A new member has joined Singapore’s Smart Mobility Test Bed Consortium and will provide the wireless infrastructure needed to connect various components of the Smart Mobility Test Bed for smart cars and traffic systems, which is located on the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) campus.
The Smart Mobility Consortium was jointly started by NTU and NXP Semiconductors and involves a number of high-tech companies, research organizations, academics and government agencies coming together to research and test next-generation V2X (vehicle-to-everything) technologies that aim to enhance commuter safety and transportation systems.
The USA-based wireless connectivity company Zebra Technologies Corporation has now joined the Consortium and will deploy its technology on the testbed, which spans across NTU’s 495-acre (200 hectares) campus and aims to simulate a small city with live traffic. The formation of the Smart Mobility Test Bed Consortium is in line with Singapore’s ‘Smart Mobility 2030’ vision, making the city-state a global innovation hub for intelligent transport systems.
Zebra’s wireless AP 6562 outdoor access points will be used to create a wireless network that seamlessly connects vehicles and intelligent infrastructure, such as Roadside Units (RSU), traffic cameras and traffic lights. The AP 6562 is a dual radio 802.11n mesh access point that features rugged construction to meet the harshest outdoor conditions, including heat, wind and rain, while delivering strong, reliable network capacity.
The 75 nodes, connected to Zebra’s NX 5500 controller, will be deployed across NTU’s campus using wireless mesh technology, which does not require all access points to be connected by cables. This offers savings on cabling costs and manpower, and reduces any operational downtime associated with laying network cables. Vehicles will communicate with roadside units (RSUs) relying on the IEEE 802.11p standard for vehicular systems. In turn, the RSUs will communicate with one another and the intelligent traffic system through Zebra’s wireless network.
“Smart Mobility research is crucial to develop next-generation systems that enable people in a metropolis like Singapore to get to where they need to be safely and efficiently in the future,” said Wayne Harper, senior technical director for the Asia-Pacific region at Zebra.
“Tapping into our expertise in providing visibility that’s visionary, we are proud to lay the wireless foundation for the NTU-NXP Smart Mobility Test Bed, helping the various moving components of the Smart Mobility equation stay seamlessly connected, and creating a network that’s truly efficient and safe.”
Associate Professor Guan Yong Liang, lead principal investigator at the NTU-NXP Test Bed, noted, “By incorporating Zebra’s wireless solutions into our campus-wide V2X testbed infrastructure, we are able to offer a comprehensive suite of resources to the transportation community to develop, optimize and validate new innovations and business models that could improve road users’ safety and enhance commuters’ experience.”
Andrew Turley, head of innovation and driver assistance at NXP, added, “With this joint initiative with NTU, Zebra and other leading industry partners, we are embracing an opportunity to make the secure, smart connected city a reality sooner, and bring Singapore to the forefront of smart mobility innovation.”
