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem B” since the

“Type of Change” is “No Change”.

• Nothing changes in the Remote Change List for the “Modem B” entry.

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem B” hangs up.

...about 1 minute later

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem A” calls in.

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem A” delivers report.

• Server for Terminals software finds “Modem A” in the Remote Change List.

• Server for Terminals software does not update the A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem A” since the

“Status” is “Change Completed”.

• Nothing changes in the Remote Change List for the “Modem A” entry.

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem A” hangs up.

...about 2 minutes later

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem C” calls in.

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem C” delivers report.

• Server for Terminals software does not find “Modem C” in the Remote Change List.

• Server for Terminals software does not update the A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem C” since it is

not in the Remote Change List.

• Nothing changes in the Remote Change List.

• A3LA-DGS with Identifier “Modem C” hangs up.

Step 6: Verify that the changes were made

• Choose the “Options Menu/2Way Transmission Mode/Standard”.

• Choose the “Options Menu/2Way Transmission Mode/Configure Remote Change Lists…”.

• Select “Test.rcl” in the “Remote Change Files” list box and click the “Edit” button.


• Select the “Modem A” Identifier in the “Modem Identifiers” list box by clicking on it.

• Check that the status for is “Change Completed”.

Options Menu—Contact Remote Modems…

If a remote A3LA-DGS or A3LA-TSS tracking terminal has its “Callable” property set to true, then it can

be contacted from a server. This allows the server to initiate a report from and chat with the remote

modem. The Server for Terminal Modems program takes advantage of these features with the “Contact

Remote Modems” window.


To use the “Contact Remote Modems” window, first, the type of remote modem must be selected by

choosing an option in the “Tracker Type” box. This must be done first, because the communication links that

are able to contact the remote modem as well as the method of contacting the remote modem differ

depending on the type of the remote modem.

To contact a remote modem, a communication link and a number are needed. The “Communication Link

Used to Connect” group box contains a list of communication links which links, which can be used to contact

the remote modem. A number from the Number List or the number in the One Time Number field can be

used to specify the number of the remote modem to contact. The number that is used depends on which set

of buttons is clicked.

If the tracker type is “A3LA-IGS / A3LA-DGS”, the “RUDICS Account” entry will be available in the

“Communication Link Used to Contact” list. However, it will not work if there is a problem with the RUDICS

account information on the “Configure Communication Links” screen. The program should still be able to

initiate RUDICS connections even if it is not listening for them.

The Number List is a list of Description/Number entries used for easy number recognition and fast

number dialing. Every session file has a Number List associated with it. The numbers in a Number List are

the Iridium phone numbers of remote A3LA-DGS’ and are restricted to the appropriate lengths and character

sets. Clicking the “Insert” button will allow an entry to be added to the Number List, while clicking the

“Delete” button will delete the currently selected entry in the Number List.

NOTE: The SIM card of the remote A3LA-DGS has two numbers: MSISDN and MSISDN-C if the card

supports both voice and data. The MSISDN number must be dialed if calling the remote modem with another

satellite modem. The MSISDN-C number, along with the appropriate prefix, must be dialed if calling the

remote A3LA-DGS with a landline modem. Usually a satellite modem is used as a server modem since a

landline to satellite call is counted as an international call with international charges. If the RUDICS account

is used to connect to the remote A3LA-DGS, then the MSISDN-C number should be used. If the card is only

provisioned for data then the MSISDN-C number is used for both Iridium to Iridium calls and for calling the

Iridium from a landline.


Initiating a report from an A3LA-DGS Modem

To initiate a report from an A3LA-DGS modem, do the following:

1. Choose “A3LA-IGS / A3LA-DGS” from the “Tracker Type” box.

2. Choose a communication link from the “Communication Link Used to Contact” list.

3. Choose a number from the Number List or type a number in the “One Time Number” field.

4. Click the appropriate “Call” button.

The chosen communication link will call the remote modem. Once a connection is made with the remote

A3LA-DGS, the call will continue as if the remote A3LA-DGS had initiated the call. Initiating a report from

the remote A3LA-DGS will restart the Time between Calls timer on the remote A3LA-DGS.

Initiating a report from an A3LA-TSS Modem

To initiate a report from an A3LA-TSS modem, do the following:

1. Choose “A3LA-TSS” from the “Tracker Type” box.

2. Choose a communication link from the “Communication Link Used to Contact” list.

3. Choose a number from the Number List or type a number in the “One Time Number” field.

4. Click the appropriate “Ping” button.

The chosen communication link will send a SMS message to the remote modem, which will notify it to

send a report.

Chatting with an A3LA-DGS Modem

Chatting with an A3LA-DGS modem is done using a connection with the remote modem. To initiate

chatting with an A3LA-DGS modem, follow the steps for initiating a report from an A3LA-DGS modem except

in the last step click the “Chat” button.

