30 Nov 2022 Smart Road series 3/4: Connectivity and C-ITS
As a technology player working in transport infrastructure, Sinelec aims to support road operators in their journey towards safer, smarter and more sustainable mobility.
In four episodes, we will take a closer look at some of the most significant technological initiatives Sinelec has carried out as part of one of the most ambitious and innovative road digitisation projects in Europe: Anas’ Smart Road.
CONNECTIVITY and C-ITS.
The creation of a system that supports real-time, two-way interconnection between actors and ITS devices in the road environment is a key step in opening up to the cooperative scenario. The Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSs) that now make it possible to collect and integrate valuable traffic data are evolving into Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITSs), becoming part of the interconnected system and, in the medium term, allowing for more advanced and safer traffic management and, in the medium to long term, enabling the introduction of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs).
The information exchange is enabled by Roadside Units (RSUs), either physical (V2I Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communication) or virtual (V2N2I Vehicle-to-Network-to-Infrastructure communication), which “talk” to the On-Board Units (OBUs) of vehicles and traffic control centres.
Sinelec’s contribution
Sinelec carried out its first RSU installation as part of Anas’ Smart Road project on the A91 – Rome- Fiumicino motorway, which was followed by a second installation, now in its final stages, on the A2 Mediterranean motorway. The installation work, which involved positioning the RSUs at approximately 900 m intervals, was preceded by preliminary assessments of the radio frequency coverage and orientation of the antennas along the entire route. This phase, carried out by Sinelec with the use of a software tool developed in house, made it possible to indicate to the customer’s project designers which points were critical for positioning the V2X poles.
The technological infrastructure in place is enabled and functioning. The Customer is using it to continue engineering its applications as well as to update the planned Smart Road services.