Vehicle Information and Communication System (VICS) is a technology used in
Japan for delivering
traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...
and
travel
Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...
information to
road vehicle
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...
drivers. It provides simple maps showing information about traffic jams, travel time, and road work - usually relevant to your location and usually incorporating infrared beacons.
It can be compared with the European
TMC technology.
VICS is transmitted using:
*
FM multiplex broadcasting (uses
DARC). With this method, you have to manually select road conditions on-screen.
*
Infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
beacons over Japan's highways and urban roads. With this method, road conditions automatically pop up.
*
Microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ra ...
s in the
ISM band
The ISM radio bands are portions of the radio spectrum reserved internationally for industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) purposes, excluding applications in telecommunications.
Examples of applications for the use of radio frequency (RF) ener ...
.
It is an application of
ITS.
The VICS information can be displayed on the car navigation unit at 3 levels:
# Level-1: Simple text data
# Level-2: In form of simple diagrams
# Level-3: Data superimposed on the map displayed on navigation unit (e.g., traffic congestion data)
Information transmitted generally includes
traffic congestion data, data on availability of
service areas (SA) and
parking area
A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...
s (PA), information on
road works
Roadworks (called road work or road construction in the United States) occur when part of the road, or in rare cases, the entire road, has to be occupied for work relating to the road, most often in the case of road surface repairs. In the U ...
and
traffic collisions.
Some advanced navigation units might utilize this data for route calculation (e.g., choosing a route to avoid congestion) or the driver might use his/her own discretion while using this information.
See also
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G-Book
*
Internavi
Internavi is a vehicle telematics service offered by the Honda Motor Company to drivers in Japan. In the United States, the service is known as HondaLink, or sometimes MyLink. It provides mobile connectivity for on-demand traffic information servic ...
*
CarWings
External links
VICS official website
Information systems
Warning systems
Road transport in Japan
Intelligent transportation systems
Japanese inventions