The difference between the “Call” button and the “Chat” button is that the “Chat” button, in addition to

initiating a call, causes the program to issue a request to chat. If the remote A3LA-DGS is capable of

chatting (has firmware version 3.0 or higher and connected to the NAL Terminal Software) then chatting will

begin. Once chatting has begun, the “Chat” window will appear. There is a separate “Chat” window for every

remote modem that the Server for Terminal Modems program chats with (see the Manage Chat Windows

section below for information on managing chat windows).


Messages will be sent and received using the “Chat” window. While chatting, the remote A3LA-DGS will

send over GPS reports approximately every ten seconds.

• Conversation Window: This window will display messages received from the terminal A3LA-DGS in red

and messages sent from the server modem in blue. This window is only cleared when the “Clear

Conversation” button is clicked. The user may want to clear the conversation field with the “Clear

Conversation” button for privacy. If a more permanent record of the conversation is desired, the user

may refer to the log file (see the section on the Log Reports to a Single File option for details) if one was

being used or may copy the contents of the conversation window with Ctrl+c before clearing.

• Message Window: Messages can be typed in the message window even when not in chat mode. The

length of messages is limited to 127 characters. The message window is only cleared when the “Clear

Message” button is clicked or the message was successfully sent, in which case, the message is moved

to the conversation window. Therefore, if the connection is lost unexpectedly while a message was being

sent, the message will be left in the message window so that the user may resend the message at a

later time.

• Send Button: When the send button is clicked the communication link will attempt to send the text in

the message window to the terminal modem until it receives a response from the terminal modem that

the message was successfully delivered. While the communication link is sending the message, the

“Send” button will change to a “Cancel” button. Clicking the “Cancel” button will cause the program to

stop sending the message. Even if sending is cancelled, the message may have still been delivered to

the terminal modem.


• Hangup Button: This button will end chat mode and hang up the connection. If a message was in the

middle of sending, it will be cancelled.

NOTE: Chatting has higher precedence than continuous mode, but does not have higher precedence than

remote updates, which have the highest precedence. Therefore, even if the transmission mode is set to

Continuous, the program will cause the remote A3LA-DGS to go into chat mode. However, if the

transmission mode is set to Use Remote Change List and there is a remote change for the terminal modem

in the change list, then the program will attempt to make the update and will not start chatting.

Chatting with an A3LA-TSS Modem

Chatting with an A3LA-TSS modem is done using SMS. For this reason, if the communication link used

to chat with the A3LA-TSS is a server modem, the A3LA-TSS and the server modem can be connected in a

voice call while chatting. This is useful if the persons chatting want to talk to each other in real time.

To initiate chatting with an A3LA-TSS modem, follow the steps for initiating a report from an A3LA-TSS

modem except in the last step click the “Chat” button. When the “Chat” button is clicked, the program will

not send anything to the remote modem. Instead it will create a “Chat” window or open the already created

“Chat” window for the remote modem with the communication link, used to send messages, set to the

selected communication link. There is a separate “Chat” window for every remote modem that the Server

for Terminal Modems program chats with (see the Manage Chat Windows section below for information on

managing chat windows).

Once the “Chat” window has been open, it can be used to chat with the remote modem. While chatting,

the remote A3LA-TSS will send over GPS reports approximately every three minutes.

NOTE: The reports that the remote modem sends every three minutes, while in the chat mode, as well as

the SMS messages and responses, will be sent to the phone number or e-mail address that the remote

modem is set up to send SMS message to, even if the remote modem is currently set up to send reports

using SBD.


Sending Process

The process of sending a chat message using the “Chat” window is as follows. The user types a

message in the “Message” box and clicks the “Send” button. If the message was sent successfully, the

“Send” button becomes the “Cancel” button and the message is left in the “Message” box until the response

for that message is received or the “Cancel” button is clicked. If the “Cancel” button is clicked the message

is moved to the “Conversation” box, but is displayed in Italics, meaning that the software has not received a

response for it yet. Whenever the software receives a response for a chat message, it will try to match it to

a sent chat message. If the response matches a chat message that was cancelled, it will find it in the

“Conversation” box and display it in Regular font. Otherwise, if the response matches a chat message that

has not been cancelled, the software will move the chat message from the “Message” box to the

“Conversation” box and display it in Regular font.

Record of Conversation

The Terminal Software keeps a record of the conversation with the remote modem in two places – the

“Conversation” box and the log file (if the Log Reports to a Single Log File option is being used). The

contents of the “Conversation” box are not saved between program executions, whereas the log file is.

The “Conversation” box displays messages received in red and messages sent in blue. This box is only

cleared when the “Clear Conversation” button is clicked. The user may want to clear the “Conversation” box

with the “Clear Conversation” button for privacy. If a more permanent record of the conversation is desired,

the user may refer to the log file or may copy the contents of the conversation window with Ctrl+c before

clearing.


Message Box

The “Message” box is where messages to be sent are entered. The length of messages is limited to 157

characters. Some characters may be counted twice, due to the way SMS messages are formatted, or may

not be allowed depending on whether the communication link is a server modem or an e-mail account.

Therefore, a count of the actual SMS characters is shown below the message window. If the communication

link is an e-mail account, the count includes the length of the From address plus one for a separating space.

