Real Time Linux Operating System for ATC

The Advanced Traffic Controller (ATC) goal of a standard open architecture for traffic engineering applications will be more fully realized by the transition from proprietary operating system to open source Linux. In Phase I of this project, Precision Traffic Systems (PTS) demonstrated that a real time Linux OS could support an existing traffic signal control application, and perform to 2070 task timing standards. The Phase II porgram will include a field test of the Linux OS developed in Phase I to further validate the viability of an open source operating system for traffic control. Specifically, 2.4 Linux with RTAI extensions will be ported to run on a 2070 controller in Los Angeles, and the LA DOT Traffic Signal Control Program (TSCP) software will be ported from OS-9 to run on the 2070 version of the Linux OS. PTS will compare system performance, including signal activation timing and response times, on the OS-9 2070 running TSCP and Linux 2070 running TSCP. This project will also provide relevant feedback to the ATC Application Programming Interface (API) committee on issues involved in porting signal control software from OS-9 to Linux and on the performance benchmarks of Linux on the 2070 controller.