ITSWAP website

Objectives
The ITSWAP project aims to contribute to the development of innovative services delivering Internet-like information to mobile users. To achieve this, it will establish the technical and commercial feasibility of ITS services provided over Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). In addition, it will:
- define and test the WAP delivery mechanisms for a number of on- and off-board ITS applications at different field trial sites across Europe.
- promote the adoption of WAP as an ITS platform for service providers and car industry.
Providing ITS services to mobile users raises several challenges - such as the need to know a user’s location or travel preferences. Information must be accurate, timely and in an appropriate format. The human-machine interface for information display and data capture must be safe and efficient. Meeting all these challenges is necessary to ensure the viability of a commercial service provided through WAP. ITSWAP will address all these issues by identifying user needs, optimising WAP for the automotive environment, defining the service components, implementing them in four different sites across Europe and evaluating the site results. The key operational goals of ITSWAP include to:
(for ITS services)
- build and test ITS services based on WAP that can be accessed both via mobile telephone and within a vehicle
- define the mechanisms for offering a pan-European service - including commercial and technical feasibility as well as definition of roaming mechanisms between service providers
- identify elements necessary to allow the convergence of WAP with other services such as GATS (Global Automotive Telematics Standard) and TPEG (Transport Protocol Expert Group)-type services. This includes assessing the need for such convergence. The work concerning GATS will be done in cooperation with the GATS-Forum, which is seen as the major promoter of this convergence. For TPEG, the work will be done in cooperation with the TPEG project.
(for WAP)
- test WAP inside the vehicle and measure its ability to support in-vehicle ITS services
- propose recommendations to improve WAP, since WAP is currently optimised for hand-held devices
- liaise with all relevant initiatives working on WAP or related issues (dissemination of information to mobile users, integration of technologies within the vehicle)
(WAP terminals)
- study the HMI aspects for the provision of in-vehicle WAP services
- define HMI recommendations and implement them, when possible, in the field trials
- implement localisation functions within WAP using GPS, cell_ID and/or network-based localisation to provide location-based ITS services
- test in-vehicle WAP terminals
(business models and service implementation)
- define the critical elements of the business cases for delivering WAP-based ITS services (costs for the users, personalisation of data, etc.)
- promote adoption of WAP as an ITS platform by ITS service providers and the automotive industry
Each site will require different partners to join forces for delivering services: content and service providers, telecom operators, terminal and car manufacturers, etc. One of the operational goals for ITSWAP is to identify the type of co-operation needed between those actors to ensure an efficient delivery of service. The delivery mechanism will be the subject of a specific evaluation covering aspects such as service access time, accuracy of information and cost. Moreover, the users will evaluate the services to allow the providers to know their opinions about the quality and cost of the service and therefore allow them to prepare business plans for wide-scale implementation of commercial services. ITSWAP thus aims at obtaining new knowledge in the field of mobile-Internet, its application to mobility services and developing WAP-based terminals and services implementing the new features of WAP.
Approach
ITSWAP's work is divided into six Work Packages (WP's) including WP1 Project Management.
WP2 on Service requirement definition aims at identifying ITS services that could be provided over WAP and compiling a comprehensive overview on user needs to be fulfilled by ITS services that will be demonstrated in the project.
WP3 on Service specifications and system implementation will develop a system architecture for the provision of ITS services based on WAP specifications and will specify requirements for service roaming between different pilot sites. It will also provide a framework for quality/operational procedures for service delivery and identify model service-level agreements to provide services and roaming. It will also produce reference software modules that will be implemented at the different field trials.
WP4 includes the field trials, which will implement ITS services using the specifications developed in WP3. Four sites - UK, Sweden, France and Italy – will implement a wide range of ITS services, including route guidance, on-trip and pre-trip information, Point Of Interest, remote control of vehicle and carpooling.
WP5 Assessment and Evaluation will asses WAP performances and propose recommendations for improvement. Potential synergy between WAP and other solutions such as GATS will be evaluated. It will also propose an evolution path for ITS services on wireless technology platforms (e.g. GPRS, UMTS) confronting WAP with other possible technical solutions such as Java applications.
WP6 Dissemination and Implementation will create a strong awareness of its results. The first project results will be presented during the Torino 2000 ITS World Congress showcase.
Consortium
| Data suppliers |
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| ATM (Italy) |
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| SUS (Italy) |
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| ASM (Italy) |
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| Ferrovia dello Stato (Italy) |
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| Service providers |
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| Mannesmann TeleCommerce (Germany) |
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| Webraska (France) |
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| Mizar (Italy) |
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| ITIS (UK) |
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| Car manufacturers |
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| Volvo (Sweden) |
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| Renault (France) |
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| Fiat (Italy) |
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| BMW (Germany) |
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| Telecom operators |
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| Telia (Sweden) |
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| Telecom Italia Mobile (Italy) |
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| France Telecom - R&D (France) |
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| Orange (UK) - sponsor |
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| Terminal/Network manufacturers |
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| Nokia (Germany) |
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| Ericsson (Sweden) |
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| Magneti Marelli (Italy) |
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| Public authorities |
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| National Assembly of Wales (UK) |
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| Others |
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| ERTICO (Belgium) |
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| TNO (Netherlands) |
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| SODIT (France) |
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| TRG, Southampton University (UK) |
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| ICC - Ian Catling Consultancy (UK) |
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| INFRACOM (Italy) |
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Milestones
| December 2001 |
final HMI recommendations |
| December 2001 |
end of trials of WAP ITS services across Europe |
| December 2001 |
final set of system architecture descriptions for ITS provision on WAP |
| December 2001 |
evaluation results and recommendations |
| December 2001 |
roadmap for the evolution of wireless ITS |
| December 2001 |
business models for the provision of WAP-based ITS services |
| - |
set of user needs and system requirements related to the provision of ITS services on WAP |
| - |
draft set of system architecture descriptions for ITS provision on WAP |
| - |
requirements for the roaming of ITS services |
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draft HMI recommendations | Public documents
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