The Real "Car Talk" - Vehicles that Can Communicate with Each Other
Connected Vehicle focuses on localized Vehicle-to-Vehicle, Vehicle-to-Infrastructure and Vehicle-to-Device Systems (V2X) to improve safety, mobility and environmental applications using vehicle Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) and other wireless technologies.
ITS America members, through the ITS America Connected Vehicle Task Force, continue to interact with industry and government to achieve the vision for the use of DSRC, through research and cooperation on technical and policy issues, as well as through technology demonstrations, public engagement, and advocacy.
To learn more about the Task Force, go to the bottom of the page.
The Wireless Landscape and the Next Connected Vehicle
While the needs for connectvity to vehicles can be met to some degree with cellular and other "wide-area" technologies, localized vehicle safety and mobility applications, ones that demand drivers' immediate attention at an intersection, toll booth, or in traffic among many other speeding vehicles, requires a fast "local-area," short range connection.
In 1997, ITS America petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allocate spectrum dedicated to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). In 1999, the FCC allocated 75 MHz of spectrum at 5.9GHz for DSRC. In 2004, the FCC adopted technical and service rules for Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) to ensure interoperablity. DSRC standards suite, similar to Wi-Fi and developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), is also commonly referred as 802.11p in standards development organizations.
Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE) are a set of standards within the DSRC suite to allow cooperative and safety critical applications to be supported. Such applications include Forward Collision Warning, Intersection Collision Warning, and many other applications. Furthermore, DSRC is flexible enough to support mobility and environmental applications, such as tolling, traffic, weather, commercial vehicle credentialling and a host of new and existing services.
As new gains from improved crash worthiness of vehicles are harder to come by, crash avoidance technologies, especially ones that interact cooperatively through DSRC, represents the next great technological opportunity to reduce injuries and fatalities on our highways.
ITS America assists and supports the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) connected vehicle program that is focued on the use of DSRC/WAVE. Currently, USDOT is constructing a large scale pilot to demonstrate effectiveness of DSRC with a mix of light, heavy and transit vehicles, with the goal of accelerating the introduction and commercialization of DSRC. The anticipated results are an evaluation of the benefits of 10 or more applications across many vehicle, infrastructure, and device categories, using up to 3,000 vehicles.
This DSRC cooperative "Safety Pilot" will help USDOT and industry evaluate the scalability, security, and interoperability of all DSRC devices. The pilot also plans to explore public acceptance through “driver clinics” designed to gauge reaction of drivers to new devices, applications and services. USDOT will use data collected from the pilot to support a potential National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 2013 rulemaking, and further commercialization and R&D by industry and academia.
Links to more information on these actvities can be found at the bottom of the page.
Challenges in Deploying Vehicle-to-X and Other Wireless Technologies in Transportation
Deployment of DSRC is complex and faces the classic "chicken and egg" problem. Why should vehicle manufacturers invest in developing and paying to install in-vehicle devices (DSRC radios) with no guarantee that there would be any infrastructure-based devices with which to communicate? Conversely, why should State and local agencies invest in the installation of infrastructure-based technology with no guarantee that there would be any in-vehicle devices for their infrastructure-based devices to talk to?
The information gathered by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Research and Innovative Techology Administration (RITA) has convinced USDOT to aggressively pursue Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) technology and applications as the "first adoption" starting point. USDOT is piloting a deployment concept to encourage embedding and retrofiting vehicles with DSRC to get the ball rolling.
Introduction of other wireless technologies into vehicles, such as cellular and satellite, have also been challenging. Cellular and Satellite has found its way into vehicles to support infotainment and telematic services, such as navigation, vehicle diagnostics, crash notification and carrier fleet tracking. Vehicle manufacturers, however, are challenged to select inexpesive wireless solutions that will last the lifetime of a vehicle. For example, Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), the first generation of cellular, was shuttered completely by the wireless carriers in 2008, and left some telematics service providers with inoperable equipment.
