Skip to content

Data exchange system

Urban Strategy runs on the Inter Model Broker (IMB) framework, an integration framework for building modern digital twins. A high-level overview of IMB is shown in the figure below. The system consists of a central hub, which is called the 'IMB hub', which is responsible for the communication between system components. The 'Data Store' is connected to the hub and stores all the data that is used in the digital twin, based on a format defined by the 'Schema Service'. This service as well as the role of the data store are further discussed later in this section. Simulation models (for e.g. air quality, noise) can be attached to the IMB hub as separate processes of a system or in a container (e.g., Docker). These models can also be activated from remotely located computers or servers in the cloud. The 'Module Controller' is a process, MC node, which is responsible for starting and stopping models (e.g., when the user starts or stops using the system). Users can control models by using the MC Control tool and from within the web based User interface.

IMB overview
Overview of IMB

Literature

More information about the IMB framework and the underlying philosophy of the system can be found in the following journal article:

Lohman, W., Cornelissen, H., Borst, J., Klerkx, R., Araghi, Y., & Walraven, E. (2023). Building digital twins of cities using the Inter Model Broker framework. Future Generation Computer Systems, 148, 501-513.