SATURN ELEVEN Version 11.1.

09
First of all, I wish you a warm welcome to the first full release of SATURN 11.1,
11.1.09.
SATURN 11.1 is the successor to all previous versions of SATURN. It represents a
direct evolution from its predecessors whilst offering significant enhancements from
the strong existing base. SATURN 11.1 was first released in pre-Beta version in June
2011 as 11.1.1, as 11.1.2 in August 2011 etc. etc. up until its first full release as
11.1.09 in February 2012.
The most prominent new advance in 11.1 as compared to previous releases is the full
introduction of Network Aggregation or SPIDER techniques which have been
available on Beta-release in 10.9. Basically SPIDER allows the assignment submodule within SATURN to be run up to 10 times faster than traditional methods. In
addition the same ideas may be applied to a wide range of post-assignment analyses
such as Select Link Analysis although some of these applications are still effectively
on Beta release and more will be added in later releases. For a more complete
description of SPIDER methods see Section 15.56. Note that some of the SPIDERbased secondary analyses remain in beta form all major development work is
complete and awaiting final user feedback. The development of the SPIDER-based
version of the OBA algorithm continues and should be used for evaluation purposes
only.
Issues of backwards/forwards compatibility between 11.1 and 10.9.24 and before are
dealt with in Section 3.
1. Changes in Output Results in 11.1
In terms of results there have been a large number of both relatively major and minor
changes to the simulation so that one might expect 11.1 to give different possibly
significantly different results to pre 11.1. For this reason the opportunity has been
taken to change the default values of a number of parameters, typically options that
were introduced in recent releases but turned off by default are now turned on
having been verified in practice. E.g., see the notes under SATNET in Appendix
D.19.1 and in Section 2 below.
(N.B. If your network .dat files have explicit lists of all variables under &PARAM, as
tends to happen if the files have been created using an update or dump facility within
P1X, then it may well be that the new default values will not be used. For example, the
new default value of NITA_S should be 99 but if it has been explicitly set to 25 within
your network &PARAM .dat file it will not be re-set to 99. Removing the reference to
NITA_S under &PARAM will allow it to be updated to the new default. But, of course,
if you do want NITA_S to be 25 do not touch it.)
Our strong advice therefore, in order to both avoid compatibility issues entirely and to
introduce new defaults, would be to re-run old networks from scratch starting with
your original network .dat files fed through SATNET. (On the other hand matrix .ufm
files do probably not need to be re-created.)
And while we would strongly encourage you to compare output .ufs files from, say,
10.9.24 with the latest outputs from 11.1 in order spot the differences and possibly
identify any not-so-desirable differences - we would certainly not recommend doing
evaluation comparisons of different scenarios between 11.1 outputs and pre 11.1
outputs.

2. New General Features with SATURN v11.1

SATURN 11.1 adds many new features affecting simulation-assignment functions and
network displays and editing. A summary of some of the key changes are outlined
below with the full (and more detailed) list available in Appendix D19.
SATNET

APRESV has been made a link-dependent variable which may be set on the
second link record as currently done for TAX, FLAREX and FLAREF. See 6.4.14
and 8.8.3.1.

The rules under which bus routes are allowed to use bus lanes have been
improved to consider where the bus route goes next. Thus, for example, a bus
route which turns right from the most offside lane on a link would not be allowed to
use a nearside bus lane on that link but would have to join the normal traffic as a
fixed flow on the central lanes. See 15.39.1.

Bus routes are now allowed to exit and re-enter the coded network at non-adjacent
nodes, e.g., to represent a route which uses minor roads which have not been
included in the main network. An exit/entry is indicated by including a wildcard
node number KANGA (default 9999) in the normal list of nodes. See note 12) in
section 6.9.2.

The default value of NUC has been changed to 10 from 15. The use of AUTNUC =
T or setting NUCJT(3) > 10 for signals is strongly recommended. N.B. If NUC is
explicitly set under &PARAM in your .dat file changing the default has no effect.
See 15.52.

SATALL

The rules which determine the convergence parameter UNCRTS in the extra
SAVEIT assignment have been altered so that it equals the assignment-simulation
GAP value. This should ensure that the SAVEIT assignment neither terminates
prematurely nor takes excessive iterations. See 15.23.4.

Extra stopping criteria for the assignment-simulation loops with KONSTP = 5 and 6
have been added based on GAP and ISTOP (5) and GAP or ISTOP (6). See
9.2.3.

