Skip to main content

Siemens introduces 3G wireless option for UTC communications

A new 3G wireless communications solution which allows Siemens UTMC OTUs to be connected to the company’s PC SCOOT UTC instation has been launched by the company following extensive field trials. The newly released 3G option is available on Gemini2 and is provided by the use of an approved 3G router and antenna kit and is quick and easy to install. It allows junctions to be added onto the UTC system without the need for physically wired or fibre links, reducing installation and civil engineering costs. Acc
November 13, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A new 3G wireless communications solution which allows 6869 Siemens UTMC OTUs to be connected to the company’s PC SCOOT UTC instation has been launched by the company following extensive field trials.

The newly released 3G option is available on Gemini2 and is provided by the use of an approved 3G router and antenna kit and is quick and easy to install.  It allows junctions to be added onto the UTC system without the need for physically wired or fibre links, reducing installation and civil engineering costs.

According to the company’s head of product management, Keith Manston, Siemens UTMC OTUs are designed to give optimum performance and when used with 3G wireless networks they offer a number of benefits. ‘In addition to the reduced cost of installation, running costs can be significantly lower than existing leased lines. More importantly, as BT has recently confirmed plans to withdraw its retail TDM services by the end of March 2018, it is now becoming increasingly important for traffic managers and local authorities to consider alternative communications options and develop a longer term transition plan’, he said.

Advances within the UTMC arena, in particular the introduction of the UG405 UTMC protocol and SCOOT MC3 has enabled SCOOT to be more tolerant of time delays in communications between the UTC software and connected Outstation Transmission Units. In particular, this has increased the potential use of a number of alternative communication options available to users including 3G wireless networks.

Related Content

  • Coventry City Council chooses Siemens for traffic signal refurbishment project
    October 26, 2017
    Siemens has been awarded a contract by Coventry City Council (CCC), through the National Productivity Investment Fund, to design and refurbish traffic signal equipment and systems at nine signalised junctions in the region. CCC is renewing life-expired traffic control equipment with the latest designs and management systems to improve network performance and reliability and reduce maintenance costs.
  • Communication: the future of machine vision
    May 30, 2013
    Jason Barnes asks leading machine vision industry figures what they consider to be the educational barriers to the technology’s increased uptake by the ITS sector. The recent rush by some organisations within the ITS sector to associate themselves with the term ‘machine vision’ underlines just how important the technology has become in a relatively short space of time. However, despite the technology having been applied in certain traffic management applications for some years, there remains a significant s
  • Debating the future development of ANPR
    July 31, 2012
    What future is there for automatic number plate recognition? Will it be supplanted by electronic vehicle identification, or will continuing development maintain the technology's relevance? In recent years, digitisation and IP-based communication networks have allowed Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to achieve ever-greater utility and a commensurate increase in deployments. But where does the technology go next - indeed, does it have a future in the face of the increasing use of, for instance, Dedi
  • Do buses need subsidies in congestion charging areas
    June 20, 2016
    David Crawford takes a look at the debate surrounding bus subsidies. Subsidies for public transport are a well-known and frequently-used policy tool directed at reducing the high environmental and social costs of peak-period traffic congestion. But at the end of last year the Swedish Centre for Transport Studies published a working paper entitled ‘Should buses still be subsidised in Stockholm?’ This concluded that the subsidy levels currently being applied in Stockholm could be nearly halved by setting bus