Wireless Transportation Users Group
The Wireless Transportation Users Group (TUG) is the first Wireless Silicon Valley users group. The vision is to create users groups for a variety of sectors including schools, healthcare, emergency response, and utilities. The users groups will work with Silicon Valley Metro Connect on the design of the network to ensure that each sector is able to take advantage of the service. The users groups will also work with the regional Wireless Broadband Authority which will have representatives from all of the participating cities and counties.
Mission
The mission of the Transportation Users Group is to provide a neutral, pre-competitive, meeting place for transportation-oriented companies and public agencies, wireless network providers, researchers, and others to discuss, develop, demonstrate, and deploy applications of the wireless network for the transportation sector in Silicon Valley and possibly the Bay Area. The work of TUG will be broadly applicable in the rest of the United States and the world.
The Opportunity
Few people realize that most of the world’s major automotive companies have research offices in Silicon Valley. As automobiles incorporate more and more computers and use networks to link them together, the automotive companies need to be close to the integrated circuit and network design talent that can only be found here.
The Department of Transportation has reserved some of the radio spectrum at 5.9 gigahertz for transportation applications. The frequency is licensed, but free to those in the industry. Transportation companies are exploring applications of this frequency for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-roadside communications. Services can include improving safety, and providing more accurate and detailed traffic information.
The broadband wireless network that will be built by Silicon Valley Metro Connect will offer a variety of network services that will work on different frequencies, including, if there is demand, radios that operate at 5.9 gigahertz.
At the first meeting in April 2007, the group brainstormed ideas for wireless projects that could be done in Silicon Valley. The ideas fell into three groups:
Testing the 5.9 GHz frequency and applications
Monitoring traffic and supporting operations for train and bus systems
Collaborating on the design of the wireless network and on the development of business models
Current Participants
BMW
Bosch
California Department of Transportation
Carnegie Mellon University, West
CCD
Cisco
City of San Carlos
Daimler Benz
General Motors
IBM
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
SamTrans
Santa Clara VTA
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Telvent
Toyota
University of California PATH research program
Volkswagen
For more information, please contact Seth Fearey, 408-278-2220.