The method by which a .UFO file is created following a normal Frank-Wolfe

assignment (i.e., not OBA) has been made considerably faster by making use of a
Spider network (assuming that SPIDER = T) plus an improved internal algorithm.
The same methods are also used when the batch procedure SATUFO is run on its
own. See 22.5.3.

Simulation

The rules for modelling Y-merges have been altered to allow APRESV to have an
impact on either arm. See 8.8.3.2. Note in addition that APRESV may now be set
as a link-specific value; see 6.4.14 and note 1) under D.19.1.

BB109 is, in effect, always set to TRUE.

Simulation nodes with fixed cost-flow curves (FCF) introduced as well as an

improved method to convert intermediate simulation networks into buffer (BST).
See 15.1.

Turns at signals which have been coded with an X but which have only been
included in stages where there are no opposing turns do not now qualify for an

extra TAX capacity at the end of their green phases. They are currently identified
as Warning 79 in SATNET. See 6.4.2.2 and 8.2.4.

Capacity reductions caused by weaving between motorway junctions (Section

15.40) may now be modelled even when network aggregation (SPIDER = T) is
being used; previously it could only be invoked if SPIDER was not used. See
15.56.7.

OBA Algorithm

Optimization of the existing Origin-based Assignment code to both reduce memory

requirements on larger networks and runtimes.
P1X

An extra option (#24) in the SATLOOK node flow-delay tables allows the
differences in flows and delays between networks 1 and 2 at a single node to be
displayed. See 11.1.3.

Select Link Analysis has a new option to carry out the analysis on multiple links;
i.e., a series of individual links which are treated in a single pass with the select
flows being stored in discrete data base columns. See 11.8.1.11

Selected Link Assignment may also now take advantage of Spider networks
(SPIDER = T) which means that SLA calculations become considerably faster by
factors of up to 10 times. See 11.8.1.12.

3. Compatibility with Previous Versions

Our strong advice therefore, in order to both avoid compatibility issues entirely and to
introduce new defaults, would be to re-run old networks from scratch starting with
your original network .dat files fed through SATNET. (On the other hand matrix .ufm
files do probably not need to be re-created.)
And while we would strongly encourage you to compare output .ufs files from, say,
10.9.24 with the latest outputs from 11.1 in order spot the differences and possibly
identify any not-so-desirable differences - we would certainly not recommend doing
evaluation comparisons of different scenarios between 11.1 outputs and pre 11.1
outputs.
4. Compatibility with Previous Versions
In terms of compatibility with previous releases, there are a number of points that
users need to be aware of:

There have been no changes to the format of binary matrix (.ufm) files so that
matrix files from previous releases (within reason!) may still be used within 11.1
and, conversely, previous releases of programs such as MX should be able to
happily read and process .ufm files produced under 11.1.

The formats of network ASCII data files (.dat) and (a few) control files have
evolved marginally (e.g., new &PARAM parameters and/or options have been
added) such that there is no absolute guarantee that a text file created under 11.1
rules will be backwards compatible with pre 11.1 programs nor that 11.1 binary
files (e.g., .UFS) will be correctly read by pre 11.1 exes. However 11.1 programs
should be able to correctly read all data and binary .ufs files created by previous
SATURN releases with the caveat that the defaults for certain missing
parameters in .dat files may have changed.

 The number of error checks, both fatal and non-fatal, remain broadly unchanged
from 10.9.24. It is therefore likely that network data files which previously passed
the more stringent checks introduced, under the WRIGHT=T parameter in
SATNET 10.9.24, will continue to pass in SATNET 11.1. However, it is probable
that networks from prior to 10.9.24 will fail and the necessary corrections will need
to be made before that network will run under 11.1. Alternatively, the user may
turn this off by setting WRIGHT=F (but we do not recommend using this option).
As previously noted in section 1 (and worth re-iterating again), there have been a
large number of both relatively major and minor changes to the simulation so that one
might expect 11.1 to give different possibly significantly different results to pre
11.1. For this reason the opportunity has been taken to change the default values of a
number of parameters, typically options that were introduced in recent releases but
turned off by default are now turned on having been verified in practice. See the
notes under SATNET in Appendix D.19.1 and Section 2 above.
If users wish to try out the phased-in Blocking Back (BBKING) option then the
differences are likely to be much larger. To a certain extent older results may be
reproduced by using the parameter NFT = 109 (say) to exclude the most recent
changes but, unfortunately, some of the changes have had to be hard wired into the
code and cannot be avoided. Remember that they have all been introduced for very
good reasons!
5.

