Mult-radio vehicular communication and low data-rate traffic sensing network for intelligent transportation systems

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is the integration of advanced communication technologies into the transportation infrastructure and in vehicles. It is aimed to improve transportation safety and to enhance traffic management. Vehicular networks and traffic monitoring are two important research topics in ITS. Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) is a wireless communication standard specially designed for vehicular networks. DSRC provides traffic safety operations in vehicle-to-vehicle communications and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications with low communication latency and a long transmission rang of up to 1000 meters. Many possible applications are able to be implemented on DSRC. However, the insufficient capacity of a DSRC roadside unit limits the deployment of DSRC in cities. We propose a multi-radio DSRC scheme in this dissertation. Multi-radio technology can improve the safety characters of DSRC, and can increase DSRC bandwidth. Then we analyze and provide the antenna isolation requirement of multi-radio DSRC. The feasibility study in multi-radio DSRC will be discussed in this dissertation too. 40 percent of crashes occurred in the states were intersection-related crashes [76]. It is imperative to monitor intersections. Video cameras are deployed at main intersections for area surveillance, traffic monitoring, traffic light control, ticket issuing, crime fighting, etc. However, the hardware deployment, data transmission, data storage, and real-time data processing of each video camera cost a lot of money. Traffic cameras are only deployed at a few main intersections in most cities. We propose a low cost low data-rate pyroelectric sensing system to monitor non-camera-monitored intersections. A high dynamic signal conditioning circuit for pyroelectric sensor is implemented and tested to detect vehicles. We also propose and evaluate a hierarchical wireless mesh network structure for the pyroelectric sensing system. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries