Joerg ‘Nu’ Rosenbohm, chief technology of icer of ITS America, provides an insight into national and international interface standards
Q Standards are obviously a key area to enable the ITS industry to develop.
A As participants of the ITS World Congress can witness by the many related activities (sessions, discussions, panels, and demonstrations), a major focus of this year’s World Congress is Connected Vehicles / Cooperative Systems programmes worldwide. While these incorporate some of today’s most exciting and far-reaching technologies, we need to remember that the success of such systems relies on a seamless and multi-vendor interoperable deployment environment requiring the creation of robust and widely accepted interface standards. Such interface standards are essential for both vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-toinfrastructure (V2I) interfaces. Different and highly complex interfaces need to be standardised to enable the growth of interoperable systems including between central transportation control systems and roadside devices; central systems (between and among); central systems and mobile entities (vehicles including passenger cars, trucks and buses; mobile phones; etc.); vehicles (including passenger cars, trucks and buses); and vehicles and roadside devices.
Robust interface standards do enable the development of a wide variety of applications. For the connected vehicle program, this includes applications that promote increased safety and mobility and can also reduce the footprint of transportation on the environment.
Q Why should readers be interested in interface standards.
A My experiences with complex transportation management systems and the integration of devices and systems indicate benefi ts from using interface standards including interoperability of devices from multiple vendors across an interface, the ultimate elimination of closed and proprietary systems, increased competition which typically results in the reduction of costs, and uniformity of basic functionalities
Where globally applicable interface standards are developed, they will also enable the deployment of globally applicable products - particularly important in mass production markets such as vehicle production and mobile telecommunications.
Q What are the particular focus areas.
A While the standardisation efforts in the vehicle-related side (V2V) are rather well organised and standards are being produced, standardisation efforts on the infrastructure side have additional hurdles to overcome particularly on the international level.
For the V2V standards, efforts currently underway include the harmonisation effort between the United States and the European Union with participation by Japan and Korea. This is paralleled, and performed in conjunction with, car manufacturing alliances globally (e.g., OICA, Car2X, CAMP/ VIIC).
The initial focus of these efforts is vehicle- to-vehicle safety applications. Currently, interface standards include all base information that could potentially be exchanged over V2V and V2I interfaces are under development, but there will likely be a need to produce additional interface standards developed by domain experts addressing particular interfaces such as freight-related and transit-related information.
Q Are global infrastructure-related interfaces a challenge.
A For V2I, standardisation efforts are also underway, but there are different issues to be addressed such as different customer bases (DOTs versus end users) with different purchasing models, different approaches to transportation management in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, etc
Market protection and economic pressures also play a signifi cant role in standards development. As a result, interface standards are being developed in different regions of the globe for infrastructure-related interfaces, but international standards addressing these types of interfaces are still in their infancy. It is hoped that the International Standards Origination (ISO), via its Technical Committee (TC) 204 developing interface standards for the ITS industry (http://www.itsa.org/industryforums/ isotc204), will converge on an international set of standards to enable taking advantage of the benefi ts. The ISO TC204 with its more than 150 contributing individuals from around the world works closely with CEN, the European Standardisation body, and other SDOs in Asia, Europe and the Americas to take advantage of existing standards and to elevate them to international applicability status.
A As participants of the ITS World Congress can witness by the many related activities (sessions, discussions, panels, and demonstrations), a major focus of this year’s World Congress is Connected Vehicles / Cooperative Systems programmes worldwide. While these incorporate some of today’s most exciting and far-reaching technologies, we need to remember that the success of such systems relies on a seamless and multi-vendor interoperable deployment environment requiring the creation of robust and widely accepted interface standards. Such interface standards are essential for both vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-toinfrastructure (V2I) interfaces. Different and highly complex interfaces need to be standardised to enable the growth of interoperable systems including between central transportation control systems and roadside devices; central systems (between and among); central systems and mobile entities (vehicles including passenger cars, trucks and buses; mobile phones; etc.); vehicles (including passenger cars, trucks and buses); and vehicles and roadside devices.
Robust interface standards do enable the development of a wide variety of applications. For the connected vehicle program, this includes applications that promote increased safety and mobility and can also reduce the footprint of transportation on the environment.
Q Why should readers be interested in interface standards.
A My experiences with complex transportation management systems and the integration of devices and systems indicate benefi ts from using interface standards including interoperability of devices from multiple vendors across an interface, the ultimate elimination of closed and proprietary systems, increased competition which typically results in the reduction of costs, and uniformity of basic functionalities
Where globally applicable interface standards are developed, they will also enable the deployment of globally applicable products - particularly important in mass production markets such as vehicle production and mobile telecommunications.
Q What are the particular focus areas.
A While the standardisation efforts in the vehicle-related side (V2V) are rather well organised and standards are being produced, standardisation efforts on the infrastructure side have additional hurdles to overcome particularly on the international level.
For the V2V standards, efforts currently underway include the harmonisation effort between the United States and the European Union with participation by Japan and Korea. This is paralleled, and performed in conjunction with, car manufacturing alliances globally (e.g., OICA, Car2X, CAMP/ VIIC).
The initial focus of these efforts is vehicle- to-vehicle safety applications. Currently, interface standards include all base information that could potentially be exchanged over V2V and V2I interfaces are under development, but there will likely be a need to produce additional interface standards developed by domain experts addressing particular interfaces such as freight-related and transit-related information.
Q Are global infrastructure-related interfaces a challenge.
A For V2I, standardisation efforts are also underway, but there are different issues to be addressed such as different customer bases (DOTs versus end users) with different purchasing models, different approaches to transportation management in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, etc
Market protection and economic pressures also play a signifi cant role in standards development. As a result, interface standards are being developed in different regions of the globe for infrastructure-related interfaces, but international standards addressing these types of interfaces are still in their infancy. It is hoped that the International Standards Origination (ISO), via its Technical Committee (TC) 204 developing interface standards for the ITS industry (http://www.itsa.org/industryforums/ isotc204), will converge on an international set of standards to enable taking advantage of the benefi ts. The ISO TC204 with its more than 150 contributing individuals from around the world works closely with CEN, the European Standardisation body, and other SDOs in Asia, Europe and the Americas to take advantage of existing standards and to elevate them to international applicability status.
