Japanese ETC operation employs DSRC 5.8 GHz interactive radio communication in an active system. In April 2001, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications declared that the array of technical requirements to meet various potential ITS applications using DSRC was fulfilled. Furthermore, DSRC sustained reliable compatibility for use with ETC systems. More tellingly, the progress with DSRC allows a vehicle operating at a high speed along a highway to receive and transfer a massive volume of data instantly. Subsequently, a large volume of information such as road traffic dissemination, map data download, music distribution, hotel accommodation reservations, parking availability information, transaction at drive-through shops, and other services will be on hand. A variety of R&D to probe the potential services is underway through cooperation between the public and industries, aiming at real world implementation in near future. This futuristic and vast range of services is expected to establish not only a comfortable driving environment on-board, but also a lucrative ITS information communication service market, which is now estimated to reach a market value as high as 30 trillion yen by 2015. Anticipation for a significant economic impact is building.
A conceptual image of a roster of services
Implementation of various ETC services using Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC)
