Architecture overview and system components

Bridging two worlds

VMS applications and IVA applications are, by nature, very different. The code bases used to develop the applications and the operating systems they run on are different. While VMS applications predominately use Microsoft Windows technology, many IVA applications are developed for the Linux operating system and are often containerized. containersClosed A small application with a limited function like a website, a service, a database. Milestone AI Bridge consists of 10 containers. .

The purpose of Milestone AI Bridge is to make it easy for developers of IVA applications to integrate their solution with the XProtect VMS.

While VMS applications and IVA applications cannot communicate directly with each other, they can communicate indirectly by utilizing the Milestone Integration Platform (MIP) and the Milestone AI Bridge.

Processing server

When you and your IVA application integrator agree on the best processing serverClosed One server or a cluster of servers that processes some kind of data. In connection with Milestone AI Bridge, the processing server hosts Milestone AI Bridge and the IVA applications. Typically, the video analysis happens on the processing server., you should also consider the complexity of the IVA applications, the demands for analytics, and the needs for performance, scalability, and resiliency. You can choose between two processing server hosts: the simpler Docker Compose consisting of one server or the more advanced Kubernetes consisting of a cluster of servers.

Application registration

When your IVA application integrator installs Milestone AI Bridge and your IVA applications, the IVA applications that are self-registering are automatically registered in Milestone AI Bridge.

IVA applications that are not self-registering can be modified to include the registration for the IVA application in question in the register.graphql file or can be included by running the register graphql mutation. When your IVA application integrator enters the login credentials for the Milestone AI Bridge basic user you have created into Milestone AI Bridge, Milestone AI Bridge is automatically registered in your XProtect VMS.

Data exchange

Most communication and exchange of data between the XProtect VMS and the IVA applications happens through Milestone AI Bridge by using various standard protocols. The only exception is the web page on which you draw the graphical representation of the selected analytics topic. This web page is sent directly from the IVA application to XProtect Management Client.

It is recommended that you secure all the communication between the XProtect VMS, Milestone AI Bridge, and the IVA applicationsClosed A software program that analyzes video for objects and the behavior of objects.. See Secure the connection between XProtect VMS and Milestone AI Bridge

From the XProtect VMS to IVA applications

The XProtect VMS shares the following camera information with the IVA applications through Milestone AI Bridge:

  • Name and description

  • GPS location and field of view

  • Current communication status (camera online / offline)

  • Available streams and stream properties (among others: codec, resolution, and framerate)

  • The url to the actual stream, and the actual video stream (from a selection of protocols, including WebRTC and RTSP)

From IVA applications to the XProtect VMS

Through Milestone AI Bridge, the IVA applications send the analytics dataClosed The result of an analytics topic's analysis of a video stream. You can run multiple analytics topics on the same video. back to the XProtect VMS as events, metadata, or video. See also Analytics data types and formats.