Compatibility with Windows 7 & 64-bit

SATURN v11.1 is also fully compatible with the latest release of Windows 7. Whilst
SATURN continues as a 32-bit application, it will run equally well in both the Windows
32-bit or 64-bit versions.
6. SATURN Zonal Dimensions
From 10.8.17 onwards, a new upper limit of 2,000 zones was introduced in the
standard version to reduce excessive memory requirements, primarily for matrix
manipulation, and, with 10.9.22, a new intermediate 2,750 zones size was introduced
to cater for all the London HAMs. As always, all three versions (i.e. standard 2,000
zone, intermediate 2,750 zone and full size) permitted within the licence are freely
available upon request without additional charge. If users receive an error message
stating that the 2000 zone cap has been exceeded, please contact us and we will
supply an appropriate update.
7. Future Releases of 11.1 and Beyond
The development of SATURN continues with a new SATWIN front-end available in
summer 2012. The restructuring of the interface will enable working sessions to be
set-up and saved for each particular model as well providing a history of the
operations undertaken to be stored. The sessions are stored in an editable XML
configuration file for users to change directly if required.

Further development work will also be undertaken with Network Aggregation methods
to reduce the time taken to undertake the main assignment as well as the secondary
analysis. Development work will also continue on the Origin-based Assignment
algorithm to reduce model runtimes and memory requirements particularly on larger
networks.
If you have any suggestions for what you would like to see in future versions of
SATURN and SATWIN, please let us know. Let us know preferably via the
Software Forum (www.saturnsoftware.co.uk/forum) - of any problems you have or
features you would like and we will look into them.
8. Technical Support
If you require technical support, please do not hesitate to contact us at
saturnsoftware@atkinsglobal.com. Our existing individual e-mail addresses will
continue to be available but the common e-mail address will enable us to improve
communications with our users.
In the meantime, I wish you a successful continuation with SATURN 11.1.09 and
thank you for your support over the last 12 months.
Ian Wright

Dirck Van Vliet

SATURN Director

SATURN Developer

ATKINS
saturnsoftware@atkinsglobal.com

dirck_van_vliet@yahoo.co.uk

31/03/12

ReadmeEleven1.DOC

INSTALLATION
To install SATURN 11.1, locate the Setup.exe (either downloaded from the SATURN
website or available on CD) and double click on it. The SATURN licence key
(SAT10KEY.DAT) is not usually provided and if this is a new install, the existing (or
supplied) SAT10KEY.DAT should be copied into the same folder as the SETUP.EXE.
You may either install SATURN under the default directories or select folders
according to your own preference. Once a suitable home has been chosen, program
executables and assorted DLLs, bat and control files, help and PDF-based
documentation will be automatically installed on your hard disk. You can then run
SATURN from SATWIN via the Icon on your Desktop.
With the previous introduction of SATURN v10.6, we made some changes to the
install procedure and it is worth highlighting them again:

Checks are now made for existing Windows drivers already installed with the user
now having a choice of either keeping the existing versions and overwriting them
with newer versions;

The Windows drivers (i.e. .DLL and .OCX files) are now located in the
\SYSFILES directory replacing the previous \DLL folder; and

The install notes within the SETUP.EXE clarify that the existing versions of the
software will be overwritten. If the user wishes to maintain the existing version,
they should either install the software to a different directory (e.g. C:\SATWIN2) or
take a back-up. Alternatively, the use may wish to transfer the existing files in
\XEXES to another folder (e.g. \XEXES 10.9.24) and switch between them, once
installed, using the Folders option in the Settings menu in SATWIN.

Further details on Getting Started with SATWIN are provided in Section 3 of the
User Guide (available under SATWIN Toolbar as SATURN Manual).
Running the Test Network
Following installation, we would recommend the running of the test network.
Choosing a test network from the Test Network menu presents you with the Test Run
Template below corresponding to the network.

Test Network 1 will run MXM1 to build trip matrix HAT, followed by SATNET, SATALL
and P1X for network HEADE, leaving you in P1X interactive mode. Upon exit from
P1X, the following screen will allow you to view any of the LP files generated

Test Network 2 will run SATNET, SATALL and P1X for the Grotley network leaving
you in P1X interactive mode, which in this example will show a background bitmap of
the network. Similarly, Test Network 3 will repeat the same process for the classic
Epsom network.