Modernizing Traffic Controls with Secure, High-Speed, Ethernet-Connected Video & IoT Sensors Over Old Twisted-Pair Copper Plant

Maryland State Highway Administration used state-owned, outside copper plant for secure and OPEX-free connectivity, delivering a next generation traffic control system that is intelligent, always on, and powered by IoT sensors

Synopsis
In order to modernize their traffic-control system to become intelligent and centrally controlled, the Maryland State Highway Administration needed to introduce IoT and Video Sensors in intersections interconnected with high-speed Ethernet backhauled over old twisted-pair "outside-plant" previously used low-speed leased-line modems.

The Picture
Each Central Intersection is equiped with Router-connectivity to the Maryland SHA Headquarters. Each Central Intersection is connected to multiple strings of neighboring (North, South, East, West) intersections using multi-drop Ethernet Extenders.
The Success
  • Patton's ruggedized outdoor long-range Ethernet extenders can transport Ethernet over legacy telephone grade twisted pair plant.
  • Featuring an integrated 4-port Ethernet switch, the units can connect multiple devices including IP enabled cameras, controllers and sensors in cabinets at each intersection.
  • Providing two "WAN ports" the units support a multi-drop topology that interconnects neighboring intersections.
  • The solution enables a phased, intersection-by-intersection transition from the old closed-loop system to the remotely managed IP-enabled solution.
  • By enabling re-use of the existing infrastructure Maryland State Highway saved huge sums of money by avoiding new outside plant construction.
  • The old closed-loop system had to be manually configured and controlled, by an engineer physically present at a central intersection to effect changes. Patton delivered significant value to the Traffic Control system in Maryland by enabling traffic monitors and intelligent centralized controls.
The Story
The Maryland State Highway Administration had a mandate to modernize their traffic-control system. The existing system was a closed-loop architecture, which interconnected regional traffic controls over twisted-pair "outside-plant" using low-speed leased-line modems. The new system would be a centrally-managed IP network leveraging monitors in the intersections to provide intelligence to SHA on traffic conditions.

Video sensors mounted on traffic light support structures and inductor sensors are installed under the roadway between intersections. The sensors provide information about the density of drivers facing wait times and the rate of traffic flow through intersections. The data is reported from the sensor to a control box located at a central intersection, which then adjusts the traffic-signal timing according to live conditions. A key requirement of the modernization was the ability centrally and remotely access, manage, monitor and control the system and devices from the SHA Control Center.

The Maryland SHA faced a huge budget hurdle if they needed to provide alternative access to all of the intersections where twisted pair wiring was already in place supporting the legacy modem-based system. The cable runs were too long, the wiring too old and the multi-drop cabling topologies were not compatible or conducive for delivering high-speed Ethernet connectivity.

Maryland SHA needed a solution that would enable Ethernet to operate over twisted-pair cabling across distances of more than 3 miles (4.8 km), support a multi-drop topology and deliver speeds that would support video.

Maryland SHA did their research for a solution and discovered that Patton's CopperLink Ethernet Extenders offers the perfect solution and was actually an in-state manufacturer of the needed networking devices.