A US STANDARD IN THE OFFING
Amy Zuckerman · Traffic Technology International · 2001
The possible result is discussed of a decision to develop an American ITS standard where the choice is between harmonising with Japanese industry, adopting an existing IEEE standard or work with the Motorola Freespace concept. Each choice would mean using the 5.9 GHz bandwidth allocated for ITS use, so altering the design of transponders, the devices used to transmit messages from vehicles to toll booths or weighing stations. According to the article, should the decision be to harmonise with Japan, then a semi-global standard might be possible but without Europe. This is unlikely with the other options. European ITS industry is meanwhile developing a standard specification for all dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) protocols as accepted in Australia, Malaysia, Southwest Asia and Brazil. Part of the US industry is backing the IEEE approach because it has the best future global performance which, if adopted, Japan and Europe would eventually have to conform to.