Cost-Effective Strategies for Communicating with Remote Surveillance Stations: A Summary:Summary rept

摘要

The researchers accomplished the following research activities during the 2003-2004 research period: (1) Documented the state-of-the-practice and past experience in deploying wireless communication system configurations, identified deficiency of current practice, and surveyed commonly encountered issues in technology acquisition by TxDOT engineers. Surveyed traffic operation applications involving wireless communication technologies include ITS applications, highway surveillance and traffic monitoring, portable traffic management systems, rural work zone management, etc. Engineers also expressed the need for an institutional effort to establish a knowledge management system that helps accumulate and share information, as well as advances in technological expertise. (2) Surveyed prevalent and emerging wireline and wireless technologies and investigated future impacts of wireless technology to traffic operation and ITS applications. The reviewed technologies include 802.11, 802.16, General Radio Packet Service, Multi-Code Direct Sequence Spectrum, Wide-Band Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, Multi-Hopping Technology, etc. The survey also included national service providers and regional service providers in Texas. Vendors and contractors who expressed interest in providing services to TxDOT were also interviewed and are listed. (3) Developed a life-cycle cost-and-risk analysis approach to characterize available communication technology choices and configurations, and analyze how they can be applied to various traffic operations applications. A particular methodology was developed to assist in the choosing cost-effective and minimal-risk communication technologies and configurations given the operational requirements and decision objectives. (4) Designed and implemented a web-based knowledge management system (WBKMS) not only to compile and document all the research findings, but also to facilitate the formation, accumulation, and advancement of institutional knowledge in wireless technologies among TxDOT engineers.