City of Orlando Alpha Test July 10, 2000

City of Orlando Alpha Test July 10, 2000 Submitted by Naztec, Inc. Naztec, Inc. installed local intersection equipment and StreetWise control system under the City of Orlando s Alpha Test to replace existing Transyt TS-1 controllers and RCU modems at 5 intersections on Orange Blossom Trail. The Naztec field and central office equipment were fully operational on July 10, 2000. Naztec provided additional support and training on the StreetWise ATMS between July 6 and July 14. This report summarizes findings during the Alpha Test that Naztec believes are relative to the success of the project. These findings are not intended to replace the detailed response Naztec submitted under the City s request for proposals. Naztec, Inc. has made every effort to respond to the invitations and requests from the City of Orlando and the RCSS during the proposal and evaluation stage of this project. TMC StreetWise Upgrade The City of Orlando manages traffic operations at a control center in downtown Orlando. This TMC is staffed 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The system runs a modified UTCS using a Sperry system installed in 1986. Naztec provided a Dell Dimension 800 MHz computer with Dual 19 monitors for the evaluation. An 8 port Digi Board was supplied to drive the 9600 baud RS-232 channels with the field devices on Orange Blossom Trail. Separate communication channels were provided to communicate with a TS-2 (type 1) cabinet facility at the signal maintenance facility and a separate controller provided at the TMC for evaluation. Naztec provided their own FSK modems to communicate with the existing twisted pair copper plant. These modems provide full duplex operation using separate transmit and receive pairs at 9600 baud. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 1

The StreetWise system is capable of running on OS/2, Windows 95/98/2000 and Windows NT operating systems. The Dell computer provided for the evaluation was installed with NT Server 4.0. When the City s LAN is connected to Naztec communications server, any computer on the City network will be capable of becoming a StreetWise client with the proper Naztec software installed and user privileges granted. StreetWise can greatly improve operations in Orlando by providing StreetWise clients to the signal maintenance facility and TMC. TS-1 Cabinet Upgrades Existing TS-1 cabinets were upgraded with TS-2 (type 2) controllers with internal FSK modems using existing NEMA TS-1 connectors. Naztec personnel met with the City of Orlando on July 6 at the signal maintenance facility on Westmoreland Drive to program and test the controllers required for these upgrades. Orlando police provided support on July 7 when the local intersections were put into flash during the equipment change-out. The existing Transyt controllers in Orlando use a non-nema 25 pin RS-232 connector to route the preempt inputs from the cabinet into the controller. Naztec provided a Dconnector harness to replace this connector. A wiring diagram of the D-connector was provided to the City to document the method used to provide preemption inputs to the controller. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 2

On July 6, Naztec discovered that the City of Orlando uses TS-1 test input B to provide the manual ( cabinet ) flash input to the controller from a toggle switch mounted on the cabinet door. Naztec uses a pin on the D-connector to provide this input, this would have required a single rewire in the cabinet. We called back to the plant to see if a quick modification could be made, and the Naztec engineers supplied a controller software revision on July 7 that allows the user to program test input A or B or the D-connector harness for manual ( cabinet ) flash. This software revision was flashed into the controllers used for the Alpha Test so the existing TS-1 cabinet facilities in the field did not have to be modified to provide cabinet flash. The Naztec FSK field modems are internal to the TS-2 controllers supplied for the alpha test. A harness was supplied for each intersection in the Alpha Test to interface the TS-2 controller 9-pin serial connector with the existing terminal block used to interface the transmit and receive pairs in the twisted pair copper interconnect system. Overall, no physical modifications were required to upgrade the existing TS-1 for the Alpha Test. TS-2 (type 1) Cabinet Upgrades The City of Orlando provided an Econolite TS-2 (type 1) cabinet for the test. This cabinet was built for the Orange Blossom Trail / Carter Long signal; however, the City requested that the type 1 cabinet be evaluated at the signal maintenance facility. Naztec integrated their TS-2 controller with this cabinet and provided training to Orlando s signal maintenance section on the features related to TS-2 (type 1). In addition, the TS-2 in the type 1 cabinet was tied to a separate communication drop on the StreetWise communication server at the TMC. Naztec also demonstrated their TS-2 Test Box which emulates the type 1 cabinet and provides a NEMA Tester for the TS-2 SDLC port devices using a windows based computer. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 3

