The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is pleased to announce that the world’s largest professional organization dedicated to homogenizing international technology protocols has issued a new standard for connected vehicles.
USDOT is welcoming the IEEE’s (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) publication of the 1609.3-2016 Standard for Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE) – Networking Services. The new IEEE 1609.3 standard defines network and transport layer services that support secure WAVE data exchange, including addressing and routing.
The lack of ubiquitous high-speed communications between vehicles and service providers, and the lack of homogeneous communication interfaces between different automotive manufacturers, has limited externally driven services to vehicles. The IEEE 1609 family of standards for WAVE completely address the issue of standardized communication interfaces between different manufacturers. This family of standards also provides a sufficient foundation for organizing management functions and modes of operation for system devices to address the lack of high-speed communications between vehicles and service providers.
The WAVE standards define an architecture and a complementary, standardized set of services and interfaces that collectively enable secure vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) wireless communications. Together, these standards provide the foundation for a broad range of transportation applications, including vehicle safety, automated tolling, enhanced navigation and traffic management. As part of the IEEE 1609 family of standards, the IEEE 1609.3 standard defines WAVE short messages and provides an efficient WAVE-specific alternative to Internet Protocol Version 6 that can be directly supported by applications. Further, this standard defines the management information base for the WAVE protocol stack.
Of particular significance to all involved in the development of self-driving vehicles, the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) has also launched a ‘Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in the Design of Autonomous Systems’ which aims to identify needs and build consensus for standards, certifications and codes of conduct regarding the ethical implementation of intelligent technologies. The new initiative is global, open and inclusive, welcoming all individuals or representatives of organizations dedicated to ethical considerations in the design of autonomous systems.
Bringing together experts in fields relating to autonomous systems and their ethics, including robotics, artificial intelligence, computational intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, cognitive computing, affective computing, and, in general, algorithmically-based programs, Initiative members will span fields that include engineering, law, science, economics, ethics, philosophy, politics and health. Participants will have their first face-to-face meeting at the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI), to be held this August in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
“Technologies, methodologies, and systems that are intended to reduce human intervention are poised to transform the lives of individuals in a multitude of unique and beneficial ways,” noted Konstantinos Karachalios, managing director for IEEE-SA. “As machines increasingly assist humans in a multitude of critical and sensitive tasks, it is important to prioritize the use of ethical considerations in the design of these emergent systems, and this new Initiative will help ensure that we are working to advance technology for humanity under principled disciplines.”
