Edge and 5G-based networks are being used to lay the foundation for tomorrow’s digital cities.
The continued rapid growth of urban areas around the world means that transport networks and public safety are under pressure. However, emerging technologies such as edge computing and 5G promise to alleviate this pressure.
More people around the world are living in urban areas—both central cities and their suburbs—than ever before, and these numbers are rising. The United Nations predicts that by 2030, more than a quarter of the world’s population will live in urban areas with more than 1 million people.
That means more traffic jams, more roadside injuries, and more pollution. Urban traffic management systems—many designed and built decades ago—are ill-equipped to meet these modern challenges, or the rapid growth of traffic. Administrators and operators at city control centers simply can no longer handle the sheer volume of events that need to be responded to. A new white paper from Dell explores these challenges and proactive solutions.
Edge and 5G-based networks are being used to lay the groundwork for the next generation of digital cities, also known as smart cities, which will be able to better manage and ensure a better quality of life in these growing megacities. The convergence of technologies such as edge computing, 5G, data management, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and agile application architectures is creating opportunities for city planners and managers to develop powerful new capabilities to more efficiently and effectively Provide services.
See also: Smart cities: Looking to the future should guide the way
Digital urban mobility will help ensure the availability of 24×7 streaming video and data feeds in high-traffic areas, as well as the performance of light rail, buses, and other transit systems. Administrators need to be able to assess problem points or delays and take remedial action.
For road safety and enforcement, “law enforcement must monitor and detect violations at intersections and highways using systems that automatically capture images of violating vehicles,” the Dell report states. “The captured video and images are stored as evidence for future reference. Combined with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), this can be used to automatically identify violators and generate penalties according to local regulations, reducing such violations and improving traffic flow. Detectable violations include red light violation detection, speeding violation detection, reverse violation detection and road traffic monitoring.
Additionally, real-time monitoring can help traffic managers detect vehicle queues at intersections and identify more details to classify traffic. “This information can be integrated with adaptive traffic light systems. This will allow intelligent control of traffic lights by adaptive traffic light systems based on vehicle platoons at intersections. Other information can also be collected for further insights, such as vehicle number and type identification – two-wheelers, four-wheelers (cars, trucks, vans) and trailers.” The surveillance system can also track unauthorized parking, as well as track vehicles of interest.
The following elements will pave the way to provide such functionality:
Strong IT Infrastructure: The digital city IT infrastructure is very busy, working 24/7, with massive video and data feeds from many locations and vehicles. “Today’s cities need to store and process vast amounts of data from cameras and other sensors located throughout the city,” states the Dell report. “This requires enterprise-grade infrastructure management to meet compute, storage and networking demands.”
highly integrated architecture: Video management and video analytics systems need to integrate distributed security or business monitoring systems “into a single federated architecture that supports layered information flow and scaling,” the Dell report recommends. “This is a key capability for cities to implement urban mobility solutions to integrate intelligence from different regions into a common control center. Manage and optimize flow conditions. Federation capabilities, along with GIS intelligence, help administrators improve situational awareness.”
Integrated Transportation Operation Center: Cities need a centralized monitoring capability that brings all this information together where administrators can make decisions, the report said. “This involves combining information from many siled systems operating in multiple geographic regions. To address the gap of combining several separate monitoring and analysis systems into one common application.”