The From address is included when sending from an e-mail account so that the remote modem will know

where the message came from (the remote modem only considers the message a chat message if it came

from the communication link it is set up to send SMS messages to). The message box can be cleared by

clicking the “Clear Message” button.

Options Menu—Manage Chat Windows…

The Server for Terminal Modems program creates a separate “Chat” window for each remote modem

that it chats with. This is done to separate the conversations with each remote modem. The “Manage Chat

Windows” window keeps track of and provides easy access to all of the “Chat” windows in the program.

From this window, all of the information except the actual conversation can be seen for all of the “Chat”

windows at once. Also, there is a field showing the number of unread messages for each “Chat” window. A

message is considered unread if it is received while the “Chat” window does not have focus. Once the “Chat”

window gains focus, all of the messages for that window are considered read.

Double clicking on a “Chat” window in the “Manage Chat Windows” window will show the “Chat” window.

The “Show” button displays the selected “Chat” windows, the “Hide” button hides the selected chat windows,

and the “Remove” button destroys the selected “Chat” windows. If the “Remove” button is clicked, the

conversations in the destroyed “Chat” windows will be lost. When the Server for Terminal Modems program

is closed all of the “Chat” windows are destroyed.

Options Menu—Send / Track Remote Updates…

Remote updates can be sent to remote modems, without having to be in a connection with them. This is

done using SBD for A3LA-DGS modems (A3LA-DGS modems must be in SBD mode to receive updates this

way) and SMS for A3LA-TSS modems. When the remote modem receives the remote update, it sends a

response to the communication link it is set up to report to (unlike the A3LA-DGS, the A3LA-TSS does not

send a response if the update fails). If the remote update changed the communication link that the remote


modem was set up to report to, the remote modem sends the response to the newly updated

communication link. By receiving the responses to remote updates, the server is able to track the status of a

remote update. However, this tracking scheme is not totally reliable, since, the remote modem may have

made an update but may not have been able to send the response; the signal strength may have been too

low.

The “Send / Track Remote Updates” window is provided by the Server for Terminal Modems program to

carry out the features mentioned above. This window combines a screen for sending remote updates and a

screen for tracking remote updates into one window. Switching back and forth between these two screens is

accomplished by selecting the “Send a Remote Update” or “Track Remote Updates” option at the top of the

window.

Send a Remote Update

The process of sending a remote update is broken into three steps since each step depends on the

previous steps. To go through the steps, click either the “Previous” or “Next” button at the bottom of the

screen. To start over from the first step and clear all of the information that was entered, click the “Start

Over” button. Some users may find it more convenient to use the “Previous” button instead of the “Start

Over” button since the “Previous” button does not clear the information that was entered. In this way, the

same remote update can be sent to several remote modems, by just changing the information in the

“Specify Sending Information” step.

In the first step, the information needed for sending the remote update is entered. This information

includes the destination of the remote update and the communication link that will be used to send the

remote update. In this step, it is important to first choose the remote modem type, since the other

information in this step depends on it. This step comes before entering the remote update because the

information that can be updated depends on the remote modem type.


In the second step, the remote update is entered. The information available to update depends on the

remote modem type specified in the previous step. For a remote modem type of “A3LA-IGS / A3LA-DGS”,

the Number to Dial, Type of Call, Time between Calls, and Number of Tries parameters can be updated. For

a remote modem type of “A3LA-DGS”, the Destination Type, Start-Up Mode, either Phone Number or Email

Address, Time between Reports, and Number of Tries parameters can be updated. The Destination Type,

Start-Up Mode, and either Phone Number or Email Address parameters are included in the “Update

Destination” option.

In the last step, the remote update the user is given a chance to review the update information and can

choose to send the update or can go back to a previous screen and make corrections. When the “Send”

button is clicked, the program will use the specified communication link to send the specified remote update

to the specified remote modem. If the program was able to send the remote update, an entry will be made

on the “Track Remote Updates” screen, which can then be used to track the status of the remote update.


Track Remote Updates

The “Track Remote Updates” screen has two lists - one for remote updates that have been sent and one

for responses to remote updates that have been received. Once a remote update has been sent from the

“Send a Remote Update” screen, it will be entered on the “Track Remote Updates” screen in the “Sent

Remote Updates” list along with the time that it was sent and the information of the remote modem it was

sent to (either IMEI number or phone number). In the same way, when a response to a remote update is

received, it will be entered in the “Received Responses” list along with the time that it was received and the

information of the remote modem that it was sent from. The “R” or “Result” column will be blank if there is

no response, have an “S” if the remote update was successful, or have an “F” if the remote update failed.

The “Sent Remote Updates” and the “Received Responses” lists are separate yet they correspond to

each other. If a remote update is selected in the “Sent Remote Updates” list and there is a response for that

remote update in the “Received Responses” list, then the response is automatically selected and moved into

view. Likewise, the same is true for when a response is selected. The “Delete” button will delete all of the

remote updates and responses that are selected.

