Autotalks and Applied Information Partner to Help Emergency Vehicles Arrive Faster to Save Lives

By Tiera Oliver

Associate Editor

Embedded Computing Design

July 21, 2020

Blog

The two companies are carrying out Dual-Mode /Dual-Active V2X deployment, in which Autotalks' chipsets are installed in roadside units such as traffic lights in Georgia, Texas and Hawaii.

Autotalks has teamed up with Applied Information to save lives on the roads of Georgia, Texas, and Hawaii. According to the two companies, they are carrying out the world’s first Dual-Mode /Dual- Active V2X deployment, in which Autotalks’ dual mode chipsets are installed in emergency vehicles and on roadside units such as traffic lights.

Applied Information has developed a Dual-Mode/Dual-Active Roadside Unit to communicate with vehicles equipped with V2X On Board Units (OBUs). The main use-cases are for emergency vehicles' traffic signal preemption, transit buses for traffic signal priority, and vehicles involved in roadside work zones.

The traffic signal preemption function in Alpharetta, Georgia, the first site of the RSU deployment, transfers the normal operation of the traffic control signal to a mode of operation which gives the right of way to emergency vehicles such as ambulances and firefighting vehicles, while all other traffic is brought safely to a halt. As a result, these vehicles can arrive to their destination earlier and have better chances to save lives.

The deployment is expected to expand to include other use cases beyond emergency vehicles, such as transit bus priority, red light running alerts, and “get ready for green” message to make traffic move more safely and efficiently through signalized intersections.

In Alpharetta, over 150 traffic control devices are connected and provide an opportunity to make improvements in safety and mobility on streets and highways. According to the company, Georgia site is the first real life testing site of this type of deployment. Applied Information has signed similar agreements in Texas and Hawaii, where the two companies are cooperating in similar deployments.

The deployment takes place throughout a 78.5 square mile area surrounding the Infrastructure Automotive Technology Laboratory (iATL) in Alpharetta. Also according to the company,  iATL is the world’s first private-sector facility for developing connected vehicle applications for both vehicles and traffic control devices such as traffic signals.

Autotalks believes that it has an advantage as its dual mode V2X chipset can enable the US automotive industry to  start large-scale V2X deployment during the period of uncertainty until a uniform technology is chosen. With the company’s dual mode chipset, carmakers can focus on bringing enhanced safety to US roads with V2X without taking into consideration which V2X technology will prevail.

Autotalks’ deployment-ready, 2nd generation V2X chipset is the world’s first available solution which supports both DSRC based on 802.11p/ITS-G5 standards and C-V2X based on 3GPP release 14 and 15 specifications with embedded V2X cyber-security functionality. The chipset allows customers to toggle between DSRC and C-V2X communications.

For more information, visit: www.appinfoinc.com or www.auto-talks.com

Tiera Oliver, Associate Editor for Embedded Computing Design, is responsible for web content edits, product news, and constructing stories. She also assists with newsletter updates as well as contributing and editing content for ECD podcasts and the ECD YouTube channel. Before working at ECD, Tiera graduated from Northern Arizona University where she received her B.S. in journalism and political science and worked as a news reporter for the university’s student led newspaper, The Lumberjack.

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