WINTER 2009/2010

pulse.wavetronix.com

The History of Radar

The story behind the weapon that

won WWII, p. 6

Going Digital
How Digital Wave Radar
marked the next evolution in
traffic detection, p. 16

Resolution Matters

Other Sensors

SmartSensor HD

Are you gambling with your trafc detection?

In the radar race, only SmartSensor HD offers true high
denition detection. Smart money is on SmartSensor.

wAVETRONIX
www.wavetronix.com

Contents

VOL 3 NO 4 WINTER 2009/2010

Editorial
PUBLISHER
David Arnold
david_arnold@wavetronix.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Don Leavitt
don_leavitt@wavetronix.com
MANAGING EDITOR
Steven Baxter
steve_baxter@wavetronix.com

16

Art & Production

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR
Andrew Porter
andrew_porter@wavetronix.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Dan Duckwitz, Chris Morgan,
Andrew Porter
Subscriptions
Subscription Manager
Dan Duckwitz
dan_duckwitz@wavetronix.com
Web Site
pulse.wavetronix.com
Published by
WAVETRONIX LLC
78 E 1700 S
Provo, UT 84606
For more information about
Wavetronix products:
Web: www.wavetronix.com
Email: sales@wavetronix.com
2010 Wavetronix LLC. No
part of this publication may
be reproduced without the
express permission of the
publishers.
Printed in the USA by Press
Media.

Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010 

6
Cover Story

Making Waves
David Arnold
From its inception as a weapon
of war to its modern traffic detection applications, the invention
of radar has left a lasting impression.

Departments

News & Events

See whats happening in the
traffic industry.

20
Feature Articles

16

Riding a Digital Wave

Bryan Jarrett
Wavetronix leadership in the radar traffic detection market hasnt
come by accident. Its the result of years of expertise from one of the
best engineering teams in the industry.

20

Technology Leap
Don Leavitt
The proven accuracy and reliability of SmartSensor HD has made it
a viable alternative to loops for traffic detection applications in Denmark.

22

Application Note
ITS Application Using
Command Appliances

26

Distributors
Find a dealer in your area.

News & Events

ITSA CEO to Congress: Invest
in ITS

Citing a recent GAO study

on traffic information, Belcher
ITS America says federal writes that an investment of
investment in intelligent trans- $1.2 billion in a real-time transportation systems will create portation system information
jobs, reduce emissions and program alone would genersave lives, and the organization ate $30.2 billion inbenefits
is making its case to Congress. to the public. According to
In a December 2, 2009, letter Belcher, those benefits include
addressed to leaders in the job creation and economic
US House of Representatives, growth; the US Department of
ITSA president and CEO Scott Transportation says an average
Belcher urged Congress to in- of 50 percent of ITS spending
vest in the modernization of goes directly to wages, a far
our nations aging infrastruc- greater return on investment
ture through [ITS] and other than other comparable projtransportation projects.
ects, Belcher writes.

New Patents Issued

Several new US and international patents have been issued

to Wavetronix for technologies
and features developed specifically for the SmartSensor
family of radar traffic detection devices.
United States Patent No.
7,426,450, entitled System
and Method for Monitoring

Speed, protects the dual radar

design that enables SmartSensor HD to accurately detect the
true speeds of individual vehicles; US Patent No. 7,427,930
and existing US Patent No.
6,693,557 are entitled Vehicular Traffic Sensor and offer
patent protection for Digital Wave Radar, Wavetronix

Additionally, Belcher says

each dollar invested in ITS
reduces vehicle emissions by
up to 22 percent, while an
estimated 31 percent of annual traffic fatalities could be
prevented through the rapid
deployment of ITS. A significant investment in ITS will
play a major role in helping
retain existing jobs while
providing new jobs, Belcher
writes. It will also provide
lasting benefitsimproving
system performance and creating more livable, sustainable
communities.
n

method of digitally generating and Method of Identification

a modulated radar signal.
of Traffic Lane Positions and
International patents have protects the automatic conalso been granted to protect figuration process developed
Wavetronix digital signal by Wavetronix.
generation process. Canadian
Company officials note that
Patent No. 2,461,411 and Euro- other US and international patpean Patent No. 1,438,702 both ents are pending, and will be
apply to Digital Wave Radar.
announced when they become
Existing US Patent No. available.
n
6,556,916 is entitled System

Wavetronix Dealer Network Expands

Several new companies have joined Wavetronix global distribution network. As a result, the companys total number of
authorized distributors worldwide now exceeds 40. Mike Rose,
vice president of sales at Wavetronix, says the new dealers will
cover domestic US and international markets and are representative of the global expansion the company has experienced over
the past 12 months.
Effective dealers are an essential part of Wavetronix success,
South African City Expands HD Deployments
Rose says. The contributions they make are a vital part of our
Transportation officials in the South African city of Durban (eThe- marketing strategy, especially as we establish our presence in
kwini Municipality) have ordered several additional SmartSensor new markets.
HD units for immediate deployment. The purchase of these senIn the United States, Quality Traffic Systems (Nashville, TN)
sors is part of the citys initiative to improve the effectiveness of will represent Wavetronix in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennesits traffic management system.
see; and Utilicom Supply Associates (Atlanta, GA) will represent
In the fall of 2008, Durban officials purchased and installed the company in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
five SmartSensor HD units along the M4 highway. Now, 22 ad- Internationally, Wavetronix will be represented by the following:
ditional units will be installed along the M4 North highway in India: CMS Traffic Systems Ltd. (Mumbai)
eThekwini, Kwazulu Natal, as part of the regions efforts to reduce Indonesia: PT Telehouse Engineering (Bandung)
traffic congestion.
Macau: Nam Yeong Information Technology (Macau)
Wavetronix is represented in South Africa by Traffic Management Spain/Portugal: Quadrex (Barcelona)
Technologies (Pty) Ltd., an authorized Wavetronix distributor. n Thailand: TMS Engineering (Nonthatburi)
n

4Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010

News & Events

Acceptance of SmartSensor
Advance Expands

endorsement, nor does it represent an agencys preference

for one product over another.
Protection of the dilemma
zone has become a priority for
DOTs across the country. The
dilemma zone is an area approximately two to five seconds
from the intersection stop bar
in which drivers must decide
whether to stop or go when the
light turns yellow; the dilemma
becomes more pronounced at
high speed approaches with
speeds of 45 miles per hour or
greater.
Dilemma zone protection
systems monitor the approaches and will only allow the green
light to terminate when no

vehicles are detected in the dilemma zone.

Unlike loops, which can
only provide static protection
based on snapshots of data
at fixed locations, SmartSensor
Advance uses Digital Wave Radar to continuously track the
speed and distance of each vehicle detected within its field of
view, and it uses this information to determine each vehicles
estimated time of arrival at
the stop bar; the green light
is extended until SmartSensor
Advance no longer detects any
vehicles in the dilemma zone.
Bradley University evaluated SmartSensor Advance
at a high-speed, signalized

DRUM combines hardware

from MTS with software creA unique system is being de- ated by TRL: SmartSensor HD
ployed in Great Britain to help units are installed on MTS T25,
roadway officials determine solar-powered portable trailers
the best times to close lanes and deployed at road construcfor construction projects. The tion sites to collect real-time
Dynamic Roadspace Utilisa- data; the information is fed
tion Manager (DRUM) is a into TRLs software, where it
web-based service created by is processed and overlaid with
Mobile Traffic Solutions (MTS) historical data to predict the
and the Transport Research optimum time for lane closures.
Laboratory (TRL) that uses Users with access can then log
SmartSensor HD to collect into a website to view current
real-time traffic flow data; by and projected conditions as
comparing that data to histori- well as the system-generated
cal information, the system road-use plan. According to
can identify times when lane MTS, the system can improve
closures will cause the least the pace at which road projects
amount of congestion. MTS are undertaken, and it has the
is an authorized Wavetronix potential to add an extra 20
distributor.
hours of work time per week.

