 Make roads safer and streamline the flow of traffic with Siqura’s innovative traffic solutions
One news story that is the same every day, all over the world starts at about six in the morning and sometimes doesn’t end in earnest until long after the sun sets. It’s the inevitable daily traffic jam, the chaos and congestion on the roads.
But what if reasonable detours redirected traffic just seconds after an accident? Or speed limits were adjusted accordingly to the flow of traffic? Suppose extra lanes became available before the bottleneck? It’s not magic and it’s not your imagination wandering while you wait behind the wheel, wondering if walking wouldn’t be faster. It is the up-and-coming technologies of Automatic Incident Detection (AID), incident management, and the support such systems lend to traffic control room operators.
Roadside AID
There are already many different kinds of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) across the globe, from CCTV systems and sensors to variable message signs (VMS). While these technologies do help to ensure road safety, AID allows for more extensive systems in which a single operator can monitor hundreds of cameras simultaneously and promptly manage traffic flow and incidents.
With AID, intelligent algorithms continually analyse specific pixel clusters for changes and alert operators within seconds of the type of incident and its location. From a centralized control centre, the notified operator can visually verify the situation and react appropriately. This results in a powerful tool with which operators can instantly evaluate the severity of an incident and respond quickly and confidently.
That driving on freeways and sitting in traffic jams is an inevitable part of modern life seems all too apparent. Yet, the bore of a bottleneck is exacerbated by the familiar fact that the roads are risky and can even be life-threatening.
Research shows that incident management plays a crucial role in improving safety. It also reveals that successfully supervising unfortunate occurrences depends on rapid recognition and visual verification. Operators need to know immediately that something has happened so that they can readily assess the circumstances, appropriately divert traffic from potential danger, and notify authorities before calamity compounds. Consequently, AID systems are attracting a lot of attention around the world.
The Sigura Trafficserver
AID systems entail, however, transmitting and archiving analog video material. This is resource intensive and can sometimes even diminish image quality or limit the realizable scope of a system. To curb these shortcomings, Optelecom-NKF, a developer of high-end, IP video network systems (marketed under the brand name, Siqura), and Traficon, an expert in the field of AID algorithms, joined forces to develop the very first video encoder ever to be integrated with AID technology.
By embedding Traficon’s field-proven incident detection algorithms into a Siqura encoder, the two companies were able to create a cutting-edge, IP product that not only increases the quality and effectiveness of the AID system on the whole but also reduces the resources required.
By sharing cameras for both incident detection and video monitoring, the Siqura TrafficServer has fewer power consumption and installation space requirements, ultimately resulting in less maintenance and lowering the total cost of ownership.
Since the Siqura TrafficServer uses a dedicated DSP to implement the incident detection algorithms, all the number crunching is done locally, on the video server itself, and it therefore requires less processing power than centralized AID solutions. This dedicated DSP also cuts back the amount of data lost in transmission. As a result, the system uses less bandwidth while actually improving video quality.
An additional dedicated DSP allows the Siqura TrafficServer to transmit the promising, new H.264 as well as MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and MJPEG, simultaneously. Consequently, the Siqura TrafficServer offers a selection of streaming options for several different purposes. The power to choose between these different video compression algorithms also ensures an easy and effective integration of the Siqura TrafficServer with existing applications as well as with future additions.
Moreover, the Siqura TrafficServer is making life easier for operators. Since each individual stream can be merged with incident detection information, operators have a complete overview of the traffic data and events at all times.
A saving system
While the ultimate aim is to make roads safer and streamline the flow of traffic, combining intelligent transportation technologies in a user-friendly way will not only save time and money, but reduce pollution and prevent the needless loss of life. So, as you’re steering your way through the gridlock and dreaming of driving on the hard shoulder, you might be comforted by the fact that technologies fulfilling these dreams, like the Siqura TrafficServer, are just around the corner.
For more information
Web: www.siqura.com |
