protected function getConnectionParameters()
    {
        /** Collect the parameters, that are necessary to initialize the database connection: */

        /**
         * @var string $databaseDriver At the moment the database adapter uses always 'pdo_mysql'.
         */
        $databaseDriver = $this->getConfigParam('dbType');
        /**
         * @var string $databaseHost The database host to connect to.
         * Be aware, that the connection between the MySQL client and the server is unencrypted.
         */
        $databaseHost = $this->getConfigParam('dbHost');
        /**
         * @var integer $databasePort TCP port to connect to.
         */
        $databasePort = (int) $this->getConfigParam('dbPort');
        if (!$databasePort) {
            $databasePort = 3306;
        }
        /**
         * @var string $databaseName The name of the database or scheme to connect to.
         */
        $databaseName = $this->getConfigParam('dbName');
        /**
         * @var string $databaseUser The user id of the database user.
         */
        $databaseUser = $this->getConfigParam('dbUser');
        /**
         * @var string $databasePassword The password of the database user.
         */
        $databasePassword = $this->getConfigParam('dbPwd');

        $connectionParameters = [
            'default' => [
                'databaseDriver'    => $databaseDriver,
                'databaseHost'      => $databaseHost,
                'databasePort'      => $databasePort,
                'databaseName'      => $databaseName,
                'databaseUser'      => $databaseUser,
                'databasePassword'  => $databasePassword,
            ]
        ];

        /**
         * The charset has to be set during the connection to the database.
         */
        $charset = (string) $this->getConfigParam('dbCharset');
        //backwards compatibility with old config files.
        if (null == $charset) {
            $charset = 'utf8';
        }
        
        $connectionParameters['default'] = array_merge($connectionParameters['default'], ['connectionCharset' => $charset]);

        return $connectionParameters;
    }