Cisco’s low-cost fibre optic solution for traffic monitoring

Cisco’s display focuses on a novel way of detecting traffic speeds, congestion and incidents without the use of loops. The company is using a fibre optic cable positioned alongside the road and down which it shines a light. Vibration created by passing vehicles create vibration which disrupts the passage of the light. Cisco has developed algorithms that can translate these disruptions to determine what type of vehicle is passing, in which direction, the lane it is using and the speed it is travelling. The
March 21, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Niels van den Berg

1028 Cisco’s display focuses on a novel way of detecting traffic speeds, congestion and incidents without the use of loops. The company is using a fibre optic cable positioned alongside the road and down which it shines a light.

Vibration created by passing vehicles create vibration which disrupts the passage of the light. Cisco has developed algorithms that can translate these disruptions to determine what type of vehicle is passing, in which direction, the lane it is using and the speed it is travelling.

The fibre optic cables run in lengths of up to 80km and are divided (virtually) into five to 15 metre sections for detection purposes and it is said to be far cheaper and less disruptive to install and maintain than its traditional counterpart.

According to the company’s Niels van den Berg, the Dutch authorities have proved the new system’s accuracy by comparing it with the current loop-based results.

Stand: 11.209

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