Abstract
This report analyzes a relatively new area in the auto industry -
enhancements of car operation with computerized radar and telecommunications
devices to avoid or reduce the risk of collisions. The subject is analyzed in
connection with a lager goal - to build nation-wide Intelligent Transport
System that incorporates many ingredients of an intelligent car.
The topic is very important and timely for our society - every year thousands
of people are being killed in car accidents and millions are injured. Our
economy losses from traffic accidents are enormous, and the government is
trying to improve the situation by:
- Construction of new roads and timely maintenance existing
- Mandatory restrictions of speed, use of car gadgets and other
- R&D and development of ITS, which eventually release drivers from most of
the burden to make driving decisions and to be mistaken.
ITS development, at the present time, mostly concentrated on a car itself; an
exception is “intelligent” tolling and others, which require
interaction between a car and an infrastructure. Symbiosis of car operation
functions with enhancement supported by radar and telecommunications
technologies seems to be a very effective way to construct a car as a part of
ITS. The goal is to reduce probability of driver' s mistakes, which are the
main cause of accidents. This goal can be achieved by putting a burden to
analyze the road situation and to make decisions based on such an analysis on
a computer. Such a computer is supported by radars for sensing the road
situation and by telecommunications devices to communicate with other
vehicles, intelligent road and law enforcement/emergency personnel.
The report analyzes technologies and markets for CDPS - Collision Detection
Prevention Systems. They include RCDPS - Radar CDPS and CCDPS -
Communications CDPS. Devices, which belong to different classes, can work
either independently, or together, supporting each other.
This report shows that both classes of the devices were adopted from other
industries, namely radar and telecommunications. This adoption requires a lot
of adjustment and design of the systems specific for car collision prevention
application.
For RCDPS, the major specifics are:
- Required distance of observation. It is usually not more than 200 m, but
can be as small as a couple of meters. This resulted in particular antenna
design and small output power.
- Operation. A driver is not an operator for a RCDPS device. In an ideal
case, drivers even not suppose to know how radar functions and what the car
reactions on radar sensing are. Such situation is untypical for usual radar
applications, attended by skillful operators, whose only job is to operate
radar. In the RCDPS case, an automatic computerized driver-device interface is
required, which is a challenge for designers.
- Jamming condition. In normal operation, a radar device works with minimum
obstacles. To prevent such normal operation, enemies are trying to jam a radar
screen. In the RCDPS case, any obstacle visible by an antenna pattern can be
a source of jamming. False alarms can create a very dangerous situation for an
operator of the car, and in absence of radar personnel, who are trained to
distinguish useful information from false and to initiate unti-jamming
procedures, may result in crash.
- Size. The RCDPS devices have to be contained in very confined spaces
inside of the car. This put limitations on their size.
- Regulatory. Specific frequency bands are allocated to the RCDPS devices.
Another issue is allowed RF interference: modern cars are full of electronics,
and each new device is a potential source of interference. Standardization in
this area is required, which should take into consideration car environment.
The CCDPS devices have fewer specifics, though they have to be also design for
each task - as a rule, they cannot be taken from other applications and put
in a car.
Examples of CCDPS include a GPS receiver, communications between cars close
proximity to create a “collective” car to take intelligent
decisions to accelerate or to break; another example is “non-stop”
tolling.
The report analyzes the CDPS market and provides a market forecast for
2006-2011. The analysis is based on the author' s model of the market and the
use of publicly available information as well as interviews with vendors'
personnel.
The authors keep a conservative line in market estimate due to:
- Unstable worldwide economy
- Unpredictable regulatory. Many CDPS device may become mandatory car
accessories, but this process will be country' s specific and it is difficult
to predict its time.
Altogether, the authors goal was to provide a comprehensive picture for the
CDPS technologies and market, and present their benefit and limitations. The
authors are sure that CDPS proliferation is a near future, though a road to
wide spread of these devices may be bumpy.
The analyzed systems are becoming a part of ITS, which functions and protocols
are also analyzed in this report.
Methodology
Considerable research was done using the Internet. Information from various
Web sites was studied and analyzed; evaluation of publicly available marketing
and technical publications was conducted. Telephone conversations and
interviews were held with industry analysts, technical experts and executives.
The overriding objective throughout the work has been to provide valid and
relevant information. This has led to a continual review and update of the
information content.
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