Communication Plant The critical link in any distributed control system is the communication linkage between the central office and the local intersection equipment. The current UTCS system operated by the City of Orlando consists of approximately 100 active twisted pairs installed in 1986 that provides approximately 50 communication channels to the TMC. Upgrading the copper plant system using StreetWise and Naztec FSK modems can provide a significant cost savings compared with a dial-up telephone system using closed loop on-street masters. Fifty communication channels would require a separate telephone drop at the field and at the TMC. The recurrent costs could exceed $70K per year (50 channels * 2 phone drops * $30/drop/month). The five test intersections on Orange Blossom Trail were interconnected with the TMC over approximately 2 miles of buried copper communication cable and ½ mile of aerial figure 8 cable. The City of Orlando assisted Naztec during the installation by terminating the nine pin RS-232 controller cable with interconnect block in the TS-1 cabinets. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 4

Naztec diagnostic software showed that the performance of the existing communication plant was satisfactory during the initial week of the Alpha Test. With the help of the City employees, we were able to optimize the communication system during the week of July 10. The final communication test that lasted all night of July 13 to the morning of July 14 showed 0 communication errors in 25,000 transmits, for all 4 locations. Even though, the existing copper communication plant performed well during the test, the system upgrade will require significant manpower from the city to provide adequate communications. Naztec would request that the City insure adequate grounding of the cable interconnect shield. Naztec believes that the EDCO transient suppression used in the existing TS-1 cabinets is suitable for protecting the interconnect system; however consideration should be made to the clamping voltage on future purchases because the current 30 volt clamping voltage used to protect the RCU s does not provide as much protection as an 8 volt clamp typically used with Naztec FSK modems. NTCIP The NTCIP protocol was used for all TS-2 controllers installed for the Alpha Test. Naztec s FTP enhancements to the NTCIP protocol provided a 30 second download to each controller compared with a 2 minute download using the Naztec protocol or a 3-4 hour download using NTCIP without the FTP enhancement. Naztec also demonstrated their Object Tester Software which tests 12,855 NTCIP objects and Naztec proprietary MIB s defined in the StreetWise system and TS-2 controllers. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 5

Controller Features During the training period, Naztec found several features of particular interest to the City. These features can provide a significant improvement to the current UTCS system. 1) Return to Coordination After Preempt The City of Orlando were excited about a Naztec feature associated with emergency vehicle preempt that allows the controller to return to the coordinated phase rather than a specified return phase at the end of preemption. The controller maintains a background coordination cycle during preemption to determine the phase to return to. City crews tested this feature and observed that no transition period is needed to recover from preempts during coordination. 2) Stop-in-Walk Another feature that the City found useful relates to recovery from ped calls that force the controller out of coordination. Naztec s controller provides a feature called stop-in-walk that stops the cycle counter when the ped clearance extends past the force-off point in the cycle. The cycle counter is released at the end of ped clearance, which keeps the force offs for the next phases from pushing the controller even farther out of coordination. 3) Lead/Lag Left-Turn Operation City personnel were very interested in improving the ability of the UTCS to run lead/lag left-turn operation. Orlando currently provides protected/only ( exclusive ) left-turn signal heads in the leading left-turn direction and 5-section protected/permitted left-turn signal heads in the lagging turn direction to overcome the yellow trap safety problem associated with lead/lag left turns. Naztec demonstrated a controller option that allows the permissive display in a left-turn signal display to be turned off by pattern to overcome the yellow trap problem for the leading left-turn display. 4) Rest-In-Walk Pedestrian Displays Naztec demonstrated the use of the MxP (Max Recall Ped Recall) option which can be assigned by phase during coordination. This feature combined with Rest- In-Walk emulates the rest-in-walk operation in Orlando s UTCS system using Non-Actuated operation and Walk-Rest-Modifier TS-1 features. MxP can be assigned by pattern such that pedestrian signals can be recalled with rest-in-walk at specified times of the day and provide free operation at other times when ped-button calls service the pedestrian displays. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 6

