With the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal in November 2021, state and native governments are taking a look at transportation tasks that can enhance security, simplify operations, and cut back site visitors congestion and emissions. Linked know-how needs to be on the centerpiece of your investments for crucial infrastructure. Within the first weblog on this sequence, I described 5 high-value tasks. (Cliff Notes model: video surveillance, related site visitors sign controllers, site visitors sign precedence and emergency car pre-emption, dynamic message indicators, and distant climate info methods.) On this weblog I’ll summarize the type of community you’ll have to introduce these applications.

The place are you beginning?

Consider related roadways and intersections as a four-stage journey:

• Unconnected infrastructure. Should you’re right here, you might need loops and timers, however they solely connect with close by gear and might’t be monitored from a central operations middle. Units might be 20-30 years outdated.
• Primary connectivity. At this stage you’ve already began connecting gear and sensors like site visitors cameras, safety cameras, site visitors counters, or toll readers. Now you’re seeking to increase to a bigger space, or to remotely handle methods to enhance security or alleviate congestion. A lot of our Division of Transportation (DOT) clients are at this level of their journey.
• Versatile and safe connectivity. Superior use instances that enhance security and effectivity embody e-tolling, dynamic signage, LiDAR detection of oncoming autos (e.g., to warn building employees of a rushing automotive), e-ticketing, and detection of wrong-way drivers.
• Totally related networks. Essentially the most superior DOTs are introducing related and autonomous autos, pedestrian security tasks like including inexperienced gentle time for sluggish walkers, predictive analytics for car fleets and site visitors optimization. I discuss extra about these use instances right here.

Is your community as much as the duty?

Right here’s what you want to construct a strong community to assist clever transportation methods (ITS):

• Trendy industrial community units. Older networks and units crumple beneath the calls for of ITS. Technicians can’t see machine standing over the community, which means they need to drive to the sector for routine upkeep. Conventional switches and routers aren’t designed to face up to harsh out of doors environments, together with excessive temperatures, rain and snow. And current DOT networks normally lack the bandwidth for video functions and related automated autos. Our industrial Ethernet switches and 5G routers can connect with your legacy gear, and are constructed to face up to excessive environmental circumstances, and assist high-bandwidth functions.
• Cyber and bodily safety protections. Tools housed in roadside cupboards wants bodily safety from dangerous actors. It additionally wants cybersecurity protections towards assaults that would convey down the community or alter sensor information or responses. Use our community visibility instruments to stop unauthorized entry by segmenting the community. For extra element, right here’s a good weblog on the bodily and cyber safety protections in our industrial switches and routers.
• Assist for a number of entry applied sciences. Relying in your use case, ITS like site visitors sign controllers, cameras, and site visitors counters may want to attach by way of fiber, LTE, 5G, or Cisco Extremely-Dependable Wi-fi Backhaul. Our industrial networking portfolio helps all of those entry applied sciences.
• Replaceable communications modules for industrial routers. Order the router with the module you want in the present day and swap it out in case your wants change. That prices quite a bit lower than changing your complete router.
• Actual-time information. Days-old or weeks-old information from cameras and sensors isn’t particularly helpful for taking steps to alleviate site visitors congestion. Moreover, paying a 3rd social gathering information supplier for stale information can show expensive. You’ll be able to determine real-time site visitors patterns from cameras and sensors utilizing our 5G portfolio and administration options.

Construct a contemporary site visitors administration middle

We designed our industrial networking portfolio for clever transportation methods (ITS) with all of those necessities in thoughts. Our routers provide the flexibility to improve to a brand new communications know-how (e.g., from 4G to 5G) with out changing your complete machine. Our switches and routers are constructed to face up to excessive temperatures, rain, mud, and vibration. You get superior bodily and cybersecurity protections. Administration instruments like Cisco IoT Operations Dashboard let your operational know-how (OT) groups handle your roadside infrastructure from anyplace—supporting distant work and serving to you scale your related roadways and intersections tasks throughout a complete metropolis, county, or state. With its Safe Tools Entry functionality, it additionally allows you and your gear companions and distributors to securely and remotely entry the related gear with out the necessity for truck rolls.

Take the subsequent step in your journey

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