The system has been used

to great success on several
UK road projects since 2007,
including the Dartford Tunnel and Bell Common Tunnel
projects. The contractor for
those projects, COSTAIN, says
DRUM saved them six months
of work and benefitted drivers
by improving commute times
without compromising safety.
The trailers could be moved
to various locations, giving
enhanced snapshots of specific areas, says Howard Dukes,
traffic management manager at
COSTAIN. This flexibility allowed us to work longer on the
network than had previously
been possible, with more efficiency and less impact on the
road users.
n

The Illinois Department of

Transportation has approved
the use of SmartSensor Advance in that state, based on
results of a study conducted
last year by Bradley University. In a memo dated October 5,
2009, acting engineer of operations Aaron Weatherholt writes,
[M]icrowave based non-intrusive, dynamic dilemma zone
protection is a promising
technology to improve safety
at the high speed approaches of
signalized intersections.
Approval for sale of a product by a state department
of transportation is not an

Dynamic Roadwork Utility

Benefits British Drivers

Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010 

intersection and found that it

reduced red light running by
60 percent and yellow light
running by 75 percent, compared to loops. It is expected
that these reductions will
translate into reductions in
red light running crashes and
injuries, thus improving safety
at the study intersection.
Other states are also discovering the benefits of dynamic
dilemma zone protection. Recently, the Pennsylvania DOT
approved SmartSensor Advance for use in that state; in
Ohio, not only has SmartSensor Advance been approved, it
has also been added to Ohio
DOTs engineering manual.n

Cover Story

Making Waves
From its inception as a weapon of war to its
modern traffic detection applications, the invention of radar has left a lasting impression.
By David Arnold

pecial agents, secret meetings, global conspiracies

and top secret gadgets. What may sound like the plot of
a James Bond movie is, in fact, the true history of radar,
and its a fascinating story that mixes military strength
with scientific innovation.
Long before radar technology was applied to intelligent traffic
detection, it was wielded as a very effective weapon of war. Radar,
short for radio detection and ranging, is simply the transmission
and reception of electromagnetic waves. When a radio wave
encounters an object, it is deflected and returned to a receiver;
by calculating the distance to the object, radar can pinpoint
where the object is, and, when applicable, how fast it is moving.
Radar beams can be transmitted at a variety of wavelengths; the
shorter the wavelength, the more accurate the detections. In war,

6Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010

Cover Story

s Marconi Tower, part of the Chain Home station network

microwave radar gave Allied militaries a distinct advantage in

detecting enemy attacks and locating enemy forces; in intelligent
transportation, it has proven to be a highly accurate, reliable and
cost effective way to detect and manage traffic.
Few people know the true story of how radar was developed.
Like many inventions, it is impossible to attribute radar to just
one group or person. In fact, by 1930, several different countries
were working on some form of radar, including France, Germany,
Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the Soviet Union and the United States.
But the giant leap forward in radar technology that occurred in
the early years of World War II can be attributed directly to the
scientific and industrial complex that existed in the US, and a top
secret British invention called the cavity magnetron.

Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010 

The effects of that leap forward were astounding. Many historians consider radar to be the key to the Allied victory in World War
II. Among them is Robert Buderi, a former technology editor for
BusinessWeek. In his book, The Invention that Changed the World:
How a Small Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War
and Launched a Technological Revolution (1996, Simon & Schuster, New York), Buderi writes that the atomic bomb only ended
the war. Radar won it. And, Buderi notes, the benefits of radar
continue today, from air travel and vehicle traffic detection to
modern cell phones and the microwave oven. All of these innovations and more owe their existence to the development of radar.

Cover Story
Aftermath of WWI

According to Buderi, the term radar is

generally attributed to US Navy officers
Samuel Tucker and F.R. Furth, and adopted by that service in November 1940. But
the development of radar began more than
a half century before that with the work of
James Clerk Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz.
Maxwell was the first to explore the mathematics of electromagnetism, and in 1873,
he predicted that radio waves would share
the same properties as visible light. Fifteen
years later, Hertz proved that Maxwell was
right when he showed that electromagnetic waves moved at the speed of light
and could be reflected, refracted, diffracted
and polarized. Later experiments by Italys
Guglielmo Marconi, Americas Arthur Edwin Kennelly, Britains Oliver Heaviside
and many others, all contributed to the
worlds understanding of radio waves.
Unfortunately, it took the brutality of
war for anyone to consider radars potential. During World War I, Great Britain
had suffered more than 100 air raids by
German zeppelins and bombers, resulting in 1,413 deaths and more than 3,400
injuries. The war-weary leaders of Britains government adopted what Buderi
describes as a fatalistic view, declaring
publicly that it was impossible to protect
Great Britain from attack. By 1934, a very
vocal faction led by Winston Churchill
rose in opposition to the governments
stance, demanding that Britain begin the
rearmament process immediately. Frederick Lindemann, an Oxford professor and

close friend of Churchill, wrote at the time,

That there is at present no means of preventing hostile bombers I believe to be
true; that no method can be devised to
safeguard great centres of population from
such a fate appears to me to be profoundly
improbable. To adopt a defeatist attitude
in the face of such a threat is inexcusable
until all the resources of science and
invention have been exhausted.
Britain had good reason to be worried. In January 1933, Hitler was elected
chancellor of Germany, and almost immediately he began to mobilize a growing
Nazi military. At the time, few perceived
Hitler as a genuine threat, but the idea of a
dominant German military was enough to
cause concern. Great Britain responded by
organizing the Committee for the Scientific Survey of Air Defence, for the purpose
of seeing how far recent advances in scientific and technical knowledge can be
used to strengthen the present methods
of defence against hostile aircraft.
Committee members considered any
and every possible application, no matter
how absurd. In fact, modern radar owes
its creation to a particularly outrageous
ideathe death ray. Buderi writes that the
British government had received numerous oddball proposals for the ultimate
weapon, and had even offered a standing
reward of one thousand pounds to anyone who built a death ray that could kill
a sheep at a hundred yards. The task of
pursuing this idea was assigned to Robert
Watson Watt, superintendent of the radio

t A German Heinkel HE 111 bomber

research department at the National Physical Laboratory. Watt and a junior assistant
quickly realized how impractical, if not
impossible, the task was. But the assistant
remembered a memo he had seen from the
government postal service, which oversees
radio and television broadcasting in Great
Britain, as well as shortwave communications. The memo stated that the postal
service had noticed disturbances in radio
transmissions when airplanes flew near
their receivers. The assistant suggested that
perhaps this disturbance could be the basis
of an aircraft detection system.
Watts enthusiastically reported this
theory to the committee, and the British
leadership immediately envisioned a defense network that could detect and warn
of impending attacks. A team of the countrys top scientists, physicists and engineers
was quickly assembled, and their work resulted in the Chain Home station network,
a series of 350-foot tall radar towers that
were constructed along Britains south and
east coasts.

A New War

By April 1939, Chain Home station towers

stretched from the southern tip of England
to a point about halfway up Scotland. The
system worked surprisingly well, sending
out pulses of radio energy at wavelengths
of ten to thirteen meters that could detect enemy aircraft more than 100 miles
away. The benefits of radar were obviousit operated around the clock and
t Bell Laboratories

Photo courtesy of Deutsches Bundesarchiv. (CC) Attribution, Share Alike.

8Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010

Cover Story
in all weather conditions, offering early
warning of pending attacks.
But the Chain Home network was
far from perfect. [Its] glaring weakness,
Buderi writes, lay in its inability to spot
planes at altitudes belowtwenty-eight
thousand feet at a distance of one hundred
miles. The system also had problems with
elevation-finding, and bearings were often
found to be off by as much as twelve degrees. This mattered little in daytime, when
pilots could visually correct for the several
mile error range inherent in the systems
long operating wavelengths, but at night,
Buderi writes, pilots needed to be steered
to within roughly a thousand feet of their
quarry before [they] could see well enough
to carry out an attack.
The benefits and weaknesses of the system were soon put to the test. War was
declared in September 1939, and on July 10,
1940, the German air force began attacks
in hopes of weakening the island nation
before a full-scale invasion. Although the
Chain Home radar was often clunky and
inaccurate, it gave the British just enough
of an edge to prevent the Germans from
making any headway. By the end of the
summer, the Germans had learned enough
about the Chain Home system to move attacks to night, when the British response
was far less effective.
The team responsible for the Chain
Home network quickly realized they
needed to develop a smaller system with
much shorter, more focused wavelengths.
Fitted into nightfighters, such a device

continued on page 12
t The Chain Home station network coverage

t The cavity magnetron

Output coupling
loop

would generate sharper pulsesmaking being diverted to the war. Britain needed
it immensely easier for pilots to home in help, and they knew that only the United
on their quarry even on the darkest nights, States, who was not yet involved in the
writes Buderi. The scientists guessed that if war, had the industrial infrastructure in
they could produce radar with wavelengths place for mass production, and the money
of just centimeters, aircraft could be necessary to finance the endeavor.
equipped to pick out even U-boats, which
Sir Henry Tizard, an Oxford-trained
were wreaking havoc on shipping lanes chemist and chairman of the British
vital for supplies and troop movements. governments Science Committee on Air
The quest to generate microwaves was on. Defence, pushed the idea of an exchange
mission to America for the purpose of preThe British Advantage
senting the cavity magnetron and asking for
The problem was, no device existed that Americas help. While some in the governcould generate enough power to sustain ment insisted on a secret-for-secret trade
a microwave radar system. The solution with the US, newly-elected Prime Miniswas discovered by two physicists from the ter Winston Churchill demanded that the
University of Birmingham in February exchange, known informally as the Tizard
1940. The cavity magnetron was a small Mission, be made with no strings attached.
device, shaped, according to Buderi, like
The delegates of the Tizard Mission set
a pint-sized engine rotor with a series of sail for America in September 1940, just
cylindrical holes cut into its body. It could as Germany began its nightly bombing
generate pulses of microwave energy on a raids on London. They demonstrated the
wavelength of about ten centimeters, and it cavity magnetron to members of Americas
was so powerful, according to Buderi, that National Defense Research Committee, a
the conventional scientific wisdom of the group of scientists and industrialists ortime doubted anything like it would be ganized by presidential order just two
possible for years.
months before. The demonstration took
The British scientists immediately place at the Bell Telephone Laboratories
recognized the devices potential. A ten- facility in Whippany, New Jersey, on
centimeter radar was exactly what they Sunday, 6 October. Edward Bowen, the
needed for the airborne radar applications Welsh physicist who had carried the cavthey envisioned. But the cavity magnetron ity magnetron to America and was now
was plagued by a series of technical glitch- responsible for its demonstration, later
es, the most serious of which was uneven recalled how nervous he was, not knowpower performance. British industry was ing if the device was going to work. Very
limited in its production capacity, and the gingerly, we switched on the anode potenthreat of attack meant most resources were tial and were immediately rewarded with a

Resonating cavity

Copper
anode block

Oxide-coated
cathode

Leads to cathode
& heater

Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010 

Cover Story

Adolf Hitler Photo courtesy of Deutsches Bundesarchiv. (CC) Attribution, Share Alike.

10Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010

Cover Story

Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010 

11

Cover Story
continued from page 9

glow discharge about an inch long coming

from the output terminal.
Bowen didnt need to worry. On-thespot estimates put the power output at
between ten and fifteen kilowatts, around
seven times greater than the power generated by Bell Labs own microwave radar, a
forty-centimeter set being developed for
the US Navy. Buderi notes, [It] was likely
better than the promised factor of a thousand greater than anything available on
such a short wavelength in the US.

assistants moved in and began the work

of copying and perfecting the cavity magnetron. Initially, the lab was named the
Microwave Laboratory, but the name was
later changed to the Radiation Laboratory
in order to mislead any foreign spies. Over
time, it became informally known as the
Rad Lab.
The labs work proceeded at a breathtaking speed. The cavity magnetron was
reproduced and its power performance
stabilized; microwave radar systems were
built that combined the British advanceThe Rad Lab
ment with American advances in receivers,
The Americans were suitably impressed. and each system was tested and then reBuderi writes, Even those not working tested to optimize performance. Within
directly with the remarkable device were just a few months, an airborne system was
stunned by its potential. The demonstra- installed and tested in a B-18 bomber, and
tion galvanized the American science the results were astounding. First, the airgroup into action. Assignments were borne set was able to detect a small target
made to Bell Telephone Laboratories and plane flying at a distance of three miles

Photo courtesy of MIT Museum

Lessons from Pearl Harbor

Following these and other successes, work

at the Rad Lab took on a feverish pace.
Now that an airborne system was proven
and made operational, other projects began to take off, including improvements
to sub-hunting radars, long-range navigation radars and radar for anti-aircraft gun
direction. The atmosphere at the Rad Lab
fostered independent thought as well as
open collaboration, and many projects began as a whim that was allowed to develop
toward either success or failure.
In the midst of this work, the British
scientists worried over daily reports of

Photo courtesy of MIT Museum

s Building 22 at MIT housed the Radiation Laboratory

General Electric to develop receiver technologies; in order to pursue production

of transmitters, the NDRC membership
knew they needed a lab of their own, run
by civilian scientists and free from military
oversight. It was decided that all research
would be funded by the NDRC, with access to more federal monies through the
White House.
The NDRC chose to base the microwave
research laboratory at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. The school had a
rich history in microwave research and it
was recognized as one of Americas top
research universities. It was also located
in close proximity to Washington DC.
MIT president Karl Compton agreed to
give the laboratory a dedicated space, and
teams of scientists, physicists and research

modern cars would cost about a dollar and

go a thousand miles on a gallon of gas. We
were correspondingly awed by the cavity magnetron. Suddenly it was clear that
microwave radar was there for the asking.

away. Next, the radars elevation scan was

switched off, leaving just azimuth and
range signals, and the radar was able to
detect a large ship cruising Cape Cod Bay
some two thousand feet below the plane.
Finally, the plane flew over the US Navy
submarine yards at New Haven, Connecticut, and the radar picked up several
submarines cruising the surface, in what
proved to be the first ever air-to-ground
radar detection of a sub.
The effects of the cavity magnetron on
the development of radar could not be
overstated. Luis Alvarez, one of the original Rad Lab employees, later recalled, A
sudden improvement by a factor of three
thousand may not surprise physicists, but
it is almost unheard of in engineering. If
automobiles had been similarly improved,

s Vying for space in the halls of the Rad Lab

German bombings back home, while the

American scientists remained neutral and
unaffected. That attitude took a dramatic
turn, however, on December 7, 1941. Not
many people realize that at least three Navy
radar stations in Hawaii detected the first
wave of Japanese fighters more than an
hour before they attacked Pearl Harbor.
At the Opana station, the radar operators
screen suddenly erupted with detections,
and at first the soldier thought it was a system malfunction. After determining the
system was operating properly, the soldier
contacted a senior officer, who dismissed
the detections. No further action was taken. An hour later, the US military suffered
one of the worst attacks in its history.
The attack on Pearl Harbor not only
galvanized the American military, it also

12Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010

Cover Story
forced them to look at how they used radar.
By this time, both the Americans and the
British had ground-to-air radar in place, but
unlike the British, the Americans had no
system to use the radar effectively. Realizing
that the Opana station had provided early
warning of the attack, the American military now saw radar as a powerful weapon
and took the necessary steps to implement
radar at all levels of the war effort.
The attack galvanized the Rad Lab as
well. A new urgency erupted around the
work, and as a result, the top secret lab
outgrew the space at MIT that had originally been allotted to it. The lab moved into
another building on campus, while two
new buildings were hastily constructed,
including Building 22, an ugly wooden
building meant as a temporary structure
that would go on to house the remnants
of the Rad Lab until 1998.

be answered, the Allied forces would lose

the war. They developed a more coherent
strategy that centered on the airborne radar systems that had continued to progress
from the Rad Labs initial test. In the first
few months of 1943, the Allied response
began sinking or damaging more and
more U-boats, while the German forces
began to sink or damage fewer and fewer
ships. In May, the Germans lost a record
31 U-boats in the Atlantic alone, and by
the end of the month, the German commander of the U-boat fleet was ready to
admit defeat. In his journal, Karl Dnitz
wrote, Thus our losses have reached
an intolerable level. The enemy air force
played a decisive role in inflicting these
high losses. This was due to the increased
use of his improved location devices.
Buderi notes that the Allied victory over
the U-boat was a result of a combination

Lab and the extraordinary technological

advancement of the cavity magnetron,
radar was simply eclipsed at wars end by
the atomic bomb. As one biographer later
noted: Scores of books would be written
about the bomb and the people who built
it; the radar story would remain in the archives at MIT.
Still, the indelible impact of radar
on modern life cannot be ignored. The
technology behind microwave ovens, for
example, is a direct descendant of the cavity magnetron. Nearly every modern radar
application, including weather tracking
and reporting; speed limit enforcement;
air travel tracking and control; and space
exploration, can be traced back to the work
performed by the Radiation Laboratory
during World War II.
Even radar multi-lane traffic detectors
owe their technology to the advance-

Photo by Tim Reynaga. (CC) Attribution, Share Alike.

s A Douglas B-18 Bolo (top) and a German Type VIIc U-boat (bottom)

Battle for the Atlantic

The radar systems developed by the Rad

Lab had a profound effect on the outcome
of the war. Nowhere was that more evident
than in the Battle for the Atlantic. Even as
radar was successfully reducing the threat
of German attacks from the air, the threat
of U-boat attacks on ships was increasing. German submarines were deployed
in wolf packs from the North Atlantic
to the coast of West Africa. To defeat the
sonar used by the British, which could only
track the submarines underwater, U-boats
would surface and attack at night. On average, the U-boats sunk around one hundred
ships per month, culminating in a wartime
record of 117 ships during November 1942.
By 1943, Allied commanders acknowledged that unless the U-boat threat could

Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010 

s Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor

of factors, including British efforts to break

German codes. But there is no question
of the important role microwave radar
played in turning the tide to the Allied
forces advantage. Captain S.W. Roskill, official British Navy historian, wrote, [T]he
centimetric radar set stands out above all
other achievements because it enabled us
to attack at night and in poor visibility.
American historian Samuel Eliot Morison
agreed, saying, Microwave radar made
possible the large number of kills by aircraft
in the spring and early summer of 1943.

Modern Applications

Unfortunately, that was the extent of the

public recognition for radars contributions. Despite a concerted PR effort to
publicize the very secret work of the Rad

ments made over 60 years ago at the Rad

Lab. The benefits of these detectors are
much the same as those of early radar systemsall-day, all-weather performance.
When deployed in a cohesive, well-organized system, radar traffic detectors like
the Digital Wave Radar devices manufactured by Wavetronix have proven to be an
effective, reliable alternative to traditional,
embedded technologies. And although the
Radiation Laboratory was officially closed
at the end of the war, Buderi writes that it
has emerged as a science and technology
incubator on a scale probably unprecedented in history. Wavetronix is proud
to be a part of that legacy.
n

13

Rise above

Nonintrusive, Digital Wave Radar se

detection for a variety of applications

e the road.

ensors from Wavetronix provide safe, accurate, and cost effective vehicle
s that leave the competition buried.
www.wavetronix.com

Feature Article

Riding a Digital Wave

By Bryan Jarrett

Wavetronix leadership in the radar traffic detection market hasnt come by accident. Its the
result of years of expertise from one of the best
engineering teams in the industry.

Members of the original SmartSensor team (from left

to right: Ross Ericksen, Thomas Karlinsey, Bryan Jarrett,
Randy St. John, and Ryan Smith) conduct radio detection
and ranging tests (circa 2003).

avid Arnold knows radar. As a graduate student,

Dr. Arnold studied under some of the brightest minds in
electromagnetics and benefited from the rich legacy in
radar left by the Radiation Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a businessman, he has
surrounded himself with an expert, dedicated engineering team
to create some of the most accurate and reliable radar devices in
the traffic detection industry. At the core of these products is a
patented technology known as Digital Wave Radar.
Digital Wave Radar is a method for generating a frequency
modulated, continuous wave (FMCW) radar signal that remains
stable over time and despite changes in temperature. It produces
a high-fidelity signal and is the first radar technology designed
and manufactured specifically for traffic detection. This results in
more precise vehicle detections, which translates to more accurate
vehicle volume, speed and lane occupancy data. The performance
of this technology, which has been tested and proven over a
number of years, is the foundation of all SmartSensor products
manufactured by Wavetronix.

Legacy of Innovation

Prior to founding Wavetronix in 2000, Dr. Arnold had already

established an impressive background in electromagnetics,
with special emphasis on the mathematics of radar and the

16Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010

Feature Article

development of processing systems. He studied at MIT from

1987 to 1992, earning a doctorate degree in electrical engineering.
The most notable building on the MIT campus was the
plywood structure that had been cobbled together to temporarily house part of the Radiation Laboratory during the Second
World War, Arnold recalls. In many ways it was the birthplace
of American radar, and walking through it was like walking
through history.
While there, Arnold was awarded two separate research assistanceships in the departments left over from the Radiation
Laboratory. When the Rad Lab was closed at the end of the war,
the equipment and knowledge base was essentially divided in
half, he says, and MIT created two new entities, the Research
Laboratory of Electronics and the MIT Lincoln Laboratory. As
an assistant in the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Dr. Arnold participated in a ground-scanning radar project for the United States
Air Force; later, Dr. Arnold joined the technical teams for the
TOPEX/Poseidon and JASON-1 space/ocean altimetry programs
in the Research Laboratory of Electronics.
I received a big dose of radar during my time at MIT, Arnold says, and I came away from the experience with a working
knowledge of radar design, remote sensing and electromagnetic
wave theory.

Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010 

According to Arnold, much of the work he did at MIT was

possible because of the work done decades before at the Rad
Lab. His advisor, Jin Au Kong, had studied the works of Julius A.
Stratton, one of the principle participants in the Rad Labs efforts
during the war, and the first director of the Research Laboratory
of Electronics after the war ended. Kong counted Stratton among
his mentors and heroes. The MIT faculty provided a link to the
work done by the Rad Lab back then, so I feel I benefitted directly
from it, Arnold says.