The way responses are matched to remote updates is based on the type of remote modem that sent the

response. For A3LA-IGS modems and older versions of the A3LA-DGS modem, the response is matched to

the remote update by IMEI number. When matching by IMEI number, the program looks for the first remote

update that does not already have a response associated with it. For new versions of the A3LA-DGS, the

response is matched to the remote update by the actual remote update string as well as the IMEI number.

This provides a more accurate match than just using the IMEI number. Lastly, if the response came from an

A3LA-TSS modem, it is matched to a remote update by the time stamp and checksum of the remote update.

This should always provide an accurate match, since the time stamp records the date and time to the

hundredth of a second that the remote update was sent.

The information in the “Track Remote Updates” screen is automatically saved to a file in the installation

directory to enable tracking across program executions.


5.0 UTILITIES

5.1 Message Translators

The Message Translator can translate GPS reports from either SBD attachments or SMS emails. Both the

A3LA-DGS and the A3LA-TSS modems can send out GPS reports in SBD format. The SBD e-mail

attachments are in a numeric format to keep the standard length at 30 bytes. The SMS attachments are also

in a condensed format with the standard size being 58 bytes. However, the length can be longer when the

identifier is included. For SBD messages coming from the A3LA-DGS modem missed reports may also be

included. The Message Translators convert the condensed numeric format of GPS reports into any readable

format available in the Server for Terminal Modems program. There is both a GUI version and a Command

Line version of the Message Translator. A C++ class containing the code that does the translation is also

provided in the “C:\Program Files\NAL\Server_for_Terminals\Samples\GPS_Report_Convert” folder when

the software is installed.

5.2 GUI Version of SBD Message Translator

The software can be accessed from the Windows “Start” menu by choosing “NAL Research | Terminal

Utilities | Message Translator”. To use the program follow the steps below.

• Use the pull down menu to select a format for the translation.

• Click the “Translate GPS Report” button.

• Change the “Type of File” button to narrow the files displayed to show only SBD Reports (.sbd) or SMS

Reports (.eml).

• Select the file to translate and click “Open”.

• Once a file is selected using the “Translate GPS Report” button, it remains in memory and can be

translated in to all of the formats by selecting the formats from the pull down menu without the need to

click the “Translate GPS Report” button again.

• The translation is written to the screen. However, it is not saved. To save the report to a file, follow the

remaining steps.

• Click the “Save” button.

• Enter a file name to write the translation to and click “Save”.

The program is also setup upon installation to automatically translate the .sbd extension when files of this

type are double clicked.


5.3 Command Line Version of Message Translator

This program is located in the “Program Files\NAL\Terminal” directory. An example batch file called

“SMT_example.bat” is also included in this directory. The program writes its output to standard output

(computer screen), which can be redirected to a file with the > and then a file name. The program takes 2

required arguments, the name of the file to translate and the format of the output. The file name should

have a .sbd for SBD GPS reports and an .eml for SMS email reports since the program determines how to do

the translation based on the extension. The number for the format has the following values:

1 - GPSI XML String

2 - Easy to Read Text

3 - Compact Delimited Text

4 - Original Text format from 2Way Mode

5 - NMEA GGA and VTG format

6 - GPSI XML String

7 - Easy to Read Text

8 - Compact Delimited Text

9 - Original Text format from 2Way Mode

10 - NMEA GGA and VTG format

The program has the optional parameter of YMilliniumCentury since these values are not included with the

GPS reports. An example is Y20. If none is specified then the millennium is assumed to be 2 and the

century 0.


Example: (Input - SMT_command_Line 300001001652940_000116.sbd 1)

5.4 Required Format to Send E-Mail Messages to the A3LA-DGS

In order to send e-mail messages to the A3LA-DGS tracking terminal, the e-mail program must use the

standard Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Base64 encoding as defined in RFC 2045. The

following instructions describe how to set this up for Outlook Express:

1. Select “Tools/Options”.

2. Click the “Send” Tab.

3. Under “Mail Sending Format”, click “HTML Settings…”

4. Click MIME.

5. Select “Base 64” for Encode text using.

6. Click OK.

7. Under “Mail Sending Format”, click “Plain Text Settings…”

8. Repeat steps 4 –6.

5.5 How to Send E-mail Messages to the A3LA-DGS

Directions are for the Commercial Iridium Gateway.

1. Send all e-mail messages to [email protected].

2. Place the A3LA-DGS’ IMEI number in the subject line.

3. The message is carried in an attachment, which must have a “.sbd” extension.

5.6 Required Format to Send E-Mail Messages to the A3LA-TSS

In order to send e-mail messages to the A3LA-TSS tracking terminal, the e-mail program should not use

any encoding. The following instructions describe how to set this up for Outlook Express:

1. Select “Tools/Options”.

2. Click the “Send” Tab.


3. Under “Mail Sending Format”, click “HTML Settings…”

4. Select “None” for Encode text using.

5. Click OK.

6. Under “Mail Sending Format”, click “Plain Text Settings…”

7. Repeat steps 4 – 6.

5.7 How to Send E-mail Messages to the A3LA-TSS

Directions are for the Commercial Iridium Gateway.

