Slashdot Mirror
FCC Approves Highway Radiosystems
prostoalex writes "According to iWon/AP, the FCC has approved a range of radio frequencies to be used on US highways for transmitting important traffic information. The technology is still 5-10 years away from being implemented in cars and on the roads, but the FCC has set aside a special area of the spectrum instead of sharing the frequencies with other applications and devices. As for uses, there's currently a test running at an intersection in McLean, Va., where sensors can automatically warn a motorist when another car is approaching, thus helping to avoid a collision."
Does someone have a decent brakedown of the FM freq allocations? It seems like that space is getting crowded.
Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
What the hell is to stop this from becoming as useless as the current emergancy vehicle light switching system (ala traffic lights), that used infrared frequencies? Some schmoe is going to make a device that makes your car think you're going to rear-end someone at his whim... Until finally the whole system will have to be thrown out, due to abuse.
This thing will be abused before it's even anywhere near fully deployed... what a waste... and as per the article, how about getting people to focus on driving... as in paying attention to thing around you... how the hell is making sure you don't rear-end the guy infront of you not a normal driving task? WTF?
---
Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
"where sensors can automatically warn a motorist when another car is approaching, thus helping to avoid a collision."
Who would have guessed... they've invented traffic lights!
Don't they already have a device that allows people to see around blind corners? I beleive it's called a "mirror"... but then, I guess they can't get a patent on that technology.
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
People ignore the data in that spectrum, and its right in front of their eyes!
Has anyone thought of or has taken staps toward integrating a radar detector with wireless and GPS to create a long-range, fault tolerant radar/lidar detection network? Seems like this this is a patent wating to happen...
FAQ here.
And remember kids: Never trust a computer you can actually lift.
IEEE 802.11 is working on this NOW. The Task Group is called WAVE (Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment), and the next meeting is at the IEEE 802.11 Interim Meeting in Vancouver in January. IEEE Meetings are open to all, BTW. Just pay your registration fee, show up and participate.
This sounds like a good tool. The only concerns I have are the following:
1) It doesn't replace the people actually DRIVING the vehicle needing to be at their utmost alert. We've all seen what cellphones and driving do to people.
2) It doesn't get used later on as a spammer's paradise. The last thing I want is that every car in the country comes standard with these alert systems only to hear, while driving down the highway, "ALERT! Your car's engine is not optimized! Go to carspeed.com to help!"
3) It doesn't get used as a monitoring network. I'd assume since it would be sending personalized messages to cars given their position in traffic, cars around them specifically, etc., that you'd need some sort of unique identifier per car. Let's not abuse this like the FastTrack crap we heard about earlier, and have a constant, rudimentary GPS system in every car that uses it.
Other than that, it seems like it'd be a great tool for informing drivers (non-invasively) on what's going on on the highways.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
The FCC's release says it's been allocated 5.850 - 5.925 GHz. The press release (it's a PDF) has some background on the service, and also a few notes on things that have to happen before the use of this new radio service can become widespread.
And why not? The real point in car-to-car communication on a highway is to keep everybody moving at roughly the same rate of speed so that there are no crashes, because a crash slows everybody down.
That's the principal behind most automated highway systems... everybody goes at the same high speed in tight formation until somebody indicates they want to leave... at which point the cars ahead speed up, the cars behind slow down to create space, the departing car departs, then the lead cars slow and the trailing cars accelerate so that the formation is reformed.
Highways are a great situation where the tragedy of the commons come into play. Somebody wants to go faster than everybody else, faster than they themselves can go, and as a result causes a crash that ruins the ride home for everybody behind them.
I don't know about you, but I've already got the early warning system installed in my car. It's called a "passenger". Specifically, that passenger that suddenly shouts "OH, OH, OH, OH!" as you driving down the street.
Then after you slam on the brakes to avoid an unseen danger (while hoping you don't get rear-ended in the process), your passenger continues, "I didn't know there was an In 'N Out here!".
From the blurb:
"Smart radio technology means smarter highways, safer roads and a more secure homeland," FCC Chairman Michael Powell said.
How, precisely, would a radio broadcast regulated to be useful no further than 100 meters away be useful in securing the "Homeland"? At first, I chalked that up to some sort of bureaucratic lemming syndrome where anything that happens needs to be connected to securing something. But then I put my brain in gear and figured it out; what a great way to create an industrial strength vehicle tracking system. Build out a collision avoidance system and, "discover" how useful it is in tracking bad people, and then...generalize!
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!