5) Coordination Checks in the TS-2 Controller Naztec demonstrated the coordination checks in the TS-2 controller and how the controller can be used to avoid coord fail problems during coordination. Coordination plans can be tested before they are put into operation to avoid coord fail problems related to min times and split time errors when the timing plans are entered into the controller. 6) Dedicated Bus Signals in Downtown Orlando Naztec found that the dedicated bus signals in the downtown area can be driven without external logic using the 16 phases and overlaps in the TS-2 controller. 7) Adaptive Control CIC (Critical Intersection Control) The Naztec TS-2 controller provides a feature called CIC (Critical Intersection Control) allowing the controller to optimize splits during coordination. CIC is similar to the second generation UTCS feature also called CIC except that the controller is responsible for optimizing splits rather than the central computer. During CIC, the cycle length, offset and sequence are fixed and the controller is allowed to subtract time from phases that gap out during coordination and add this time back to phases that max out during coordination. This adaptive feature allows the controller to distribute slack time by modifying the internal force offs that determine split times during the coordination sequence. Unlike fixed force offs which distribute slack time to the next phase in the sequence and floating force offs which distribute slack time to the coordinated phase, CIC can move slack time to any minor phase, which maxes out each cycle. For example, the intersection of Orange Blossom Trail and Gore St. follows the sequence: 1 + 5 / 2 + 6 (coord phases) / 4 / 3 Slack time from phases 1, 3, 4, and 5 are added to the next phase in the sequence (using fixed force offs) or to the coordination phase (using floating force offs). If CIC is specified as a plan option in the Alt Tables + menu and phase 4 maxes out each cycle, then the slack time from phases 1, 3 and 5 can be added to phase 4. This distribution of slack time to phase 4 cannot be accomplished with fixed force offs because phase 4 follows 2 + 6 in the sequence which never gap out because they are coord phases. Thus, Naztec s CIC provides adaptive split control using local detectors and actuated control without the need for additional system detectors. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 7

System Features During the training period, Naztec found several features of particular interest to the City. These features can provide a significant improvement to the current UTCS system. 1) GIS Interface and Integration With City Databases The City of Orlando provided Naztec with Arc Info files from their GIS system. These files contained information related to the signalized intersections and communications plant. Naztec added a new layer and provided shape files that add data from the StreetWise system as a separate layer to the GIS. Naztec proposes that the existing Orlando GIS be enhanced with data from the Naztec system rather than provide a separate GIS. Naztec personnel also discussed how databases from StreetWise could be exported to the City s Microsoft SQL Server. StreetWise uses a common data format that can be exported easily to SQL and ODBC databases. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 8

2) Web Interface. Naztec integrated data from StreetWise with a web server running on the Dell NT Server installed at the TMC. A web based Alarm Map and Communication Map display was provided to demonstrate how StreetWise data could be published on the web for the intersections in the Alpha Test. Naztec also demonstrated how real-time data feeds could be published on the web as HTML tables showing alarms and communication status for the Alpha Test intersections. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 9

Naztec uses vehicle occupancy from local intersection detectors as a measure of congestion using a unique controller feature called occupancy-on-green. Naztec plans to show congestion at each intersection in the system using graphical system maps published from this web server. However, the software needed to customize this feature for the Orlando system was not developed as part of the Alpha Test. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 10

3) Incident Management Naztec s StreetWise system provides an on-line database to record and track incidents in the system. This feature provides a management function to track trouble calls and maintenance activities as well as document traffic incidents. 4) Synchro and SimTraffic The city can test coordination plans developed in Synchro using the simulation features built into Trafficware s SimTraffic and the Naztec TS-2 controller. Traffic simulations from SimTraffic can be used to drive the detector inputs of the Naztec controller. Signal outputs from the controller can also be modeled in SimTraffic to provide a microscopic analysis tool of simulated traffic conditions. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 11

Naztec engineers and City personnel reviewed Synchro data files created for the Alpha Test intersections on Orange Blossom Trail. The City of Orlando uses lead/lag phasing sequences generated by the traffic models to optimize timing in the system. Naztec engineers discussed at length the unique features of the Naztec TS-2 controller that allow lead/lag operation. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 12

5) StreetWise Maps and Real-Time intersection graphics Naztec demonstrated how single intersection and system map displays are customized for the system using graphics software developed by Naztec. To build a new display, the user loads a wallpaper or background image into the Naztec map builder. The user can then insert real-time data points from the StreetWise system that change state on the single intersection and system graphic displays. These displays can be used to display all vehicle and pedestrian displays, overlap outputs, detector inputs. Below are graphics that were created on-site for OBT and Gore. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 13

6) Communication Tests Naztec provides diagnostic software that thoroughly tests the communications plant and records communication errors. The communication status data below was captured throughout the week for the Alpha Test intersections. This data shows how communications improved throughout the week as Naztec and the city employees optimized the communications plant. a. Orange Blossom Trail / Anderson Street Communications Test: ID 815 - Orange Blossom - Anderson Date/Time: Mon Jul 10 08:05:31 2000 ID 815-55287 OK / 3148 Fail (94%) Duration 232807(s) Communications Test: ID 815 - OBT - Anderson Date/Time: Wed Jul 12 09:25:11 2000 ID 815-9112 OK / 9 Fail (99%) Duration 57454(s) Communications Test: ID 815 - OBT - Anderson Date/Time: Wed Jul 12 13:43:57 2000 Log His tory: 1 Entry(s) ID 815-1024 OK / 0 Fail (100%) Duration 6845(s) Communications Test: ID 815 - OBT - Anderson Date/Time: Thu Jul 13 09:20:33 2000 ID 815-9496 OK / 4 Fail (99%) Duration 59589(s) Communications Test: ID 815 - OBT - Anderson Date/Time: Thu Jul 13 13:33:15 2000 ID 815-1179 OK / 0 Fail (100%) Duration 6268(s) Communications Test: ID 815 - OBT - Anderson Date/Time: Fri Jul 14 08:21:53 2000 ID 815-25228 OK / 0 Fail (100%) Duration 45645(s) City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 14