1. Send all e-mail messages to [MSISDN]@msg.Iridium.com where [MSISDN] is the MSISDN number

of the SIM card.

2. Place NO the subject line. This will keep the return email address from being included.

3. Cut and paste the text for the SMS message into the body of the email message.

5.8 Remote Configure the Terminal Units

Remote changes to the configuration of the A3LA-DGS and A3LA-TSS can also be made via e-mail using

the Server for Terminal Modems Software or the Remote Configure Utilities. In both of these methods the

A3LA-DGS is updated by SBD and the A3LA-TSS is updated by SMS. There is both a GUI version and a

Command Line Version of SBD Remote Configure. In 2way communications, some of the A3LA-DGS Start-Up

parameters can also be changed remotely using the Server for Terminal Modems software as discussed in

Section 4.0.

5.9 GUI Version of Remote Configure

The GUI version of the SBD Remote Configure program can be opened by choosing “NAL Research |

Terminal Utilities | Remote Configure” from the Windows start menu. Determine whether to create a

message to update an A3LA-DGS or an A3LA-TSS by selecting the Terminal Type.

To change the number that the A3LA-DGS dials:

• Select the “Terminal Type” of A3LA-DGS

• Select the “Update Number to Dial” check box.

• Enter the new number to dial.

• Re-enter the number to dial on the next line and press Enter. If the two numbers match, the second

line for the number to dial will disappear.

• Select whether the unit will be calling another Iridium modem or a landline modem.

To change the time between calls:

• Select the “Update Time between Calls” check box.

• Enter the new Time between Calls in either minutes or hours/minutes.

• Enter the Number of Tries.

To make the remote update:

• Enter the password given to the A3LA-DGS during setup. The password is exactly 8 characters.

• Click “Generate SBD Email Message to Configure” button and save. User can attach this newly

generated file to an e-mail message and can send to the A3LA-DGS for configuration (see Section

5.5)


mailto:[email protected]

To change the destination for the A3LA-TSS:

• Select the “Terminal Type” of A3LA-TSS.

• Select the “Update Destination” check box.

• Select the method to send the updates by whether SBD, SMS Phone Number, or SMS E-mail

Address.

• If updating SMS Phone Number or SMS E-mail Address then re-enter the field on the next line.

5.10 Command Line Version of Remote Configure

The program is located in the “Program Files\NAL\Terminal” directory. This program creates an SBD

attachment for an e-mail message to configure the A3LA-DGS remotely or the text to put into the body of

an email message to configure an A3LA-TSS remotely. The input arguments of the program must have the

following identical formats.


/tss If not present sending to an A3LA-IGS or A3LA-DGS. If present then sending to

an A3LA-TSS.

/f:"file name" The name of the file to save the message. Recommend ending it with a “.sbd”

extension, within recommended quotes, if using the /tss option.

/p:"12345678" 8 byte password within recommended quotes.

/d:"#" If /tss Number to send SMS to. If not /tss number to dial, where # is a 1 to 32

byte string, within recommended quotes.

/t:T Type of call where T is “L” for landline or “S” for satellite.

/m:# Minutes between calls, where # is from 0 to 64800

/r:# Number of tries, where # is from 1 to 64800

/e:”email address” The email address to send the SMS message to within recommended quotes.

If sending to an A3LA-IGS or A3LA-DGS unit a valid argument list must contain /p and (/d /t) or (/m

/r). If sending to an A3LA-TSS unit the parameter list must contain /p and either both /m and /r or neither.

The /f is optional. If not specified the string will be sent to standard output.

Examples:

/p:"12345678" /d:"0000000000000" /t:L /m:12 /r:2 /f:"out.sbd"

/p:"12345678" /tss: /d:"0000000000000"


6.0 KNOWN PROBLEMS

Please see “General Description of Model A3LA-DGS (TN2004-21-V3.2).pdf”, for Known problems with the

A3LA-DGS itself.

6.1 Server for Terminal Modems Software

• For the server modem, if the disconnect button is clicked when CD (Carrier Detect) line is high, the

program will not always properly disconnect.

• No safeguard is in place to keep two Server for Terminal Modems programs from using the same session

file or remote change list. Unpredictable results can happen if they do. The user should take care not to

have two copies of the Server for Terminal Modems using the same session file or remote change file.

• The program is supposed to initialize the modem when it starts with ATS0=1V1E1. It sometimes does

not send over the initialization string to the connected modem and thus the modem will not

automatically answer calls. If a modem is going to be used a lot to receive calls with the server we

recommend making the initialization the default setting with the following AT commands:

o ATS0=1V1E1

o AT&W0

o AT&Y0

• Sometimes after a period where large quantities of data come from the modem when it is not connected

with a remote modem and in an idle state, the text for the received messages on the server screen is

distorted. When this happens there is no corresponding distortion in the GPS information written to the

log file or sent to the batch file. This distortion only occurs with the text written to the screen.

