UPDATE: Monday, April 29th, 2013
Phase 2 of the Professional Capacity Building for Communications project is continuing with a shift to the IP Networking Fundamentals and Usage subject area. The project team is currently working to identify and secure an appropriate training contractor to deliver a course in September. Similar to the prior courses conducted in the PCB project, students will be Caltrans ITS engineers that deploy and maintain ITS systems in the rural areas of their districts.
The IP Networking Fundamentals and Usage subject area, as applied to Rural ITS, is composed of topics related to the Internet Protocol (IP), IP networks and related technologies. After completing training on this subject, rural ITS engineers and technicians will have the knowledge and skills necessary to design, implement, and maintain IP communication links. Training modules in this subject area will include Understanding IP Networks / IP Networking Core, Local Area Networks (LANs), and Wide Area Networks (WANs).
This subject area is important to Caltrans because its ITS engineers make extensive use of IP-based communication. As mentioned in a previous project update (PCB, January 9, 2012), Caltrans District 2 covers a large rural area in northern California and District 2’s engineers have been very progressive in establishing effective ITS systems in the region. Ian Turnbull is Chief of the Office of ITS Engineering and Support for District 2 and a member of the Curriculum Review Committee for the PCB project. Jeremiah Pearce is a District 2 ITS engineer and has participated in the two previous PCB training courses.
Caltrans District 2’s Rural TMC and its associated Internet Protocol Field Element Network (FEN) is a good example of how Caltrans is using IP-based communication. At the 2012 Western States Rural Transportation Technology Implementers Forum, Ian and Jeremiah described the design of the IP Field Element Network behind District 2’s full service Rural TMC in Redding. Below, Jeremiah explains the details of the architecture and configuration of the FEN while reviewing the different field elements and the FEN core equipment deployed in District 2.
Photo by Leann Koon |
Photo by Leann Koon |
Check back this summer for an update about this next training course!