Christine’s Status Report for 2/8

Researched AWS services (API Gateway, S3, SQS, EC2, Lambda, DynamoDB, RDS, SNS) and their interactions.
Designed a layered architecture with AWS services for image uploads, ALPR processing, and watchlist queries.
Explored SQS for asynchronous processing and caching strategies to handle high loads and avoid bottlenecks.
Documented the complete system flow for implementation.

Web Application Design
Finalized the tech stack with Andy:
- Backend: Node.js with Express.js
- Frontend: React with Ant Design
- Storage: DynamoDB (real-time watchlist), RDS (structured match history)
Designed core use cases:
- Authentication (JWT-based login system)
- Watchlist management (add, remove, view plates)
- Notification center (email alerts via SNS, UI-based alerts)
Designed REST APIs with interfaces

Design API endpoints for the central server, focusing on data ingestion, ALPR processing, and watchlist matching.
Review API endpoints for the web portal based on team feedback and refine where needed. Know issues:
- Each user should have their own watchlist –> update /watchlist to support look-up by user ID

Decide between DynamoDB vs RDS for different use cases.
Design database schema for central server watchlist storage & web portal authentication.

Finalize Use Case Details
Define the full flow for each core use case (authentication, watchlist management, notifications).
Add alternative flows to ensure edge cases are accounted for.
Send finalized use case flows to Andy for UI design adjustments.

Create a block diagram for the central server.

🚧 Challenges & Open Questions
Potential performance trade-offs in database selection (DynamoDB vs RDS) for different use cases.
EC2 vs Lambda for ALPR layer.