Product category:
Wireless Communications
News Release from: Sequoia Technology | Subject: GSM and GPRS modems
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 22 August 2003
Modems cut the wires on traffic signs
Wolverhampton City Council has made substantial cost savings and speeded up the installation of new road signs by using cellphone technology to update the signs.
Wolverhampton City Council has realised substantial cost savings and speeded up the installation of new road signs by using cellphone technology instead of the more usual wire line telephone connection to update the signs The council has standardised on wireless GSM and GPRS modems from Sequoia for all new and replacement signs to be installed under a five year contract
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 21 Mar 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Previously, Wolverhampton City Council updated roadside information signs with a wire-line (PSTN) telephone connection from its central control system at the Urban Traffic Control Centre.
Eight wireless signs are already in place, offering the council a substantial savings in installation and running cost, as well as faster communications.
A further five are planned for this financial year taking the total sign network to 23.
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According to John Charles, Team Leader, Urban Traffic Control of Wolverhampton City Council, the savings in installation costs can be between GBP 500 and GBP 3500 per sign, and monthly connection costs are about 30% lower for wireless connection as opposed to a fixed line connection.
He commented: "The cost of providing the PSTN line to our signs was becoming a significant part of our investment, as the signs were being placed in locations that were a long way from existing telecommunications cabling.
We considered a number of alternatives, including radio, fibre, GSM and GPRS.
We decided that cellphone technology offered the functionality we needed on the most cost-effective basis, and decided to adopt GSM initially, with a view to moving towards an 'always-on' GPRS connection in the future".
The time lag involved in dialling a connection is becoming an issue that is affecting the operational efficiency of the road sign updating system.
Although GSM connections still require the sign to be 'dialled' for each update, a GPRS connection is always on and will eliminate this delay.
The Sequoia modems used by Wolverhampton City Council already offer both forms of communication, so that only an update to the control software is required to move to the newer technology, once the council is satisfied that the mobile network provides sufficient reliability.
Installation and commissioning times for the wireless signs were also much shorter than for those with a fixed line connection.
"We saw a reduction in lead times for installation and commissioning", said Charles.
"Eliminating the need to install a telephone connection reduced the number of contractors involved, making project management easier, and reducing the potential for delay".
The Sequoia GPRS wireless transceivers are a plug-in replacement for existing conventional wire line modems, and eliminate the need to connect signs to the fixed telephone network for updating.
A cellphone connection can be obtained at low cost for the units, using competitively priced 'SIM-only' deals from any of the four major operators.
The Sequoia GPRS transceiver goes inside the existing street sign assembly.
Its 190 x 120mm case is IP66 rated.
The unit is designed to connect to direct to the sign control circuitry, as a drop in replacement for a wired modem.
As the transceivers offer bidirectional communication at up to 115Kbit/s, the sign can feed back status information as well as receive updates.
Power consumption for the units is minimal - and is further reduced when in standby.
Sequoia Technology is running a series of seminars on the applications of cellphone technologies such as GSM, GPRS and GPS in traffic management, vehicle navigation and remote monitoring.
Details of these are on the company's website.
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