Virtual beacons for RTI/IVHS data distribution

The future integrated RTI/IVHS environment will require integrated communications. However, there is no single communication system, that can provide all necessary communication to the RTI/IVHS environment. This paper gives a perspective on proposed communication solutions and introduces a novel access method to extend systems based on short range communication (SRC). Virtual beacons use cellular communications for access of data structured as in SRC-systems. An in-vehicle table of virtual beacon locations trigger data collection at pre-defined sites (corresponding to data exchange in real SRC-systems at beacon sites). The concept of virtual beacons is explained and the implementation with cellular or broadcasting data services is described. A performance analysis for the GSM-system is presented, as well as guidelines for dual-mode operation with SRC and new possibilities for beacon site planning