IT4Automation (IT4A) has scheduled an intelligent transport system seminar focussing on communication and connectivity solutions for traffic engineering personnel.
Case study
An upgrade to the UTMC system at J11 of the M4 posed the Reading Council’s traffic engineering team a significant challenge, made especially difficult considering the current government spending revue. The requirement was simple – the new traffic controller needed an IP connection back to the central server at city hall. An RS1000 circuit existed and the original intention was to use this to facilitate the connection.
However, for a leased lines supplier to provide Ethernet rather than serial connectivity an upgrade costing £7,500 per circuit and a further 25% increase in annual charges was required. In total, this upgrade, necessary at 30 UTMC sites, would have attracted Reading Council with a capital outlay of £225,000 and a further £30,000 a year in line rental.
IT4A was approached for an alternative solution. After half a day of testing we identified a different approach that used the existing serial provision to provide sufficient IP bandwidth for the new UTMC system. This solution was just 10% of the capital of the other supplier’s capital cost and meant no increase to the annual circuit charges.
The IT4A seminar will explain how this was done, it will identify other connectivity solutions to help UTMC and other ITS applications stay on budget, reference ITS’s joint chairs group September 2010 shared vision for communication networks, a key area for universal traffic monitoring and control (UTMC) systems administrators. It also will be of interest to traffic signal engineers and managers alike who must rise to the challenges set out within this framework document, raise your awareness relating to the implications associated with ‘open’ protocols, particularly network security as well as include live demonstrations.
The event is going to take place in Epsom Surrey on Tuesday, 7 December.
To register and also get more information on the day’s agenda please visit the company’s website or email Rory Gilbert on rory.gilbert@it4automation.com.
