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Integrating NTCIP-Conformant Hardware
(INCH)
NTCIP standards efforts began in 1992 and
continue today with new and updated standards and amendments.
The development of these standards provides a major step towards the
goals of interoperability and interchangeability of ITS systems. As
these efforts have progressed, the ITS community began looking for
ways to promote NTCIP conformance. Particularly, procurers of
ITS hardware wanted to ensure NTCIP conformance. Through a
series of successful projects, INCH has continued to pursue the goal
to facilitate agencies’ abilities to specify, procure, install and
test NTCIP-compliant hardware.
The initial phase of the
INCH projects focused on the development of a set of procurement
specifications. These
specifications were then updated and incorporated into the
FHWA-sponsored DMS Application Workshop and SpecWizard™ software. The next phase of INCH was
to develop a set of test procedures to ensure devices properly
conform to the NTCIP standards. These procedures are located in the
library
section of the Trevilon web site and have been widely used
throughout the industry by state highway transportation authorities
and manufacturers alike
The INCH project is now
developing freeware software that will automate these test
procedures and determine if a hardware device is NTCIP
conformant. This
software, called NTester, is being developed by Trevilon in
cooperation with ENTERPRISE, the I-95 Corridor
Coalition, and the Federal Highway Administration. NTester 1.3 is available for
free download
and supports procedures
for Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS) and Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) and
Closed Caption Television (CCTV) camera
control.
In addition to NTester,
Trevilon offers a wide-range of NTCIP conformance testing services. Through consulting services
and products like NTester, Trevilon is leading the ITS industry in promoting NTCIP-conformance
testing solutions.
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