apeclogo-trans1.gif (4401 bytes) THE DEVELOPMENT OF
THE ITS SYSTEM
ARCHITECTURE IN
CHINESE TAIPEI

The Development of the ITS System Architecture in Chinese Taipei
Prepared by Chinese Taipei for the 17th APEC TPT-WG ITS Group Meeting, held in Singapore, March 28, 2000

 1.   Introduction

    In the 16th APEC TPT-WG ITS Group Meeting held in Toronto, Canada last November in conjunction with the 6th World Congress on ITS, Chinese Taipei has provided a status report on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) entitled "Recent Development and Deployment of ITS in Chinese Taipei". In the status report, we have briefly introduced the major contents of "The ITS Master Plan in Chinese Taipei", including the conceptual framework for the ITS deployment, short-term action plans (called "ITS-2000"), and 7 ITS development areas and 21 corresponding user services. APEC TPT-WG ITS Group has responded to the report by encouraging all the member economies to provide inputs and comments on the proposed ITS development areas and user services. This document aims to update the aforementioned information, particularly in the development of the ITS System Architecture (ITS SA) in Chinese Taipei.

2.    The Development Status of the ITS SA in Chinese Taipei

To guide the development directions and deployment strategies for ITS, the Institute of Transportation (IOT), Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has finalized "The ITS Master Plan in Chinese Taipei" early this year. The major contents of the master plan have been detailed in the previous status report. To further ensure systems interoperability and data interchangeability, the development of a regional ITS SA is a crucial component. Based on this recognition, the IOT has initiated a project for the development of the ITS SA in Chinese Taipei. In January, 2000, this project was awarded to a technical team leaded by the Institute of Information Industry (III), and it is expected to generate technical and institutional outcomes in the first and second year, respectively.

3.    The Preliminary Development Directions of the ITS SA

3.1 Role of the ITS SA

The role of the ITS SA in the development and deployment of ITS will be identified in the light of the following principles:

  1. The ITS SA should show potential benefits of integrated / standardized ITS systems and / or services.
  2. The ITS SA should be practical and ready for action, it means that users are able to refer and use it without further modification.
  3. The ITS SA should clearly define the technical terms and data flows so that ITS funding organizations and supporters can easily check out if the candidate ITS projects meet the requirements of the ITS SA.

3.2 The Contents of the ITS SA

The main contents of the ITS SA are similar to those of USA's and Japan's. It starts with the identification of the goals / objectives and local traffic problems. It further defines the user needs based on the ITS master plan, and constructs the logical / physical architecture. Finally, tasks for ITS standardization and funding mechanism for ITS projects that follow the ITS SA specifications are conducted. The various tasks for the ITS SA project are summarized as follows:

  1. To identify the goals and objectives of the ITS SA.
  2. To develop a platform for deploying the ITS SA.
  3. To identify the user needs in terms of ITS development areas and user services.
  4. To develop ITS logical / physical architecture.
  5. To identify critical ITS technical standards and communication protocols.
  6. To design a funding mechanism for potential ITS projects.
  7. To conduct ITS demonstration projects that follow the ITS SA.
  8. To evaluate / update the ITS SA based on the feedback of ITS demonstration projects.

3.3 Unique Properties of the ITS SA

In the above tasks being conducted by the research team, there are two points that are worthy of sharing our working experiences:

  1. A platform for effectively deploying the ITS SA

    2. In view of different needs for various groups of ITS users, it would be beneficial to develop a common platform (in the form of software package and / or Internet web-site browsing) for easy access and reference. ITS users can effectively conduct their work in the sense that they can avoid duplicating similar work and misunderstanding. By inputting their specific needs and traffic characteristics, the common platform will automatically generate the minimum required ITS market packages for deployment purposes.

  2. Continuous update and feedback

Once the development of the ITS SA is completed, continuous tasks to update the original version is routinely conducted. The main inputs in the routine update process are obtained from the feedback of implementing various ITS demonstration projects that abide by the ITS SA.

4. Epilogue

In paving the roads to full deployment of ITS, the development of an ITS SA is a crucial component. Chinese Taipei is currently conducting the ITS SA project. It is targeted to provide various groups of ITS users with a common framework for effective deployment and to avoid duplication and misunderstanding. There are matured ITS SA frameworks in the Asia-Pacific region. It would be beneficial to share relevant information in working out such an important framework. The mechanism of the APEC ITS Group is an appropriate channel to achieve this purpose, and member economies are encouraged to participate in this regard and contribute their efforts to ensure that the full potential of ITS is achieved.

 

This page was last updated on 23 March 2000

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