• When trying to connect to a remote modem using RUDICS, sometimes the program fails to open a

telnet connection even though the server ports are not in use.

• After completing the remote updates, the remote update list status sometimes does not appear as

completed.

• If the server calls the terminal modem while the terminal modem is escaped out and the terminal user

sends <H> over to the server by typing, the server thinks that chatting begun and pops up the chat

window and the chat begun message.

6.2 Terminal Software for PC

• The program sometimes freezes up if the COM port is disconnected while CD is high.

• In SBD or 2way mode, the modems with firmware version 3.1 always run ATI3 command whenever the

modem changes the mode from tracking mode to command mode or from command mode to tracking

mode. The software changes its mode screen whenever it sees the ATI3 command. However, the

modems with firmware version 3.0.1 or lower do not run ATI3 command sometimes even if the mode

gets changed and it can cause the software to remain in the incorrect mode screen. This often happens

when “+++” is entered manually while the modem is calling the server to report or to chat with. When

this happens, entering “+++” or using either the “Escape” button or “Return” button again can correct

the problem.

• Sometimes the AT command and GPS buttons are disabled when they should not be disabled. If the

user escapes out by typing +++ manually on the screen and then escapes back out of tracking mode


this will fix the problem. The user can also always get the GPS information by typing AT+PA command

on the screen or run any AT command by manually typing it.

• If the modem is escaped out of the tracking mode and receives remote update messages while the

modem is set to receive SMS immediately, the Terminal software will perform the remote updates. If

the software is in the chat mode, chat messages will be sent to the newly updated destination.

However, the GPS reports that are sent by using "AT+PR" command or by using the emergency button

(?), if available, will go to the previous destination until the modem returns to the tracking mode and

reads the memory.

• If a chat message is sent from an Email server (including the Server for Terminal Modems) to an A3LA-

TSS modem, some characters such as "+" might not arrive correctly. However, the same characters

might arrive correctly if a chat message containing the characters is sent from the A3LA-TSS modem to

the Email server. This is because Email servers use ASCII characters while Iridium modems use 7-bit

default alphabets.

6.3 A3LA-DGS Terminal Software for PDA

• Although, it is normal for the buttons to be disabled if they are not supported or the modem is currently

busy. The “Escape”, “Chat”, “Return“, and “R/Report” buttons in SBD and 2way modes sometimes get

disabled when they should be enabled. This happens if the software reads CD incorrectly after making

connections to another modem. Using the “Refresh” button will enable the disabled buttons.

• In SBD or 2way mode, the modems with firmware version 3.1 always run ATI3 command whenever the

modem changes the mode from tracking mode to command mode or from command mode to tracking

mode. The software changes its mode screen whenever it sees the ATI3 command. However, the

modems with firmware version 3.0.1 or lower do not run ATI3 command sometimes even if the mode

gets changed and it can cause the software to remain in the incorrect mode screen. This often happens

when “+++” is entered manually while the modem is calling the server to report or to chat with. When

this happens, entering “+++” manually again after using the “Refresh” button can correct the problem.

• If the PDA is set to save its battery in its system settings, the PDA will turn itself off after a while if the

user does not interact with it. When the PDA is turned back on, the software will not show the activity of

the modem while the PDA was turned off. Also, turning off the PDA while reporting to the server in 2way

mode can cause the modem not to send the GPS information correctly to the server. To prevent this, set

the PDA not to turn itself off in the system settings before using the software and do not turn the PDA

off while using the software.

• Rarely, the carrier detect (CD) holding of the PDA gets stuck high after making connections to another

modems. When this happens, the software will not work correctly because of the incorrect CD holding

property. For example, by reading the incorrect CD holding property, some buttons might be disabled

when they should be enabled. Soft-resetting the PDA will correct this problem.

• When using a Bluetooth connection, the software does not work correctly if the Bluetooth connection is

lost. The software will start working again most of the time if the Bluetooth connection is reestablished.

However, if the software sends any commands to the modem right after it made a fresh Bluetooth

connection and if the modem itself was also sending or running a command at the same time, the

modem's microcontroller may disregard the command.


6.5 Backwards Compatibility Issues

• Before using the 2.2 software to configure 2.1 A3LA-DGS or before calling the version 2.2 and higher of

Server for Terminal Modems Software, all quotes, spaces, and underscores need to be removed from

the password and all quotes need to be removed from the identifier field. Versions 2.2 and higher of the

Server for Terminal Modems Software translate all underscores to spaces in the identifier field. Thus, if a

unit is deployed to contain underscore characters, they will appear as spaces in the version 2.2 and

higher of the Server for Terminal Modems software.


APPENDIX A – INSTALLATION

Installing Terminal Software for PC

This section includes the installation instructions for the Terminal Software for PC. The same procedure

should be used to install the Server for Terminal Modems software.

1. Close all applications.

2. Insert the installation disk into the CD-ROM drive.

3. There should be four folders on the disk: A3LA-DGS Manuals, Server for Terminals, Terminal

Software and Windows Driver. Double click on the “Terminal Software” folder.

