摘要: |
The National Transportation Communications for ITS Protocol (NTCIP) was developed to address a rising problem of non-compatibility between the devices used in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). This report was written to address one specific device, the dynamic message sign (DMS) - or more commonly called the variable message sign - and how to assure a DMS meets NTCIP standards. It is intended for an agency that has acquired, or wants to acquire, a NTCIP compliant DMS yet has little or no technical knowledge available to assure the DMS is truly NTCIP compliant. The report contains an introduction to the NTCIP/ITS/DMS lingo, a more detailed background of NTCIP, a discussion of what testing a DMS means and the NTCIP standards you should test for, a method on how to test a DMS, what the future holds for testing, help in compiling contract specifications for acquiring a NTCIP compliant DMS, and the results of a case study. Before the research began for this paper, the author was not an expert in NTCIP. With the help of many professionals in the field of NTCIP testing, the author progressed through the process of testing a DMS for NTCIP compliance. The lessons that he learned are summarized in this paper. It is the hope of the author that those reading the paper will learn from his experience and be able to easily overcome some of the obstacles that were encountered. |