Data collection and monitoring using cellular wireless network: GSM

Due to the rapid expansion of road and highway system around the world, there is a growing demand to monitor vehicle traffic patterns and road status by jurisdictional agencies charged with maintaining roads and ensuring the safety and usability of various highways within their jurisdictions. The feasibility of performing effective monitoring relies on cost, complexity and scalability of the traffic monitoring system. These factors are largely determined by the communication method between the monitoring system devices. This paper presents a novel application that uses commercially available wireless protocols coupled with Internet Protocol (IP) to integrate traffic counters placed at different locations with the State of Oklahoma. The system uses commercial cellular networks as its transport medium for communication with the traffic control. The system has been tested and deployed since July 2007 by Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT).