Professional Capactity Building (PCB) for Communication Systems
OVERVIEW | HISTORY | CONTACTS | UPDATE | ARCHIVED UPDATES | FACTSHEET
|
The goals of this project are to develop a comprehensive curriculum and conduct training for Rural ITS communications. Rural ITS engineers may lack the critical skills for designing and maintaining reliable and robust communication networks for rural ITS field equipment. This project has an educational focus and its primary objective is to have leading subject matter experts provide a hands-on, “nuts and bolts” learning experience for rural ITS engineers and technicians. Learning outcomes are centered on understanding the various communication technologies available and how to best select and implement these technologies, particularly in a rural environment. California Department of Transportation engineers are participating in the development of this curriculum, were students in the initial pilot module, and will participate in subsequent course development and implementation. |
|
| Monday 4/29/2013 IP Networking Fundamentals and Usage the next subject area for Phase 2 |
Wednesday 11/7/2012 Mastering Fiber Optic Network Design and Installation training course |
Friday 8/24/2012 Fiber Optics training course to be held in September. |
Monday 1/9/2012 Phase 2 – Plant Wired Technologies |
Thursday 11/4/2010 Pilot Course - RF System Design |
Thursday 10/21/2010 RF System Design Training |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Check back soon for more PCB for Communications updates.
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.
 |
|
Check back this summer for an update about this next training course!
|
Caltrans Past Project Manager:
Sean Campbell |
Caltrans Project Champion:
Ian Turnbull |
|
WTI Principal Investigator:
Douglas Galarus |
WTI Research Associate and Course Coordinator:
Leann Koon |
|
Caltrans Project Manager:
Jose Perez |