b. Orange Blossom Trail / Carter Long Street Communications Test: ID 809 - Orange Blossom - Carter - Long Date/Time: Mon Jul 10 08:05:26 2000 ID 809-67657 OK / 3 Fail (99%) Duration 232819(s) Communications Test: ID 809 - OBT - Carter - Long Date/Time: Wed Jul 12 09:24:51 2000 ID 809-9128 OK / 0 Fail (100%) Duration 57445(s) Communications Test: ID 809 - OBT - Carter - Long Date/Time: Wed Jul 12 13:44:10 2000 ID 809-1018 OK / 1 Fail (99%) Duration 6837(s) Communications Test: ID 809 - OBT - Carter - Long Date/Time: Thu Jul 13 09:20:13 2000 ID 809-9232 OK / 0 Fail (100%) Duration 59578(s) Communications Test: ID 809 - OBT - Carter - Long Date/Time: Thu Jul 13 13:33:24 2000 ID 809-911 OK / 0 Fail (100%) Duration 6264(s) Communications Test: ID 809 - OBT - Carter - Long Date/Time: Fri Jul 14 08:22:12 2000 ID 809-25224 OK / 0 Fail (100%) Duration 45623(s) c. Orange Blossom Trail / High School Pedestrian Signal Communications Test: ID 806 - OBT - High School Date/Time: Wed Jul 12 09:23:47 2000 ID 806-9119 OK / 1 Fail (99%) Duration 57417(s) Communications Test: ID 806 - OBT - High School Date/Time: Wed Jul 12 13:43:41 2000 ID 806-987 OK / 1 Fail (99%) Duration 6736(s) Communications Test: ID 806 - OBT - High School Date/Time: Thu Jul 13 09:21:13 2000 ID 806-9723 OK / 1 Fail (99%) Duration 59545(s) Communications Test: ID 806 - OBT - High School Date/Time: Thu Jul 13 13:32:35 2000 ID 806-887 OK / 0 Fail (100%) Duration 6242(s) City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 15

Communications Test: ID 806 - OBT - High School Date/Time: Fri Jul 14 08:21:15 2000 ID 806-25204 OK / 0 Fail (100%) Duration 45597(s) d. Orange Blossom Trail / Gore St. Communications Test: ID 803 - OBT - Gore Date/Time: Wed Jul 12 09:24:33 2000 ID 803-8881 OK / 105 Fail (98%) Duration 57437(s) Communications Test: ID 803 - OBT - Gore Date/Time: Wed Jul 12 13:43:20 2000 ID 803-981 OK / 4 Fail (99%) Duration 6743(s) Communications Test: ID 803 - OBT - Gore Date/Time: Thu Jul 13 09:20:50 2000 ID 803-9367 OK / 69 Fail (99%) Duration 59561(s) Communications Test: ID 803 - OBT - Gore Date/Time: Thu Jul 13 13:33:02 2000 ID 803-1074 OK / 0 Fail (100%) Duration 6254(s) Communications Test: ID 803 - OBT - Gore Date/Time: Fri Jul 14 08:21:34 2000 ID 803-25166 OK / 0 Fail (100%) Duration 45615(s) City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 16

Conclusion This brief report summarizes the work conducted by Naztec, Inc. during the Alpha Test for the City of Orlando during the period of July 6 July 14, 2000. Naztec completed all field and central office equipment on July 7 and had the Alpha Test running on July 10. Naztec s Proposal provides a detailed response to the City of Orlando specifications for this project. This report provides supplemental information based on Naztec s work with City forces during the equipment installation for the Alpha Test. Naztec believes that the Alpha Test was a success and is anxious to partner with the City of Orlando and the RCSS to implement an Advanced Traffic Management System for the Orlando area. Naztec would like to thank the City of Orlando staff for their cooperation and support during the Alpha Test. City of Orlando Alpha Test Naztec, Inc. Page 17