4. Double click on the file “Setup for Terminal Software.exe” to launch the installation setup.

5. When the following screen appears, click “Next” to continue.


6. Once the Welcome screen appears, click “Next” to continue.

7. Please read the License Agreement, if accept click “Next” to continue.

8. When prompted, enter customer information and click “Next” to continue.


9. Choose destination folder or click “Next” to keep the default destination.


10. Verify that the installation settings are correct. Changes can be made by clicking on the “Back”

button. If the settings are correct, click “Install” to continue.

11. The following screen will appear.


12. When the “InstallShield Wizard Completed” screen appears, make sure “Show the readme file” is

checked and click “Finish” to close the window. The software is now successfully installed.

Uninstalling Terminal Software for PC

1. Click on the “Start” menu.

2. Choose “Control Panel.”

3. From the “Control Panel” screen, click “Add or Remove Programs.”

4. From the “Add or Remove Programs” screen, find the software in the list and click on the button

“Remove.”

5. All files and libraries associated with the Terminal Software will be removed from your computer.


Installing A3LA-DGS Terminal Software For PDA

This section has instructions on installing the A3LA-DGS Terminal Software for the PDA. The same

procedure can be used to install the “Config A3LA-TSS software.

1. Establish an ActiveSync connection from the PC to the PDA.

2. Double click on the “PDA” folder on the installation CD.

3. Double click on the file named “NAL Terminal Setup.exe” to launch the installation setup.


4. When the following screen appears, please read the README and click Next.

5. Please read the End User License Agreement. If agree, click Yes.


6. Ensure to install the software using the default application install directory by clicking Yes.

7. The setup program will start installing the software on the PDA.

8. Check the PDA to see if it completed the installation. If completed, click OK.

9. The same procedure should be used to install the "RuntimeFat.ppc.exe" and the

"S309Timer_PocketPC.exe" files in the same “PDA” folder. The .exe files should be installed one at a

time, in any order.

Once the software is installed, it can be accessed from the Windows “Start | Programs” menu in a

shortcut named “NALTerminal”. It is not necessary to run “Register Runtime”. If it is run, the device needs

to be soft-reset in order to use the NAL Terminal Software.


Uninstalling A3LA-DGS Terminal Software for PDA

1. Open the “Settings”, which can be found on the Windows “Start” menu.

2. From the “System”, open the “Remove Programs”.

3. Remove “NALTerminal”, “NSB Runtime” and “Software 309 Timer ActiveX Control”.


APPENDIX B – HANDSHAKING ALGORITHMS

This appendix describes the handshake protocols between a server modem and an A3LA-DGS during a

connection.

Message Message Contents

Ready R

GPS Information <S>{MODEM ID}\r\n{GPS Report}<E>\r\n

Done and Received Valid GPS point D

Done but Received Invalid GPS Point I

Continuous C

Update Went Fine F

Error in Update X

Remote Update Variable String {ESC KEY}U{UPDATE DATA}\t

Where:

\r \n \t stands for the carriage return, new line, and tab characters

{ESC KEY} stands for the escape character

[ ] means optional

{MODEM ID} is defined as whatever was put as the modem identifier

{GPS DATA} is defined in the C++ class “gps_report_convert”, which is included in “C:\Program

Files\NAL\Server_for_Terminals\Samples\GPS_Report_Convert”

{UPDATE DATA} is a packed character string containing binary data.

Standard Mode of Communications

This is the most frequently used connection. The remote A3LA-DGS client initiates the process by dialing

in. The server modem responds with a Ready response. It then receives the GPS information from the

remote A3LA-DGS. Upon correctly receiving this information, it sends over the Done message.


Client Modem Server ModemCall

“ R”, Ready

GPS information

“ D”, Done or “I” , Incomplete

Continuous Mode of Communications

This mode is initiated by the Server for Terminals software after the remote A3LA-DGS has called in.

The process is the same as the Standard Connection except instead of sending the Done message, a

Continuous message is sent over, which tells the A3LA-DGS to go into continuous mode. During this mode,

the remote A3LA-DGS sends over a GPS report faster than once a second.


“ R”, Ready

GPS information

“ C”, Continuous

GPS information


Remote Update

This mode is the same as the Continuous mode up to the point of receiving the GPS information. The

Server for Terminals software sends over information to update the A3LA-DGS, which includes the password

and can consist of changes to the Number to Dial and the Type of Call parameters as well as the Time

between Calls and the Number of Tries parameters. If the password is incorrect or the checksum is wrong an

Error in Update message is returned. Otherwise an Update Went Fine message is returned. On success the

A3LA-DGS sends over the Done message. On failure the Server for Terminals tries to update a few more

times, and if it continues to fail it also sends out the Done message.


“ R”, Ready

GPS information

Remote Variable Update String

[Updated] “F”, Update Went Fine

[Not Updated] “X”, Error in Update

Chatting Session

This allows a user, using the Terminal Software, to communicate with the Server for Terminal Modem

Software program. In here, the Terminal Modem sends over GPS reports while the Terminal Software and

Server for Terminal Modems program exchange messages. The GPS reports arrive about once every 10

seconds.


