Research Progress & Insights

Track 1: Revise and Field Test Connected Vehicle Standards

• The US DOT supported the completion of the IEEE 802.11p amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard along with the connected vehicle–centric IEEE 1609 series of standards to add wireless access in vehicular environments (WAVE) capability. 802.11p permits the fast link setup critical to enable many connected vehicle technologies.
• The US DOT supported completion of version 2 of the SAE J2735 DSRC Message Set standard. This standard is intended to meet the requirements of applications that depend upon transferring information between vehicles and roadside devices, between vehicles themselves (using dedicated short range communications (DSRC) for time critical applications), and between vehicles and centers using other wireless mediums for non-time critical applications. The J2735 standard provides the foundation for a variety of applications including vehicle safety, emergency vehicle notification, automated tolling, enhanced navigation, traffic management and many others.
• The US DOT completed a program to develop the next version of the SAE J2735 DSRC Message Set standard using a systems engineering (SE) approach. Stakeholders from the US DOT (FHWA, FTA, and NHTSA), OEMs, VIIC and CAMP are providing input for the user needs development.

• IEEE 802.11p content is now published in the IEEE 802.11–2012 standard.
• IEEE 1609.x is available in final draft and published forms depending upon section.
• SAE J2735 version 2 is a published standard.

• Publish the J2735 SE document as an SAE information report in 2014.
• Support the development of SAE J2735 as version 3 data dictionary, and SAE J2945.x standards for connected vehicle application specific standards.

Track 2: Update and Test Support Standards

• Support update of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Traffic Management Data Dictionary, version 3 of the standard. The standard contains data elements for roadway links and for incidents and traffic-disruptive roadway events, in addition to containing the message sets for communication between traffic management centers and other ITS centers, including information service providers, emergency management systems, missions management systems, and transit management systems.

• In cooperation with the standards development organizations (SDOs), identified high priority candidate infrastructure standards development activities for 2015.

• Contract with SDOs to execute high priority standards development activities.

Track 3: Apply Life-Cycle Management Principles to Standards Development Efforts

• Require the SE approach to standards development in newly initiated projects.
• Developed a software tool, Test Procedure Generator (TPG), to evaluate the completeness and correctness of ITS Standards. The tool is also capable of developing test procedures for ITS standards containing system engineering content (user needs and requirements).

• Provided SDOs and working groups with feedback on errors found in two standards after evaluating the standards using the TPG tool. The tool provides analysis in a matter of minutes vs. the previously used multi-day activity of manual traceability analysis.

• Establish a beta test of the TPG tool with a SDO developing a new standard in 2014.

Track 4: Harmonize Connected Vehicle Standards

• Developed and successfully negotiated a Harmonization Action Plan with the EU which was adopted on June 30, 2011. This plan provides greater detail on executing a key element of the November 2009 Joint Declaration of Intent on Research Cooperation in Cooperative Systems with the European Union. To move forward with harmonization, the ITS Standards Program has facilitated activities launching harmonization efforts, established relevant relationships with appropriate US and international entities, and reached out to new entities. Accomplishments to date include:
  • Harmonization Efforts: At the technical level, established six Harmonization Task Groups (HTGs) to jointly execute activities:
    • HTG #1: Service and security management to support joint applications.
    • HTG #2: Harmonization of the core safety message set.
    • HTG #3: Joint protocols for safety and sustainability services.
    • HTG #4/5: Harmonization of broader message sets and data dictionaries, including interface standards supporting applications for signalized intersections.
    • HTG #6: Harmonization of relevant aspects of security policies
    • HTG #2 completed work during 2013. HTG #1 and #3 completed work during 2013.
  • Establishing Relationships: At the agency level, facilitated and/or established key relationships that help reduce barriers and support adoption. Efforts included:
    • Established a relationship between SDOs and industry to support further international harmonization of ITS standards.
    • Established a relationship between the U.S. automotive industry and the European standards-setting body, European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and the Car2Car European auto industry consortium to support successful harmonization of the core safety message set contained in SAE J2735 version 2. Further, negotiated a Memorandum of Cooperation with the ETSI to recognize common objectives of contributing to the establishment of a global information infrastructure.
    • Established a US DOT working group, including representatives from ITS JPO, NHTSA, and FHWA Office of Operations, to work with the U.S. automotive industry in identifying common goals and objectives for international harmonization in support of a global marketplace.
    • Strengthened the relationship between the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the other key European SDO working on connected vehicle standards.
    • Initiated a discussion between the US DOT and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a global SDO, regarding potential cooperation on harmonization activities.
    • Established cooperation with the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Standards in Trade pre-program to support broadened market opportunities for U.S. equipment suppliers.
  • Outreach: There is a need to substantially broaden cooperation with other regions. The well-publicized agreements with the EU and Japan, along with frequently reinforced openness to additional partners, remains important to broaden knowledge of harmonization benefits and the potential scope of harmonization partners. Building on previous efforts, further outreach includes:
    • Established a U.S.-EU and U.S.-Japan agreement to support development of globally open standards and coordinate standardization activities. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed on October 20, 2010 and has resulted in Japan's participation in some of the US-EU research activities.
    • Developed a similar agreement with Korea, signed in August, 2012, also with the intention of promoting participation in research activities.

• Successful harmonization of the core safety message set enables common hardware and mostly common software to be developed such that now only simple translation is required between U.S. and candidate EU messages. Common hardware and software improves interoperability, reduces implementation costs for manufacturers, and facilitates more rapid deployment of ITS systems.
• The US DOT has learned that even small gains in harmonizing vehicle standards that result in small unit-cost reductions can have large economic benefits due to large production volumes.
• Technical and policy analyses have confirmed the importance of harmonization and have noted that, without them, the costs of implementing these technologies may remain higher for U.S. consumers.

• Harmonization Activities:
  • In cooperation with the EU, ISO and CEN, continue harmonization of message-related standards as scoped within HTG #4/5, and ensure that sufficient resources are available to execute programs of work.
  • Continue work on security policy harmonization (HTG #6).
  • Continue to work within the US DOT to maintain appropriate representation within the US DOT working group.
  • Support broader engagement of U.S. industry representatives and continue to work with them to understand requirements and jointly advocate enhanced cooperation on harmonization.
• Relationships:
  • Continue to seek to strengthen existing relationships with the EU, Japan, Korea, and Australia, to increase cooperation.
• Outreach:
  • Further strengthen cooperation with Japan, Korea, and other interested partners.
  • Continue to be open to multiple bilateral or trilateral agreements and/or countries interested in observation.

Track 5: Establish Outreach and Training in Partnership with the ITS PCB Program

• In partnership with the ITS PCB program and ITE, developed a standards training program. Thirty-five training modules now exist to train the ITS community on acquiring and testing ITS technologies using ITS standards. As of January 2014, all sessions are recorded and are available for free viewing via the ITS PCB website and the ITE website.

• In partnership with the PCB program and ITE, 18 webinar training sessions are developed.
• The next set of training modules is defined and ITE is under contract to complete the year three training development in 2015.

• Complete the development of the next set of training modules.