Dedicated short range communications (DSRC) serves as the principal communications medium for two areas of ITS that have been among the most successful in North America to date: Electronic Toll and Traffic Management (ETTM) and Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO). Also, many planned ITS applications will depend on DSRC systems. Given its importance in the overall deployment of ITS, a great deal of effort has been expended over many years in North America to develop DSRC standards and to define and execute an achievable path for North American interoperability of DSRC for as many applications as possible. 1997 will be a critical year in trying to reach these objectives. This paper overviews and integrates the main standards initiatives ongoing in North America related to DSRC as well as discusses the supporting activities under way to adopt and implement interoperable DSRC systems in North America. (A)
Abstract