Client Modem Server Modem Call

““ R”, Ready

GPS information

““ M”, Chat Session Request

“<H>”, Initiate Chat Session Acknowledge

Chat Packets from both Directions

Notes

(About the implementation in the program)

• The different messages are repeated multiple times. This is not necessary and the duplicate copies of

the message are only used in the unlikely event that the first message was not read correctly. However,

because of the long delay time, they are sent multiple times so that if the first message was missed, the

remote unit does not need to wait a round trip to get the message again.

• The remote modem only assumes the transaction was successful if it sees the Done message. If it does

not see this it will buffer the GPS information and try to send it again later.

• Different from earlier versions the remote modem now hangs up after it receives a remote update.



APPENDIX C – DOCUMENT TYPE DEFINITIONS FOR XML FORMATTED GPS REPORTS

GPS reports received by SBD from A3LA-DGS’ with firmware versions 2.0 – 2.1 arrive in XML format and

do not need to be translated. All other GPS reports, whether received by 2Way, SBD, or SMS, can be

translated into any of the ten supported message formats including GPSI and GPSI < 3.2 using either the

Server for Terminal Modems program or the Message Translator utility. The definitions shown below were

written in XML version 1 for the ASCII character set. In the current version, the report numbers can only be

from 0 to 3. However, this may change in future releases, which may be able to store more GPS Reports.

GPSI Format DTD

<!ELEMENT GPSI (ID, Emergency, Report+)>

<!ELEMENT ID (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT Emergency (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT Report (Time, Date, Lat, Lng, Alt, Speed, Dir, VerVel, Fix, Sat)>

<!ATTLIST Report N ID #REQUIRED>

<!ELEMENT Time (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT Date (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT Lat (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT Lng (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT Alt (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT Speed (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT Dir (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT VerVel (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT Fix (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT Sat (#PCDATA)>

GPSI < 3.2 Format DTD

<!ELEMENT GPSI (ID, Report+)>


<!ELEMENT Report (Time, Date, Lat, Lng, Alt, Speed, Dir, Fix, Sat)>







<!ELEMENT Speed (#PCDATA)>

<!ELEMENT Dir (#PCDATA)>




DTD for SBD E-mails for Firmware Versions 2.0 and 2.1

<!ELEMENT GPSI (ID, Report+)>


<!ELEMENT Report (Time, Date, Lat, Lng, Alt, Fix, Sat)>










APPENDIX D – USING BLUETOOTH

The Terminal software can work with both serial and Bluetooth connections. If the Bluetooth is used to

communicate with the modem, the software can work without using any serial cable connected to the

modem. In order to use the Bluetooth connection, both the modem and the DTE, such as PC or PDA, must

have the Bluetooth technology built in. If not, any Bluetooth adapters or Bluetooth dongles can be used to

adapt the Bluetooth technology.

NAL Research Corporation plans to offer a Bluetooth communication ability built into the RS232

connection for an AC adaptor or cables from a battery pack.

While the Bluetooth communication between PC and the modem has been verified to work stably, the

Bluetooth communication between the tested iPAQ PDAs running NALs Terminal Software and the modem

has not been verified for its reliability. Testing shows that the Bluetooth on these PDAs often gets

disconnected.

If using a PC, do the following:

a. Turn on the Bluetooth on both PC and the modem.

b. Find the COM port that the Bluetooth uses to communicate with other devices. This can be usually

found at the Bluetooth Properties.

c. Using the Windows Explorer, explore the Bluetooth device connected to the modem.

d. If the device connected to the modem is found, connect using a serial port.

e. Open the Terminal software for PC and connect to the COM port that was found in the step b.

f. The software is ready to be used. See section on Terminal Software for PC for further instructions.

If using a PDA, do the following:

a. Turn on the Bluetooth on both PDA and the modem.

b. Open the Bluetooth settings and find the Outbound COM port. This can be usually found at the

Serial Port properties.

c. Open the Bluetooth manager.

d. Explore the Bluetooth device connected to the modem and connect using a serial port.

e. Open the A3LA-DGS Terminal software for PDA and connect to the COM port that was found in the

step b.

f. The software is ready to be used. See section on A3LA-DGS Terminal Software for PDA for further

instructions.

Note: If the Bluetooth is disconnected or jammed, the software cannot receive or send any data to the

modem and cannot work correctly. The Bluetooth connection can be reestablished by disconnecting and

reconnecting the COM port or by clicking the Refresh button under the Options menu of the software. If

the problem still remains, do the following:


- Turn off the modem.

- Turn off the power of the Bluetooth device connected to the modem.

- Restart the PDA.

- Turn on the power of the Bluetooth device connected to the modem.

- Establish the Bluetooth connection between the PDA and the modem using the Bluetooth manager.

- Open the Terminal software and connect to the Outbound COM port.

- Select a button to enter a mode and turn on the modem.