Assembling the Team

After completing his graduate studies, Dr. Arnold accepted a

teaching position at Brigham Young University. As part of his
duties, he helped manage the Microwave Earth Remote Sensing
(MERS) lab, which performed research on a variety of radarrelated projects, including low-cost, high-performance systems,
data processing and radar imaging. At this time he became friends
with a fellow professor, Dr. Mike Jensen, and the two co-founded
a software development company, AJ Design, whose line of CAD
tools is currently marketed by Agilent Technologies.
On the heels of that successful business, Dr. Arnold was given
the opportunity to build a company on his expertise in radar. In
1999, he began researching radar applications in a number of different industries and discovered that radar was an under-utilized

17

Feature Article
technology in the intelligent transportation systems market.
The first radar traffic detectors to hit
the market were bulky units that used
off-the-shelf radar components that were
not designed for traffic applications, says
Arnold. The performance of these first
generation detectors was adequate but not
stellar, and they required a difficult and
precise installation and alignment process
in order to provide optimal results. Says
Arnold, I knew that ITS and traffic management applications would benefit from
a radar technology designed specifically
for traffic detection.
In 2000, Arnold and Jensen co-founded
Wavetronix and immediately began assembling an engineering team with the
knowledge and skills their new company
required. There is an old saying that if
you want the best fruit, you go straight to
the tree, Arnold says. Thats what we did.
We identified individuals we had worked
with at BYUs MERS lab that we knew had
the skills we would need to make a successful product.
I am fortunate to have been counted
among that initial group. Randy St. John
and I did our Masters theses work with
Dr. Arnold at BYU, and after graduating, we were both employed at Raytheon
Missile Systems Group, where we worked
in algorithm development and gained a
familiarity with current military radar systems. At Wavetronix, we contributed to
the development of Digital Wave Radars
algorithms, an integral part of the technologys performance.
The other members of the initial team
at Wavetronix had similar experience
and brought a similar level of expertise to
the development of Digital Wave Radar.
Thomas Karlinsey, Ryan Smith and Jonathan Waite had all worked with Dr. Arnold
in the MERS lab at BYU: Waite brought
an extensive background in hardware and
algorithm development from his Masters
thesis on the use of radar to detect obstacles on railroad tracks; Smith contributed
greatly to the development of the hardware that produces Digital Wave Radar,
and he has since left Wavetronix to start
his own company, Imsar, which produces
digital radar for military applications; and

Karlinsey, who was employed at Motorola

to work on a satellite phone system before
joining Wavetronix, where he has been
responsible for antenna design and algorithm development.
When I first showed up for work at Wavetronix, we really didnt know exactly what
we were going to make. We knew we were
developing radar, and we knew it would
have something to do with traffic, but exactly what was still unclear, Karlinsey says.
And then one day Jonathan, Ryan and I
were wheeling a cart of prototype equipment past the front of our building, and I
remember how excited we got when we saw
the trace on an oscilloscope wiggle whenever a car would drive by. That was really
the first incarnation of Digital Wave Radar.

Digital Effects

that this method decreases resolution

slightly by introducing nonlinearities in
the radar chirp, a problem that is almost
unnoticeable at the 50 MHz transmit
bandwidth of the original SmartSensor.
However, this method simply doesnt
work for the 250 MHz bandwidth used
by SmartSensor HD. Instead, SmartSensor
HDs Digital Wave Radar II utilizes a direct
digital synthesizer (DDS) that is driven by
a crystal clock that prevents temperature
changes or time from being an issue.
Second, Digital Wave Radar II actually
improves resolution. The DDS operates at
a lower frequency, so the signal is mixed
and multiplied up to the 24 GHz band. In
this frequency multiplying scheme, two
signals are mixed together and unwanted signals are filtered out to achieve the
desired result. This effectively shifts the
signal to a higher frequency, and since the
underlying harmonics dont move with
temperature or age, there is still no loss in
signal stability, Arnold explains.
Digital Wave Radar is now recognized
as a superior technology for radar traffic
detection, and deployments of the SmartSensor products that use this technology
are rapidly expanding around the world.
Dr. Arnold views the success of Digital
Wave Radar as an important, if relatively
unknown, part of the legacy of radar development in the United States.
When I left BYU to start Wavetronix,
my MIT advisor, Jin Kong, was very disappointed. He felt I should stay in academia
to help pass this legacy on to the next
generation of engineers, Arnold says. I
believe Ive done that through business.
The proof, Dr. Arnold says, lies in the
spirit of quality, innovation and integrity
that has been embraced by every employee
at Wavetronix. We arent content with the
status quo, and we will always be committed to the research and development of the
best products, says Arnold. I think thats
the real legacy of the Rad Labthat we
never stop innovating.
n

That early prototype marked the first

step in Wavetronix growth as a company.
Digital Wave Radar debuted in 2002 with
the release of the original SmartSensor;
development then continued, producing
an improved Digital Wave Radar II that
debuted in 2006 as the signal processing
platform for SmartSensor HD. The differences between the two versions are
significant, and the benefits of each have
had a lasting, positive impact on the traffic
detection market.
First, Digital Wave Radar actively prevents the signal from slipping out of band.
The performance of analog devices can be
affected by changes in temperature and
as the devices age; as a result, system designers can lose control of the transmitted
signal. The signal will actually slip out of
its transmission bandwidth, in some cases
enough to no longer be compliant with
FCC regulations, Arnold says. When the
transmit bandwidth changes, the detected
range to an object will also shift, resulting
in inaccurate vehicle detections.
Digital Wave Radar solves this problem
by locking the radar signal to a crystal time
reference. The first Digital Wave Radar
found in the original SmartSensor and
SmartSensor Advance uses a phase lock
loop to continuously correct any variation Bryan Jarrett serves as the Vice-president of
in the hardware, says Arnold. This is a Engineering at Wavetronix.
very effective, low cost method of eliminating signal drift. Dr. Arnold acknowledges

18Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010

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Feature Article

Technology
Leap

By Don Leavitt

The proven accuracy and reliability of SmartSensor HD has

made it a viable alternative to
loops for traffic detection applications in Denmark.

t Officials in Denmark have found SmartSensor HD to be a

viable option for loop replacement.

omething revolutionary is
happening in the kingdom of Denmark. Like the rest of Europe, the
Scandinavian nation has traditionally relied on loops for real-time
traffic detection. In fact, loops have been so
effective, many European transportation
agencies are reluctant to even consider other technologies. But now, after extensive
testing, the Danish National Road Administration (Vejdirektoratet) is discovering
the benefits of radar, and the high resolution accuracy of SmartSensor HD.
Currently, the Danish National Road
Administration is using SmartSensor HD in
place of loops for traffic management and
queue warning detection on arterial roads.
Wavetronix is represented in Denmark by
Olsen Engineering A/S, an authorized Wavetronix distributor. Olsen Engineering has
established a strong presence throughout
Scandinavia and the Baltic region, and according to Hanneke Spijkers Arlgade, has
earned a reputation for excellence in many
areas of road traffic management, particularly in the integration of technologies and
services that increase mobility and improve
the environment.
We provide system solutions for traffic
regulation, traffic guidance technologies,
enforcement, road safety and parking,
says Ms. Arlgade, a marketing consultant
at Olsen Engineering.

