Bridge the Data and Communication Gap with Intuicom’s Wireless Traffic Solutions

Fiber optic cables may be the gold standard in traffic communication, but it’s often not a realistic solution. Installing fiber optic cables means digging up the streets and slowing down traffic with detours and delays in high-travel areas. And there’s no easy way to justify the cost of such drastic measures just to add fiber for a couple links.

Fortunately, there’s a way to forego this high expense and bridge the gap between data and traffic communication.

Meet wireless communication. From video backhaul to extending existing fiber for last-mile connectivity, you can implement efficient traffic communication without needing to dig up the ground.

In a recent webinar, Kai Antrim, Territory Manager for Western Systems, discussed how Intuicom wireless communication products can provide affordable, effective solutions to advance traffic communication scenarios in your community.

Why Go Wireless?

When more autonomy is needed to enhance traffic communication in your community, wireless communication is the way to go. Wireless communication provides a dedicated bandwidth for traffic communication, putting a stop to data throttling and forced outages. It’s easy to install, deploy and scale across an entire traffic signal network. With Intuicom’s cutting-edge technology, your traffic communication is secured through multiple layers.

For instant ROI and lowest TCO, wireless communication is a highly reliable, cost-effective solution that requires minimal maintenance over time. With Intuicom, your team owns your own network as there aren’t any leasing fees or expensive subscription costs.

What is My Best Option?

Best Value – BBX Family

This radio is highly capable without breaking the bank. By utilizing the broadband radio spectrum, this radio supports the most common commercial-use bandwidth of 5.8GHz. With the required FCC licensure in place, you can use 4.9GHz when needing to overcome high interference. This radio also supports Wi-Fi communication with 2.4GHz so that your radios can talk remotely without needing to go into your network and hardwiring into it.

The available channels within Intuicom’s BBX Family allow for the flexibility your team needs to build out a network without having in-succession traffic signals trip over each other. What’s essential for this radio’s effectiveness is a required line of sight of 20+ miles

Maximum Performance – Axiom Family

A common myth about radio communication is that it can’t currently support the data rates we require. Surprisingly, radios today are powerful enough to keep up with our data needs and speeds, even for data backhauling, and this radio is no exception.

Intuicom’s Axiom Family allows for both single and dual data range with the potential for up to 600Mpbs for dual radio. As the next level up in traffic wireless communication, this radio’s embedded GPS geolocation feature has native integration with Bing Maps so that the software automatically places your radios on the map. This radio can support high levels of performance for communities not impacted by topographical obstructions.

Highest Throughput – Axiom AC Family

This class of radio communication is designed to support bandwidth with intensive applications, such as uninterrupted HD video streaming and synchronized Internet access within the field. Intuicom’s Axiom AC Family offers a large and wide data pipe that can handle the highest possible throughput, including data backhauling when paired with a fiber location.

Because the data pipe and channels are so wide, a lot of range is lost. This radio works best when a long line-of-sight range is not required. These units are available on multiple frequency options with single or dual selections.

On/Off Controls – DIO Family

This digital input/output class of radios activates commands on demand or by a switch. With eight inputs and eight outputs, Intuicom’s DIO Wireless Transceiver provides an unlimited amount of routing possibilities. This budget-friendly radio is a great alternative to hardwire and fiber because it can deliver complete bi-directional wireless I/O capability for an array of applications, including point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and multipoint-to-multipoint.

Rapid integration with this wireless communication option is easy with its simple, out-of-the-box setup. Remember that the intent of this contact closure radio is that it’s built specifically for on/off applications, so it doesn’t support serial communications.

Network Path Case Study: Port Angeles, WA

Port Angeles serves as a harbor town, a gateway to Canada and a tsunami emergency route. Their team wanted to better support the traffic needs of the town, such as maximizing traffic efficiency upon ferry arrival, through its ~20 traffic light intersections. Their traffic signal cabinets were all on six timers onsite at the intersection with no ability for remote updates during unanticipated events.

The Western Systems team traveled to Port Angeles to perform a network study. The team developed a strategy to send traffic communication up the hill to City Hall so that local technicians can coordinate

intersection traffic and push out timing plans remotely to replace manual updates at each unique cabinet. The Western Systems team discovered that Port Angeles had fiber drops all along the corridor and helped the town implement a wireless communication solution that shot radios back to a couple fiber locations, then backhauled to City Hall.

Flasher Application Case Study: Sammamish, WA

E Sammamish Lake Parkway is a busy North/South corridor along the east side of one of the biggest lakes in Washington state. SE 24th Way meets this high-traffic road at a T-intersection with no visibility to traffic coming from the left or right. Their previous traffic solution was hooking up their old cabinet to a bunch of loop detectors. These loops were unfortunately cut, so the signal flashed unreliably or not at all.

Instead of using the cabinet, Western Systems opted for a wireless communication solution to improve this intersection. The new system featured a Carmanah flashing beacon, two DIO radios and radar. Since everything is now contained along the poles where the flashers are, the team only needed to provide an Alpha Battery Backup system in their traffic signal cabinet. Now when a driver cruises along E Sammamish Lake Parkway, the car triggers a radar that sends a signal along the main line, alerting drivers approaching the intersection from the side street that traffic is coming.

No matter which radio system your team chooses, Western Systems is here to support your wireless communication needs. Western Systems offers world-class technical support by phone, email and online webinars as well as optional onsite field services. Our technicians are experts in radio programming and are committed to your success in implementing the most reliable, cost-efficient solution for improving traffic communication in your community.