FRAME NEXT FAQ's continues on the FAQ's from FRAME which could found here:
Planning a modern Transport System
The major European goal in the area of mobility is the creation of the Single European Transport Area, which shall be efficient and safe and which is supportive of the goals for climate change. Once the hard infrastructures are in place of new corridors as well as of existing networks and cities, services are required to optimize their performance and integrate their use. Services, using and providing information, which optimize local performance, provide cross-border continuity and seamlessness and provide the basis for multimodality. A modern road-based transport system will be dependent on a number of Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS), based on telematics, components, automated systems for traffic control and management, fleet management (public transport and goods vehicles) and road pricing. The vehicles using the network are increasingly being equipped with automated support systems and services to enhance driving safety and efficiency. The maximum benefit to end users and other stakeholders will be created from these systems when they are fully integrated or harmonized so that they can share data and operate together in a coordinated manner. Effective cooperation is also needed if stakeholders want to offer advanced services such as cross-modal traveller information and cross-organisational and cross-border traffic management. These services are only feasible by seamless collaboration of ITS actors in ITS value chains and networks, as these require information sharing, particularly if multi-modal journeys or transport are to be promoted.
Common Pan-European ITS Architecture
Archive a Common Pan-European ITS Architecture that includes the necessary priorities/services for ITS - This will be done by modifying and enhancing the existing FRAME Architecture so that it reflects the results of the various projects in this and other programmes as well as the obligations which came with the ITS Directive and the results of the recent work by CEN TC278 PT1701 on the barriers to Urban ITS deployment.
In the FRAME NEXT Architecture it will be particularly important to enable the identification of the functional chains that link the collection of raw data through its processing to its use in such things as the management of the road network, dissemination of travel information support to public transport and support to freight transport.
FRAME Dokumentation
Fundamental Information about the FRAME architecture and ITS architecture in general could be fount at https://frame-online.eu/first-view
FRAME seems to be too complex. Is there a summary of its contents for the decision makers?
FRAME covers most of the ITS available today. These systems are complex in the way that they utilize and share the information between each other. The FRAME Functional View represents all of these systems and the information flow between them, so yes if you consider the entirety of FRAME it may seem a little complex. But the entirety of FRAME is seldomly used in any project all together. It is not meant for high level decision makers of any project to work with the whole of it. FRAME is there to make selections out of it, and to create architecture subsets for specific services.
With the extended scope of FRAME in its version 5.0, an architecture subset includes not only the functional aspects of a service but also elements of the business (enterprise) architecture. The Motivation Layer of a subset architecture identifies the problem to be solved by the desired service, shows the “Vision” behind it and summarizes the highest level requirements. Therefore, the Motivation Layer of an architecture subset is the summary that is aimed to be presented to the decision makers.
Is FRAME compatible with mobility as a service (MaaS) applications?
Yes. The multi-modal traveller information and trip planning services are examples of this. The traveller is an important actor in FRAME and is addressed as both a pre-trip traveler planning a trip and as a traveler on their trip. For the pre-trip traveler, trip planning and more general travel information is available, which can be delivered to a mobile device or to static locations, such as public transport stops. Once the traveler is on their trip, they can alter it and be advised of changes in travel conditions that may require a different route or use of services. The traveler can be a public transport passenger, pedestrian or car driver and can switch between transport modes during their trip.
For some FRAME may appear to have a lot of emphasis on the management of the transport network, but that is because it is complex and is a vital part of ITS if travel services are to be successfully provided. For example, trip planning either pre-trip or on-trip needs to know about incidents that can affect the choice of route and/or transport mode. These incidents can take a wide variety of forms and need to be detected, recognized and their impacts mitigated to minimize the disruption to travel and the movement of goods.
Does FRAME provide template architectures for its services?
No. Since the FRAME Architecture is intended to be used within the European Union it conforms to the principle of subsidiarity[1], and thus does not mandate any physical or organisational structure on a Member State. It comprises only a set of User Needs which describe what ITS can provide, and a Functional View showing how it can be done.
In FRAME Next we have created four architecture subsets for the Priority Actions of the European ITS Directive. They are examples of architecture subsets to be produced from FRAME and they demonstrate the extended scope of FRAME towards a complete business (enterprise) architecture with its additional architecture views. Beyond the Priority Actions, FRAME does not provide suggestions for physical or organizational implementations for any of its services.
In future projects FRAME may provide a selection of user needs / functional view for commonly demanded services as templates but these templates would be covering only the core aspects of any service and the rest has to be built according to the requirements of each project.
Is it possible to link international standards / guidelines to architecture subsets in FRAME?
Yes. An architecture subset may refer to standards with provisions in various levels. There are two ways that standards may be referenced in architecture subsets of FRAME. A set of standards may describe a high level structure or recommendations for the service that is being built. In this case the standard may be referenced as a “Requirement” for the service.
In other cases a standard may be related to a specific part of a service and set out a detailed description of what that part is or how it behaves (for example a component or an interface). FRAME offers a stereotyped artefact called “Specification” in its toolbox that can be used to specify standards related to specific parts of an architecture subset.
It is also very easy to generate documentation by filtering only the “specification” objects that are included into any architecture subset’s repository when creating purchase documents or product specifications.
Is it possible to model interfaces to existing systems?
Yes. It is highly anticipated that some other ITS services will already be in operation while developing an architecture subset for a particular service. These services are outside the boundary of an architecture subset and therefore they are “Terminators” for the service in the architecture subset. It is possible to model these external services using a “Terminator” stereotype, identify their interfaces to the service in the architecture subset, and model their interaction in between.
Will I need to purchase the new FRAME Tool?
The new FRAME tool and its repository is being modelled in Enterprise Architect. There is no additional cost to access FRAME materials but you will need to have Enterprise Architect installed. A view-only version of Enterprise Architect could be downloaded from the website of the developer for free. To use all features of Enterprise Architect, and to create architecture subsets of FRAME for your project, a licensed version is necessary.
It is also possible to download a 30-day trial edition of Enterprise Architect from here. The trial edition is fully operational, and can be used to explore the use of FRAME or to create an architecture subset, depending on the complexity of the ITS Service to be modelled.