Development of TxDOT Procedures and Specifications for Testing Device Compliance to NTCIP Standards Project summary

摘要

The National Transportation Communications for ITS Protocol (NTCIP) standards define the words (referred to as objects) that convey information and rules (referred to as protocols) used to exchange information in an intelligent transportation system (ITS). By establishing a common set of words in device-specific data dictionaries (referred to as object definition standards), both parties in any exchange of information should be able to understand what is being said, the meaning of the words, and how to react to them (interoperability). By establishing the rules for exchanging the words, different system components can share a common communications infrastructure (compatibility). By establishing conformance to the words and rules, system components can be replaced with similar components from different vendors (interchangeability). One problem with any written standard or specification is that words and their meanings are subject to interpretation. Another problem is that not everyone follows the rules. These problems lead to the question of how to ensure that ITS devices use the right words and follow the rules. The answer to the question is through specific wording in specifications and thorough testing. Project 0-5003 examined how to accomplish those two tasks.