Viable Alternative

SmartSensor HD operates in the 245

megahertz bandwidth and produces a radar beam with five times greater resolution
than other radar traffic detection devices.
The sensor is built on Wavetronix core
Digital Wave Radar technology, so it is
easy to set up and does not need continuous calibration. That is a main advantage
of the sensor, Arlgade says.
Armed with high definition radar,
SmartSensor HD sees all vehicles within
its field of view, and not just those detected in pre-defined zones. It features a
unique dual radar design that performs
like a dual-loop speed trap, measuring the
time it takes a vehicle to pass from one
beam to the next to create accurate speed
data for individual vehicles. It is that high
level of performance that attracted Olsen

Engineering. This is an incredibly accurate radar, says Arlgade. It can provide

per vehicle speeds to within four miles per
hour, and it also provides more precise
vehicle classifications. Plus, she adds, it
is easy to install and configure. In some
ways, it is almost the same as loops, and
in other ways, its better.

Loops Legacy

The comparison to loops is high praise in

Europe, where loops have set the detection standard for decades. Loops meet
the tough vehicle flow error specifications
required by many ITS applications, and
they are the standard by which all other
detectors are measured, Arlgade says. One
reason for that, she says, is their versatility.
They measure flow and occupancy and
they can estimate vehicle speeds. They can
be used to activate traffic control devices
or for congestion and incident detection.
Loops have been a proven technology
for many years, and traffic professionals,
particularly in Europe, are skeptical of how
other detection technologies will perform.
Loops offer a well-defined zone of detection, and they are an excellent choice when
it comes to traffic statistics where you need
a high level of detail, she says. When they
are properly installed and maintained,
loops perform well in all weather and in
both high and low traffic volumes.
However, loops do have challenges, and
Arlgade acknowledges that installation and
maintenance are key factors. Loops are
installed in or under the road, and the
process takes quite a bit of time and can
be expensive, she says. It can also have a
negative effect on traffic flow.
Also, roads can be a very hostile environment, and in-ground detectors like
loops generally require more maintenance than above-ground devices. To
repair loops, you need to block the road,
which interferes with the flow of traffic,
and the work can be very time consuming, says Arlgade. But it can also be very
expensive. Doing the work and staying safe
often requires very expensive equipment,
and many times the work is done at night
to minimize traffic disturbances, so the
agency is forced to pay overtime wages.

20Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010

Feature Article
These costs, combined with the impact loop installation and maintenance
can have on traffic, have led many transportation agencies, including Denmarks
road authority, to seek alternative, nonintrusive devices. Roadside technologies
are relatively easy to install and do not require any intrusive reconstruction of the
roadway, so installation does not interfere
with traffic flow, Arlgade says. This is a
big advantage, especially for primary road
networks where the more equipment you
can place at the side of the road, the better.

Tested and Proven

Unfortunately, most non-intrusive technologies have failed to provide the same

level of performance as loops, so transportation officials have been reluctant to
deploy them.
In order to be considered as a viable
loop replacement, roadside devices have
been required to be a stable technology
that operates independent of weather conditions, says Arlgade. In addition, theyve
been required to meet the same tough error specifications.
Digital Wave Radar is the first nonintrusive detection technology to show
real promise as a replacement for loops,
and the benefits of radar made the technology an attractive alternative for the
Danish National Road Administration.
The administration decided to pursue
above-ground radar detection as part of
its long-term traffic management plan,
and in 2008, it initiated a rigorous test to
identify devices that meet minimum performance standards. The published test
summary states: The Danish National
Road Administration wishes to enter into
framework agreements with two suppliers of detectors designed for installation
over the road; and with two suppliers of
detectors designed for roadside installation. This test is to ensure the quality of
the detectors. Suppliers whose detectors
meet the set minimum requirements will
be invited to tender.
The test, which was conducted by
F Hansen & Henneberg in Farum, Denmark, evaluated a number of radar traffic
sensors, including SmartSensor HD. The
devices were compared against three sets

Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010 

of loop speed trap pairs, and the report

noted that, since there is great uncertainty
in count reference data, the overall assessment is made based on the accuracy of
speed data. Although several devices met
minimum requirements, test results show
that SmartSensor HD was the only device
that performed within speed accuracy requirements for all six days of the test.
Based on the results of this test, the
Danish National Road Administration
entered into a framework agreement with
Olsen Engineering for the SmartSensor
HD in early 2009, and the first sensors
were installed shortly thereafter. So far,
the administration has been pleased with
the project and with the performance offered by SmartSensor HD. The sensors
accuracy has been beneficial for the Danish National Road Administrations traffic
information applications, such as queue
warning, traffic guidance and ITS, Arlgade says.
Enthusiasm for SmartSensor HD as a
viable replacement for loops is spreading.
Olsen Engineering has also entered into a
framework agreement with the Swedish
National Road Administration, which has
installed several SmartSensor HD units
on the road between the Stockholm Airport Arlanda and Stockholm city as part
of a project connected to the ITS World
Congress show that was held there in
September 2009. Additionally, the SNRA
is using the sensor in Varberg, Sweden,
as part of its innovative Ghost Driver
wrong-way detection application.
Even more traffic detection applications are being discovered as acceptance
of SmartSensor HD and Digital Wave Radar spreads. The work Olsen Engineering
has done to identify SmartSensor HD as
an effective alternative to loops has paved
the way for these innovative sensor deployments, and Denmark is leading the
charge in the leap from loops to nonintrusive technologies.
n

Denmarks enthusiasm
for SmartSensor HD is
spreading, with sensor
installations popping up
throughout Europe.

21

Application Note

AN-0004

ITS Application Using

Command Appliances

COLLECTION

PROCESSING

DELIVERY

Figure 1. Three main data elements

Radar

Video

DataCollector

DataTranslator

VMS
Inductive Loop

DataMonitor
TUES, MAY 21
12:21 PM

ALERT!

Data Logger
Alerts
Figure 2. System overview

22Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010

Application Note
Command appliances perform the three main elements of
a typical ITS application: collection, processing and delivery
(see Figure 1).

Many ITS centers also desire timely notification of traffic incidents and congestion, for both short- and long-term purposes.
Which roads are consistently congested to speeds that are
50 percent or less of free-flow speed? How quickly can the
DataCollector manages data collection from a variety of traffic- operation center be informed of a sudden traffic accident on
detector brands, warehousing the traffic data in a common, the main highway that has two blocked lanes? With real-time
central database for other applications to use. The DataCol- data comes the potential for real-time notification of current
lector Web interface allows multiple users to monitor and traffic conditionsif the data can be efficiently leveraged
configure individual sensors from any networked workstation and analyzed.
through a Web browser.
The creation of travel times is another common and useful apDataMonitor allows incoming data to be screened for various plication that requires the quick processing of travel data into
data anomalies, such as missing/invalid data, traffic conges- useful calculations of current route conditions. Again, how can
tion or traffic incidents. Traffic operators can be automatically a variety of disparate devices and data be used to ensure that
notified of data alerts through email or a desktop pop-up travel times can be created quickly and accurately?
containing the alert information.

The DataTranslator appliance provides an interface to organize

traffic sensors in sequential routes in order to calculate travel
times. For each interval, DataTranslator grabs the most recent
data and updates the trip times to provide up-to-date traffic information. DataTranslator also provides the interface to
output data directly into legacy databases or into a variety of
output files for convenience.

ITS Application Needs

A typical ITS application requires not only the accurate collection and management of data, but also the processing of
that data in a timely manner so that the data is still useful
for real-time applications. A simple diagram of a sample ITS
application can be composed of three elements: collection,
processing and delivery.

Collection

Delivery

Obviously, data that is simply warehoused inside a computer

hard drive, no matter how accurate, is not very useful. The
next challenge for a traffic center is determining how to deliver the results of the data analysis to the appropriate people
or locations. Travel times will need to be displayed on local
variable message signs so that drivers can benefit from the
current traffic condition reports. Or, alternately, the times can
be displayed on a publicly accessible website where commuters can check current traffic conditions. Traffic operators will
need to know that a traffic incident may have occurred due to
a sudden drop in traffic speed, and personal attention may be
needed. Raw data will also need to be processed and exported
into more human-digestible forms, including various daily and
monthly reports.
In summary, listed below are the key questions to answer:

The goal of the collection phase is to gather traffic data from a Collection
variety of devices and manage the data in a convenient manner. Complicating the issue is that DOTs may have a number of How can we collect data from disparate devices with different
different brands of devices, each with unique communication
protocols and configurations?
protocols and configuration options. How does an ITS application handle communication with disparate devices while still How do we know if the devices are still functioning or if the
ensuring that the data is collected in a common usable format?
data is any good?
The second problem is how to make sure that each device is
still functioning and that the incoming data is usable. How do
ITS operators keep track of each device to know in a timely
manner if communication problems arise?

Processing

The primary challenge in the processing phase is analyzing and

utilizing the data in a timely manner for useful applications.
Many ITS centers already have existing legacy databases or
other systems that cannot be completely abandoned. How can
data be moved and shared between the new and old systems
allowing the smooth function of all ITS systems?

Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010 

Processing
How do we check for traffic incidents and congestion?
How do we organize traffic data to calculate trip times based
on current conditions?
Delivery
How can we be notified in a timely manner if/when traffic
anomalies occur?

23

Application Note
How do we view data in a convenient formmove it to a
legacy database system that is already in use or output the
data in usable file formats?

Command Appliances as the Solution

Command appliances provide a complete solution for the

collection, processing and delivery of traffic data, answering
each of the above questions.
How can we collect data from disparate devices with different
protocols and configurations?

How do we organize traffic data to calculate trip times based on

current conditions?
Using the DataTranslator application, you can create routes
based on existing data sites, as well as tie different data sources
together to serve as the data backbone for trip-time calculation.
For ease, DataCollector data can be used for DataTranslator trip
times. It is also possible to use other data sources either in lieu
of or in conjunction with a networked DataCollector.

The DataTranslator trip-time processor can handle both point

speeds (detectors that return the current speed of traffic at a
The DataCollector driver system allows collection from a variety given location) and other non-speed based inputs (e.g., detecof device brands using a common architecture. Each individual tors that determine queue length, or probe data that tracks
driver is tailored to collect data (and convert it into a common individual vehicles from one point on the road to another).
DataCollector format if necessary), and also to support any DataTranslator also has the capability of throwing out data that
secondary commands that the device protocol supports (clear is beyond certain ranges and/or automatically adjusting the
buffers, download or modify configuration, sync time, etc.). data based on, for example, local speed limits. The trip-time
These individual commands to different devices can be trig- algorithm can weight speeds based on volume counts, and it
gered through the DataCollector Web interface, which allows can fill in gaps in the data using speeds from adjacent sensor
any user to access the application using a Web browser from locations, providing the most accurate picture possible of the
any networked workstation.
current travel time.
How do we know if the devices are still functioning or if the data
is any good?

How can we be notified in a timely manner if/when traffic anomalies occur?

The DataCollector Web interface lists each of the currently You can be informed of missing/invalid data or of traffic conregistered devices in a grid with a status light showing a good, ditions such as accidents and congestion quickly using either
warning or error status. The main page also shows a data snap- email or DataMonitors desktop widget. With the widget, any
shot containing the most recent data packet for an at-a-glance networked workstation will receive a pop-up that gives specific
view of current data values.
information about the incident, including location and severity.
Camera actions, such as automatically opening a Web page
The Web interface also contains a record of recent sensor con- with the appropriate camera feed for the affected area, can
nection attempts (up to 100) showing successes and failures, also be linked to DataMonitor alerts.
which allows operators to easily see the recent connection
history and any minor or major communication problems.
How do we view data in a convenient formmove it to a legacy
database system that is already in use or output the data in usFor automated data validation, the DataMonitor plug-in for able file formats?
DataCollector allows incoming data streams to be automatically checked for any data anomalies such as missing data DataTranslator, in addition to providing trip-time calculations,
intervals or out-of-range values. DataMonitor automatically can bridge the gap between legacy systems and convert data
finds and sends an alert if one or more collection devices is into various output files.
returning data outside the bounds of normal operation, or if
a collection device isnt returning data at all.
DataTranslator can automatically output data to a number of
file formatssuch as text, Excel, XML, HTML or PDFon a
How do we check for traffic incidents and congestion?
user-defined schedule. After the files are created, DataTranslator can attach them to an email message with one or more
In addition to checking for missing or invalid data, the Data- recipient.
n
Monitor plug-in is capable of checking for incident conditions
(i.e., data values that are still valid yet represent a condition
slightly out of the ordinary for normal traffic flow). The automatic data monitoring can check for low speeds and/or high
occupancies using user-defined parameters for individual sensors or a series of sequential sensors along an organized route.

24Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010

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70

Distributors

north & south america

Canada
Fortran Traffic Systems Limited
470 Midwest Road
Toronto, Ontario M1P 4Y5
p +1 (416) 288 1320
www.fortrantraffic.com
New Brunswick, Newfoundland
and Labrador, Nova Scotia,
Ontario, Prince Edward Island
Interprovincial Traffic Services
Unit #1, 2153-192nd Street
Surrey, BC V35 3X2
p +1 (604) 542 8500
f +1 (604) 542 8501
www.interprovincial.com
Alberta, British Columbia,
Manitoba, Northwest Territories,
Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Yukon
Tassimco Technologies
3100 Jacob Jordan
Terrebonne, QC J6X 4J6
p +1 (450) 477 5262
www.tassimco.com
Quebec

united states
Advanced Traffic Products
909 SE Everett Mall Way, Suite
B280
Everett, WA 98208
p +1 (425) 347 6208
www.advancedtraffic.com
Alaska, Arizona, California,
Colorado, Idaho, Montana,
Nevada, Oregon, Washington,
Wyoming
ASTI
18 Blevins Drive
New Castle, DE 19720
p +1 (302) 328 3220
www.asti-trans.com
Delaware

Highway Tech
6 Sabattus Road
PO Box 1209
Sabattus, ME 04280
p +1 (207) 375 8248
Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Rhode Island,
Vermont
Marbelite Co., Inc.
PO Box 239
Manasquan, NJ 08736
p +1 (732) 292 2100
www.marbsignal.com
New York
Mid American Signal
2429 S. Mill Street
Kansas City, KS 66103
p +1 (913) 432 5002
www.midamsignal.com
Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Western
Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma
Path Master, Inc.
1960 Midway Drive
Twinsburg, OH 44087
p +1 (330) 425 4994
www.pathmasterinc.com
Kentucky, Ohio, Western
Pennsylvania, West Virginia
RGA Inc.
1550 Standing Ridge Drive, Suite
100
Powhatan, VA 23139
p +1 (804) 794 1592
f +1 (804) 379 1016
www.rga-traffic.com
Maryland, Virginia
Quality Traffic
862 Visco Drive
Nashville, TN 37210
p (615) 772-7600
f (615) 321-8145
e bsensing@qtraf.com
www.qtraf.com
Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee
Signal Control Products, Inc.
199 Evans Way
Branchburg, NJ 08876
p +1 (908) 231 1133
f +1 (908) 707 0333
www.signalcontrol.com
New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania

Signal Service, Inc.

43 Franklin Street
East Hartford, CT 06108
p +1 (860) 289 8033
www.signalservice.net
Connecticut
Summit Traffic Solutions
11757 W Ken Caryl Avenue,
Suite F-411
Littleton, CO 80127
p +1 (303) 933 2843
m +1 (303) 717 1917
f +1 (720) 836 4844
e info@summit-traffic.com
www.summit-traffic.com
New Mexico, Utah
Traffic Control Corporation
780 West Belden Avenue, Suite D
Addison, IL 60601
p +1 (630) 543 1300
www.trafficcontrolcorp.com
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,
Minnesota, Eastern Missouri,
North Dakota, South Dakota,
Wisconsin
Transportation Control
Systems
1030 S 86th Street
Tampa, FL 33619
p +1 (813) 630 2800
www.tcstraffic.com
Florida (Intersection & Planning)
Twincrest Technologies
2411 FM 917
PO Box 757
Mansfield, TX 76063
p +1 (817) 539 2200
f +1 (817) 539 2201
e sales@twincresttech.com
Louisiana, Texas
Utilicom Supply Associates
3529 Church Street
Suite G
Clarkston, GA 30021
p (404) 298-30021
www.utilicomsupply.com
Georgia, North Carolina, South
Carolina
Wavetronix
Florida Sales Office
455 Douglass Avenue, Suite 1855
Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
p (407) 388-0343

f (407) 699-5008
e flsales@wavetronix.com

Florida (ITS & Freeway)

south america
Wavetronix
78 E 1700 S
Provo, UT 84606
United States
p +1 (801) 764 0277
f +1 (801) 764 0208
e sales@wavetronix.com
www.wavetronix.com

europe, africa & middle east

europe
Actime BV
Heuveleindstraat 5
5371 NL Ravenstein
The Netherlands
p +31 (0) 486 412846
f +31 (0) 492 340764
e info@actime.nl
www.actime.nl
Belgium, Luxembourg,
Netherlands
AGA Group
107 Monadnock Road
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
United States
p +1 (617) 630 0011
f +1 (617) 630 2068
e ag@againc.net
www.againc.net
Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine
Far Data
ul. Lipowa 3
30-702 Krakw
Poland
p +48 (012) 255 99 99
f +48 (012) 255 99 98
e biuro.wroclaw@fardata.pl
www.fardata.pl
Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia

26Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010

Distributors
IFIPCO Ltd.
PO Box 14202
213215 Mesogion Avenue
GR 115 10 Athens
Greece
p +30 210 6725970
f +30 210 6746331
e info@ifipco.gr
www.ifipco.gr
Greece
Magsys
1 Bis, rue Mazagran
64200 Biarritz
France
p +33 (0) 5 24 33 00 16
f +33 (0) 5 24 33 00 09
e info@magsys.net
www.magsys.net
France
Mobile Traffic Solutions
28 Hobbs Industrial Estate
Newchapel, Lingfield, Surrey
RH7 6HN
United Kingdom
p +44 01 342 836 485
e sales@ukmts.com
www.ukmts.com
England, Scotland, Wales
Olsen Engineering
Navervej 30
DK-4000 Roskilde
Denmark
p +45 4675 7227
f +45 4675 7233
www.olsene.dk
Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
Latvia, Lithuania, Norway,
Sweden
Quadrex
C/ Muntaner 262, 4-1
08021 Barcelona
Spain
p +34 93 202 29 24
f +34 93 202 00 90
e info@quadrex.es
www.quadrex.es
Portugal, Spain
Rennicks
Kilbride, Mulhuddart
Dublin 15
Ireland
p +353 1 885 9200
www.rennicks.com
Ireland

Pulse Magazine WINTER 2009/2010 

africa
Traffic Management
Technologies
PO Box 234
Century City
Cape Town 7446
South Africa
p +27 (0) 21 551 6092
f +27 (0) 21 552 5681
e info@tmtservices.co.za
www.tmtservices.co.za
South Africa

middle east
Wavetronix
78 E 1700 S
Provo, UT 84606
United States
p +1 (801) 764 0277
f +1 (801) 764 0208
e sales@wavetronix.com
www.wavetronix.com

asia & australia

asia
CMS Traffic Systems Ltd.
70 Lake Road, Bhandup (W)
Mumbai 400078
India
p +91 (022) 3078 0222/0333
f +91 (022) 2595 0169
www.cms.com/cmstraffic
India
ItraMAS Technology Sdn Bhd
No. 1, Jalan PJU 8/5A,
Damansara Perdana,
47820 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia
p +60 (3) 7727 0979
f +60 (3) 7727 4979
e customerservice@itramas.com
www.itramas.com
Malaysia

Nam Yeong Information

Technology
Avenida do Dr Rodrigo Rodriquez,
Nam Kwong Building 2/F
Macau
p +853 8391 1572
f +853 2871 1156
e service@nymacau.com
www.nymacau.com
Macau
NCS Pte. Ltd.
5 Ang Mo Kio Street 62
NCS Hub
Singapore 569141
t +65 6556 7869
f +65 6481 9678
e phuayhoon@ncs.com.sg
www.ncs.com.sg
Singapore
PT Telehouse Engineering
JL. A.H Nasution No.236 Ujung
Berung
Bandung 40614
Indonesia
p +62 (22) 780 2700
f +62 (22) 780 2900
e telehouse@telehouse-eng.com
www.telehouse-eng.com
Indonesia
QTC Traffic Technologies, Ltd.
Unit C & D, 5/F.
Candy Novelty House
164 Wai Yip Street
Kwun Tong, Kowloon
Hong Kong
p +852 2535 8112
f +852 2535 8116
Hong Kong

www.tmsengineering.co.th
Thailand
Wavetronix
China Sales Office
Suite 1403, 3 qu, An Hui Li
Chao Yang District
China
p +86 (10) 6494 3046
f +86 (10) 6494 3047
www.wavetronix.com
China

australia & new Zealand

Aldridge Electrical Industries
Harvey Norman Business Park
Unit 11 Cnr Bay & Atkinson
Roads
Taren Point NSW 2229
Australia
p +61 (02) 9540 9966
f +61 (02) 9540 3399
e info@aldridge.com.au
www.aldridge.com.au
Australia
HMI Technologies Limited
PO Box 38164
Howick
Auckland 2145
New Zealand
p +64 9 572 0006
f +64 9 572 0007
e info@hmi.co.nz
www.hmi.co.nz
New Zealand

Sunsky International Ltd.

FL3, No. 99, Bao Chung Road
Hsin-Tien City, Taipei
Taiwan
p +886 (2) 2911 6623
f +886 (2) 2912 3257
www.sunsky.com.tw
Taiwan
TMS Engineerign Co., Ltd.
50/413 Moo 6 Tambol Banmai
Amphur Pakkred, Nonthatburi
11120
Thailand
p +66 (2) 984 1192
f +66 (2) 984 1197
e tmsadmin@tmsengineering.co.th

27

MANAGE

efficiently
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The Click! Managed Switch is
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It features default-enabled IGMP
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for camera multicast support.
Other key functionality includes:
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Single-Mode Fiber Ports
Easy IP Assignment with BOOTP
Complete Management Via Web
Simple Network Management
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(Network Redundancy)
Configurable Alarm Contact
(Power and Link)
For more information or to get
management efficiency for your
network, call (801) 764-0277 or
visit www.wavetronix.com