New advancements are pushing the technology towards reality.

Today, an LTL trucker hauling wood chips from the Port of Maine to Florida will find it pretty easy to pass through toll booths and by-pass some weigh stations using the latest Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSCR) technology-namely a transponder that transmits signals one way to a roadside reader.

He will have to slow to 20 or 30 miles-per-hour about 30 feet out from the tollbooth for the transponder’s signal to reach the reader. The result is the green light for go that means the code for financials has cleared. 

Along the 1,900 miles of I-95-the main interstate that runs the length of the northeast-this same driver will be able to pick up the Internet at highway rest stops for business and entertainment purposes. Although smart phones can pick up the Internet and Web, they’re useless in zones that do not have cell service. These “dark holes” are far more numerous than wireless providers care to advertise.

The impact of reduced speeds at tollbooths may be imperceptible to the average person, but traffic management experts know that any slowing of traffic flow can create backups further up the road. Backups spur accidents, waste fuel as vehicles idle, increase greenhouse gas emissions, and add more expenses for the owner. In addition, traffic gridlock creates missed deliveries that trip up just-in-time shipping and manufacturing schedules.

Consider this futuristic-sounding scenario: the same trucker traveling the same route and maintaining highway speeds as he passes through tolls on highways, bridges, tunnels, ports, and border crossings. He is able to enjoy ongoing, uninterrupted Internet access along an interstate like I-95. The result should be far fewer traffic backups, easy access to information about highway services such as fuel stations, fewer accidents, and improved on-time delivery to keep products and goods flowing throughout the national and global supply chain.

    


 

Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE)

The technology that would turn a major interstate into a national wireless highway sounds pretty pie-in-the-sky, but it does exist and has passed field tests. At the end of May, standards developer Lee Armstrong (head of Armstrong Consulting in Southampton, MA and principal developer of the WAVE standards) surprised many industry and government officials with the announcement that after almost 19 years of discussion and 13 years of active standards development, the WAVE specs for DSRC are now available to guide the manufacture of this very advanced wireless communication technology.

Although improvements still need to be made, Armstrong says, “Manufacturers can now build transponders-a sort of radio-that can communicate back and forth between the vehicle and the roadside.” Besides the benefits listed above, he added that WAVE-based transponders and roadside readers would provide “the fastest connectivity of any wireless device, so there is hardly any delay to get a signal.”

Industry and government officials are taking great care not to overstate the impact WAVE could have on national and global roadways, because to date there have been no products based on WAVE specs. Yet, there’s no denying that after years of effort and funding for development, officials are pleased with the latest results.

Meanwhile, there are still challenges. For starters, it’s one thing to have specs available to build a product-quite another to have the funding to retool the manufacturing process to make the product. Then, there is the need to fund a pilot deployment of WAVE-based technology that can support the DSRC pipe to carry short-range data transmissions for the connected vehicle (CV), which will allow for vehicle-to-vehicle information transmission of traffic flow and road conditions without human intervention.

At this moment, all that is certain about WAVE and CV deployment is the desire on the part of Department of Transportation (DOT) officials, the global auto industry, global traffic technology vendors, and ITS America (the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group for intelligent transportation systems (ITS)) officials to find an avenue to move ahead on deployment of both WAVE and the CV to make possible the long-awaited dream of safer, cleaner, less expensive highway travel for the U.S. and around the world.

Among those who are closely associated with WAVE, there is an undeniable excitement over the latest advancement. In fact, a key captain of industry who has backed WAVE’s development and is now a Washington, D.C.-based consultant, called WAVE’s publication “very significant.”  He pointed out that there could not be any interoperable DSRC devices that will function nationwide without this basic communication piece.

According to Lee Armstrong, “This is the most important breakthrough in traffic management since the introduction and deployment of the first traffic signal 90 years ago on Michigan Avenue in Detroit.” Other traffic technology developments that led to WAVE’s development include the consolidation of the electronic toll industry in the late 1990s-EZ Pass being a prime example-and build-out of cellular networks in recent years that provide nearly ubiquitous, 24/7 cellular service.




