Proof of concept (PoC) testing of vehicle infrastructure integration (VII) technology is continuing in Southeast Michigan, but emphasis there and elsewhere on VII and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology (Fig. 1) has largely shifted from mobility to safety.

The Michigan system, developed by the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Consortium (VIIC), includes on-board hardware installed in test vehicles, roadside equipment along highways and at intersections, and a backend server system. Vehicles communicate with roadside equipment via 5.9 GHz DSRC (dedicated short-range communications).

“The PoC testing focused mainly on mobility applications like in-vehicle signage,” said Roger Berg, vice president of wireless technology at DENSO International America. “The system fulfilled that requirement, but the effort was based on nationwide deployment of roadside hotspots. In the past year or so there have been a lot of changes in the economic status of the U.S. and availability of federal funds for such a plan, so the Department of Transportation (DOT) decided to take a step back and see if those needs can be met in other ways.”

“The U.S. DOT did a thorough evaluation of DSRC in cooperation with the auto industry,” noted Steve Underwood, director of transportation and information systems planning at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). “Everyone was together on that program. Outside of that, the commercial market is heading in all sorts of different directions. Intelligent transportation is going to happen one way or another, but how, and how fast, and who will be the first to profit, are all open to question.”

Efforts are under way to answer those questions. MARK IV IVHS developed a dual-mode antenna (Fig. 2) that combined 5.9 GHz DSRC and GPS for the VIIC PoC test in suburban Detroit, as well as a VIIC-sponsored parking systems test near Chicago. The firm's compact omnidirectional antenna, flush-mounted to the vehicle roof, has attracted significant interest from automakers, according to IVHS chief technology officer Richard Turnock.

In a project known as GEMS (Group Enabled Mobility and Safety), research teams from the University of California, Berkeley; California PATH (California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways), and the University of Utah are working with NAVTEQ on an Internet-based system that can deliver alternate routing information to cell phones as a way of helping commuters avoid traffic jams.

In June the U.S. Department of Transportation and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announced a $12.4 million partnership program as part of the DOT's SafeTrip-21 (Safe and Efficient Travel Through Innovation and Partnerships for the 21st Century) initiative.

The DOT's initial vision for VII called for deployment of as many as 400,000 roadside transponders to communicate information to and from motor vehicles. That would have required significant public sector investment, but SafeTrip-21 will explore near-term possibilities that do not require extensive infrastructure, as well as business models that can support widespread VII infrastructure deployment for collision avoidance and other safety-critical concepts.

The SafeTrip-21 partnership in California will test GPS-equipped cell phones and personal navigation devices (PNDs) from up to 10,000 volunteer commuters and transit vehicles transmitting data to traffic management centers from roads in a 200-mile radius. The test will include trip planning and traveler information, safety advisories, on-board displays of commuter rail and transit bus connections, electronic toll collection, and parking reservation and payment services. The partnership is also expected to establish a national test bed for a VII system that uses Wi-Fi as well as DSRC to alert drivers to unsafe conditions.

Partners in the project include California PATH, California Center for Innovative Transportation (CCIT), Nokia, NAVTEQ, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, and Nissan.

DENSO's Berg said that firms in the U.S., Europe, and Japan are cooperating in VII and V2V development. “The technology may not be exactly the same, but it will be harmonized,” he said. “Everyone should ‘speak the same language,’ and then car companies can differentiate based on HMI (human-machine interface) and how the driver is warned.”

In the U.S., SAE J2735 (Dedicated Short Range Communications Message Set Dictionary) will support interoperability among DSRC applications through the use of standardized message sets, data frames and data elements. IEEE 802.11.P defines enhancements to 802.11 for support of intelligent transportation system applications, including data exchange between vehicles and between vehicles and the roadside infrastructure in the licensed ITS band (5.9 GHz). IEEE 1609 includes a family of standards for Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE).