The U.S. Federal HighwayAdministration (FHWA) wants technically compatible electronic toll boothcollection systems in all 50 states. In 1999, the FHWA made a cooperativeagreement with ASTM to develop a new Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC)standard.
The DSRC standard is beingdeveloped by representatives of some of the world's largest electronicscorporations, smaller vendors and producers, members of the FHWA, stateDepartments of Transportation, and toll authorities collaborating on ASTMCommittee E17 on Vehicle Pavement Systems.
When a new radio spectrum at5.9 GHz was provided by the Federal Communication Commission, ASTM gatheredstakeholders to develop a new standard appropriate to the new frequency,explained Lee Armstrong, a committee member leading the ASTM standarddevelopment. After a year of research, the committee decided to base theirstandard on IEEE 802.11a R/A (Roadside Applications) technology, saidArmstrong, who is a multi-discipline engineer and president of ArmstrongConsulting, Inc., Newtonville, Mass.
"This 5.9 GHz DSRC standardwill be designed to support a wide variety of applications that need lowlatency, short range, high-data rate communications service," said BroadyCash, a principal engineer of ARINC, Annapolis, Md., who will help to developthe standard."Along with criticalsafety warnings and traffic information while driving," Cash said,"our standard will provide high-speed Internet access in designated 'hotspots' such as, service stations, truck stops, parking lots, home garages, etc.DSRC systems will enable the downloading of maps, traffic information, MP3(music) files, movies, and other useful information to vehicle computers whilestopped at these locations."
"This will allow fullInternet access driving or walking at speeds far better than a cablemodem - times faster," Armstrong offered.
Direct technical questionsto Lee R. Armstrong, Armstrong Consulting, Inc., Newtonville, Mass (phone:617/244-9203; Lra@tiac.net ) or Broady Cash, ARINC., Annapolis, Md. (phone:410/266-4413; bcash@arinc.com ). Committee E17 meets June 23-26, 2002, inDallas. For meeting or membership details, contact manager Dan Smith, ASTMTechnical Committee Operations (phone: 610/832-9717; dsmith@astm.org ; or usee-mail link on committee page).