Telematics Service providers, Infrastructure ITS services (e.g. tolling) as well as other and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Application service providers (e.g Supervisory Control and Data Aqusition Systems in some healthcare, energy and other sectors) are now questioning whether to commit to 3G, or wait for 4G technology. Road Operators and Vehicle manufactuers must examine future wide area networks services critically, based upon assessment of their potential longevity, and their cost, service quality and coverage.
Despite these challenges, it is estimated that the number of M2M connections will grow. Some carriers have predicted that M2M connections will outnumber humans 4-to-1. Others have predicted 50 billion machines will be connected to each other by 2025.
Transportation and Telecommunications Policy Challenges to Connected Vehicle
Finally, road operators and first responders need reliable communciations. Evacuations and road closures, responses to major traffic incidents or emergency 911 calls, and natural and man-made disasters, require coordination and communications across a number of public safety organizations. The creation of a public private partnerships to provide new interoperable public safety mobile broadband services to first responders is also important to the safety, security and reliabilty of our transportation infrastructure. Use of vehicle Dedicated Short Range Communications for emergency vehicles is also a priority. Vehicle DSRC can allow First Responders to pre-empt traffic intersection signals or rail crossing signals, as well as electronically warn drivers to the presence of Fire, Police or Emergency Medical vehicles as they weave through traffic.
ITS America has been supportive of the wireless industry in promoting connectivity to vehicles in general. As wireless hand-held devices, aftermarket and embedded "telematics" based applications are appearing in vehicles, ITS America believes that more education, research and technology is needed to reduce the risks of "driver distraction" and its impact on transportation safety. Our members include a large number of prominent experts on driver behavior, technology and human factors from industry and academia. In 2010, ITS America published its position statement (URL) on the issue of driver distraction.
To learn more about ITS America's activites, go to our Telecommunications Advocacy page.
ITS America Engagement through Research, Technology Demonstrations and Advocacy
The ITS America Connected Vehicle Task Force addresses a number of challenges and explores opportunities to achieve deployment of DSRC and related wireless communications-based intelligent transportation systems. Issues examined include technical risks such as ensuring interoperability and security; and institutional risks such as addressing liablity and privacy issues, meeting stakeholder needs, and ensuring system sustainablity.
The ITS America Connected Vehicle Task Force does this through dialouge with industry and public sector members, focusing on the challenges of establishing viable public-private partnerships and business models. These models are ones that that make deployment attractive for both industry and the public sector, that ensured long term technical support and implementation, and assist USDOT, the FCC and state and local authorities in establishing leadership and governance where needed.
With the globalization of the auto-industry and active vehicle communications research programs in other countries, the ITS America Connected Vehicle Task Force also seeks cooperation and lessons leared through international partnerships with association counterparts such as ITS Japan, ITS Canada, Europe's ERTICO, and their stakeholders.
ITS America and the ITS America Connected Vehicle Task Force also interfaces with the Transportation Research Board (TRB), the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO), The International Road Federation (IRF), the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the Consumer Electronics Assocation (CEA), and CTIA - The Wireless Assocation, among others. The Task Force also works to support ITS America's Policy and Business Council and its technical forums on Safety, Sustainablity, Commercial Operations, Personal Mobility, and Cross-Cutting Issues.
ITS America Connected Vehicle Task Force strength is its diverse membership: auto industry, telematics, academic and R&D organizations, ITS systems and systems integrators, USDOT and other the public sector road authorities. The Task Force is currently actively seeking new members the extended ITS industry eco-system to include IT, consumer electronics, and the telecommunications industry.
If you are interested learning more about the ITS America sponsored Connected Vehicle Task Force, contact Steven Bayless, Director for Telecommunications and Telematics.
- To learn more about the ITS America Connected Vehicle Task Force activities, DSRC and other wireless technologies, visit the Connected Vehicle Task Force Wikispace. To Join the Task Force, click on this form to register for an ITS America meeting or event!
- For and overview of ITS America public policy advocacy, go to our Telecommunications Advocacy page or the ITS America Policy and Business Council page.
- To learn more about FCC adn DSRC, go to the FCC Dedicated Short Range (DSRC) service page.
- To learn more about ITS America sponsored Transportation Safety Advancement Group (TSAG) vist their website.
Plan to attend our annual session at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January!