Architecture and validation tests of the French inter-operator electronic fee collection system.

In July 2000 the nationwide French inter-operator EFC system (Telepeage Inter-Societes - TIS) will be put into operation. Using an interoperable on-board equipment (referred to as OBE or tag) provided by any one of the nine operators involved in the project, a customer will be accepted on the networks of all the operators. The customer will receive a monthly invoice from the operator who issued the contract, for all the transits performed. This paper describes the fully decentralised architecture of the system, and the validation tests performed to ensure a correct functioning of the system.