A new Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) deployed by the Indiana Department of Transportation provides commuters real-time traffic updates and warns of road conditions via dynamic messaging signs.
Driving across Northwest Indiana and Indianapolis just became easier and safer thanks in part to a new end-to-end Proxim wireless network for a statewide Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) run by the state highway department.
The ITS network allows the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) to better manage its extensive interstate highway system, according to state officials. The system covers approximately 190 highway miles in Central and Northwest Indiana, covering the most populated parts of the state including the capitol of Indianapolis. The state has been expanding the network ever since it began in 1992.
The ITS network uses a multitude of technologies including fiber, point-to-point microwave as well as WiMAX. The advantages of using wireless technologies is that it allows quick deployments in heavily congested areas without the need for trenching and putting down fixed lines. Wireless technology also insures that the these connections will not be disturbed by construction workers accessing the right of ways adjacent to the roadways.
"One of the difficulties has been getting this infrastructure deployed alongside our congested urban highways," said Will Wingfield with the Office of Communications for the Indiana Department of Transportation. "Wireless technologies allow us to do this more easily and effectively."
INDOT Solar Vehicle Detection Cabinet
Some of the benefits of the ITS network include:
• Traffic Management. The network includes more than 150 traffic cameras, spaced approximately every mile, that can be accessed by local news stations and other entities to provide real-time traffic reports. Residents can go to INDOT’s TrafficWise Web site to get real-time traffic updates as well as visual images of the roads they are traveling. The images are provided by video cameras connected wirelessly via Proxim’s unlicensed WiMAX radios, the Tsunami MP.11 5054.
• Dynamic Messaging Signs. Many of the digital messaging signs along Indiana’s highways are wirelessly connected to Proxim’s wireless network via Proxim Tsunami units. This enables the immediate updating of the dynamic messaging signs to warn drivers of road conditions, accidents, detours and Amber Alerts.
• Solar-Powered Traffic Detection Radar Sites. INDOT utilizes many radar sites to detect the flow of traffic and warn drivers of slow traffic conditions ahead. These radar detection sites are all connected via Proxim’s Tsunami units, which – due to the low power consumption of the radios – enables these sites to be solar powered.
• Seamless Connectivity to Traffic Management Centers (TMCs). All components are seamlessly connected to INDOT’s two TMCs via Proxim’s high-performance wireless backhaul links, saving INDOT millions of dollars in up front deployment costs by not requiring the use of fiber to connect all components. INDOT uses a leased line to tie the two TMC sites together.
• Wireless Remote Management: INDOT engineers can access the network remotely via Wi-Fi thanks to Proxim’s ORiNOCO AP-4000 MR-LR.
One of the dynamic messaging signs in use.
Furthermore, state officials are touting the affordability of Proxim's WiMAX solutions.
“When we began... we knew that the cost to connect the hundreds of components via fiber would be completely cost-prohibitive,” said Troy Boyd, INDOT's ITS Technology Deployment Division Director. “With Proxim’s end-to-end wireless solutions, we were able to deploy a single network consisting of wireless backhaul, unlicensed WiMAX and Wi-Fi that enabled us to connect and manage the entire ITS. As a result, we are able to deliver mission-critical traffic services to the citizens of Indiana in a fiscally responsible manner.”
Initially, INDOT had evaluated several competing wireless technologies, including products from Alvarion and Firetide. At the end of the day, the autonomous operation of Proxim’s MP.11 5054 and 5012 series radios performed better and offered greater value than the other offerings, according to company officials.
“Here at Proxim, we understand that not all networks and applications have the same requirements – and the flexibility of our end-to-end wireless platform enables us to use the right wireless solution for many given applications,” said Shaun Cohl, Senior Systems Engineer for Proxim Wireless. “Rather than forcing organizations to choose between technologies that are good for one application but not another, we can provide a mix of wireless backhaul, WiMAX/point-to-multipoint, and Wi-Fi technologies to match the needs of any customer’s network.”
This is what drivers will see when the use the state's TrafficWise Web site.
To roll out this large ITS network in a timely manner, Proxim strategically partnered with Meade Electric of Illinois to handle the integration of the more than 600 Proxim radios throughout the network, including all of the tower and electrical work. The ITS Technology Deployment Team at INDOT managed the entire process, from initial design all the way through deployment.
“Without the expertise of the INDOT’s ITS Technology Deployment Team, this project would have been considerably more complex,” said Cohl. “The INDOT team is amongst the most professional ITS teams I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”
State workers monitor live feeds of various parts of the ITS.
And though drivers in this mid-western state may never get a chance to thank the team at INDOT, or Proxim or Meade for that matter, they will be thankful for a system that promises to reduce the stress of commuting and even perhaps save time and lives.