 

Taking the technology international

Moving WAVE-based wireless communication technology, as well as CV technology, from prototype to reality was the focus of late June meetings by industry and DOT officials who are the active backers of the federal government’s IntelliDrive program to promote the connected vehicle (CV). At the end of the very successful program, full of lively debate and many practical recommendations, there was some general agreement that the many questions about how to approach and fund deployment of these cutting-edge technologies were resolvable with patience.

Most important for global supply chain executives is whether a transponder built for the U.S. will function around the world. The route to interoperability of this sort is international standardization, which appeared to win some support from industry participants at these sessions.    

Armstrong and his cohort in WAVE’s development, Broady Cash (now deceased), have long supported creating international standard specs for WAVE. He said they both participated in international standards committees for this purpose about 10 years ago, but withdrew active participation after DOT officials felt the need to back off and reassess the government and industry position on an international approach.

Eventually, according to Armstrong, European, American, and Japanese transponder and reader manufacturers created an accord to create WAVE specs that allowed each region or country to maintain its own technology, but to function in those regions with a quick software adjustment.

Since that time, China, India, and countries from the Middle East to Latin America have emerged as strong global competitors to the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Nonetheless, industry participants are supportive of resuming efforts to turn WAVE into an international standard that would enjoy worldwide acceptance. With the creation of international standards, no manufacturer-many of which are global-would have to build multiple products to meet conditions for sale in multiple markets.  wt

    

Contributing writer Amy Zuckerman covers high-tech and sustainable supply chains.


 

Sidebar: WAVE 101

WAVE 101

What is WAVE?

WAVE (Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments) is a mode of operation (standards) used by IEEE 802.11 devices to operate in the DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications) band. WAVE standards define an architecture and a complementary, standardized set of services and interfaces that collectively enable secure vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) wireless communications. Together, these standards provide the foundation for a broad range of applications in the transportation environment, including vehicle safety, automated tolling, enhanced navigation, traffic management and many others.



What does WAVE do?

The WAVE specifications allow for the manufacture of one transponder and one reader that facilitates vehicle-to-roadside wireless communication throughout the United States on a 24/7 basis, and without human intervention. Plus, it provides ongoing Internet access.

This means that drivers will be able to pass through the following-toll collection and truck weight and credentialing centers, ports of all kinds, including border crossings-without slowing down from highway speeds, resulting in greatly increased traffic flow.

In addition, the technology facilitates ongoing collection of real-time traffic and road conditions for assessment and analysis by centralized data collection agencies run by individual states. This information can be used for purposes that range from managing traffic flow to thwarting the smuggling of contraband over the borders.



Why WAVE?

To facilitate ongoing vehicle-to-roadside wireless communication for real-time collection of traffic flow information to the readers, which is then fed to central traffic management centers. The information is then quickly relayed back to drivers through LED signing, radios, paid traffic management services, or devices that can access the Internet.

Quick response time allows drivers to change routes or slow down to avoid traffic and congestion, thereby enhancing efficiency and safety.

Drivers would need to carry only one transponder in the vehicle for nationwide coverage. Previously, drivers would have to own multiple transponders and be members of multiple regional electronic toll collection agencies to cross the country without stopping at tolls, weigh stations, ports or border crossings.



Rolled up into one big WAVE

WAVE developer Lee Armstrong considers WAVE the convergence of:



•    The introduction of the first traffic signal in 1920 on Michigan Avenue in Detroit

•    The maturation of the electronic toll industry in the late 1990s

•    The arrival of near ubiquitous and reliable national cell phone service in the last five years



“This makes the introduction of WAVE one of the biggest developments in the world of traffic communication and traffic management since the introduction of the traffic signal 90 years ago,” Armstrong remarks.

He also says that with the new standards, WAVE reduces the number of readers required for installation on each mile of roadway from about 30 to 1.5. For example, using current technology, over 300,000 readers would need to be deployed along Interstate 95, for example, as compared to about 2,000 readers using the new WAVE standard technology. The savings in equipment alone would be in the millions of dollars.



For more WAVE:

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Standards Fact Sheet: http://www.standards.its.dot.gov/fact_sheet.asp?f=80

Vehicle Safety Communications in the United States: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv20/07-0010-O.pdf