The PAMELA system is being developed primarily to support road to vehicle data communications systems for automatic debiting and other RTI (Road Transport Informatics) applications such as driver information, territoriality, container identification and even vehicle location and guidance. The essence of the PAMELA system is the short range (less than 30m) two-way communications system currently operating in the low microwave frequency range (2.45GHz), however the system is being upgraded to operate in a frequency band around 5.78GHz in order to comply with a recent decision from CEPT regarding frequency allocation. The paper will report on the requirements of a two-way data-link between a roadside interrogator and vehicle-mounted transponder and will explain why the particular system configuration, operating philosophy and frequency were adopted. Furthermore, a description of the current laboratory and field tests undertaken by the Newcastle research team on the experimental microwave communications link will be given, as will a brief description of the work in progress on conversion to a 5.78 GHz system.
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