The first version of the European ITS Framework Architecture, now often known as the FRAME Architecture, was created by the project KAREN and published in 2000. Many of the following documents date from this period, but a few were updated by the project FRAME-S in 2004. The E-FRAME project (2008-2011) further extended the Architecture to include Cooperative Systems.
Note on terminology – During the KAREN project the term “architecture” was applied to both the components (Functional, Physical and Communications) as well as to the total Framework. The FRAME-S project reviewed this terminology in the light of IEEE Std 1471-2000 and the Framework Architecture is now said to comprise Functional, Physical and Communications Viewpoints.
The FRAME Architecture Version 4.1 (September 2011)
“The FRAME Architecture Version 4.1” contains the Cooperative Systems services and applications developed by the COOPERS, CVIS and SAFESPOT FP6 Integrated Projects.
The following documents provide additional information on this version of the FRAME Architecture:
FRAME Architecture – Part 1 – Overview
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FRAME Architecture – Part 4 – Changes for the current version (4.1)
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FRAME Architecture – Part 5 – FRAME Architecture Methodology
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FRAME Architecture – Part 6 – Function, Data Flow, Data Store and Terminator Descriptions
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Consolidated User Needs for Cooperative Systems (September 2011)
This document has two principal aims. As a deliverable of the E-FRAME project its primary aim is to describe the extensions to the User Needs that were necessary to include Cooperative Systems within the European ITS Framework (FRAME) Architecture. The secondary aim is to provide a document that describes the FRAME User Needs in general, and that can replace the corresponding document produced by the FPIV project KAREN, some of whose contents are no longer relevant.
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The current set of User Needs (only) can be found in download (700kB pdf file) or download (1.4MB doc file). A pictorial version of the structure of the User Needs can be found in download (350kB pdf file)
Physical and Communication Viewpoints for ITS Architectures of Cooperative Systems (September 2011)
This document provides an introduction to creating ITS System Architectures for Cooperative Systems applications with the FRAME Architecture tools, and demonstrates this process using two examples from Cooperative-ITS. It describes the design of two ITS applications using the FRAME Architecture, the first of which represents the first level priority services for the European TEN-T Network of the Cooperative Systems Task Force of the EasyWay project, and the second represents an example called “Traffic Adaptive Crossing” which can be installed on any road intersection. These examples show on the one side the wide applicability of the FRAME methodology at a European Level, and on the other side that the additional complexity of cooperative ITS in terms of functions, modules and data can be handled with the updated versions of the available tools.
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Deployment and Organisational Issues for Cooperative Systems (September 2011)
One of the constraints to deployment is undoubtedly the fact that Cooperative Systems, by definition, involve players from many different sectors: the automotive industry, road operators and telecommunications operators, as well as road-based service and equipment providers. Real world deployment will require the definition of new relationships between these players as well as the solution of technical, organisational and business issues. The FRAME Architecture provides a tool and a methodological approach which can be used to help plan the deployment of integrated ITS for a nation, region, city or project. By creating various viewpoints – functional, physical, communications – a foundation can be produced to analyse and help solve the issues.
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Current cooperative systems standardisation and its relation to ITS Architecture (September 2011)
The objective of this document is to describe the links between the current (July 2011) standardization activities, with an emphasis on cooperative systems, and ITS architecture. It also provides guidelines for the use of standards in this area by giving information on Standards Development Organizations, the main standards currently available, ongoing activities (including the work being done in response to Mandate M/453) and makes recommendations for the usage of standards together with the cooperative systems architecture. Finally, this document proposes measures or tools for a more efficient and better utilization of standards.
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Older Documents
The following documents were written to describe aspects of earlier versions of the FRAME Architecture. Whilst some specific issues/topics may have changed, many have not and these documents are sometimes the only place where certain topics have been described. They should therefore be read with these warnings and knowledge in mind.
Overview (August 2000)
This Document acts as the “base document” for the other European ITS Framework Architecture Deliverable Documents that were produced by the KAREN Project. It includes an overview of each document in the form of its Executive Summary, plus background material on the development of system architecture within Europe and the reasons for the establishment of the KAREN Project. The document also describes the general system architecture development process used by the KAREN and a comparison with other architectures. Thus its contents provide some background information about the rationale behind what the KAREN project produced, from which the current FRAME Architecture has been developed.
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Models of ITS (August 2000)
This document provides an introduction to ITS Architectures and Models, and describes the relationship of the European ITS Framework Architecture to National, Local, Service and System Architectures. A variety of Models have been developed, including Reference, Enterprise and Primary Process Models which present ITS services from a variety of viewpoints.
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Physical Viewpoint (August 2000)
It was not considered to be in the best interests of European ITS deployment to develop a single “definitive system” as the European ITS Physical Architecture, because there is no one way in which this can or should be done. This document therefore provides 13 examples of key physical systems that can be developed using components from the Functional Architecture.
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Deployment Approach and Scenarios (August 2000)
This document provides a description of a methodology, which is recommended for the development of specific architectures, based upon the European ITS Framework Architecture. It describes issues and possible solutions to take into account when developing such architectures and deploying ITS. The report also describes national initiatives developing national architectures and proposes recommendations based on their experience.
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Cost-Benefit Analysis (August 2000)
In order to design and implement any type of architecture effectively, it is essential that the costs and benefits involved are clearly understood. In this way, the architecture can be focused on areas where the best value for money can be obtained. This document aims to address this need by presenting a Cost Benefit Study into the development and adoption of a framework architecture for ITS. The objective of this task is to look at the benefits likely to be obtained from the deployment of the Framework Architecture. In particular, it considers the results obtained from European Telematics projects where the integration of different applications in a common infrastructure has demonstrated benefits.
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RAID – Risk Analysis for ITS Deployment (May 1999)
The RAID study on System Architecture focused on the identification of the threats which can slow down the deployment of a Transport Telematics European Framework Architecture and which are related to the deployment of ITS in general. Threats are clustered and analysed by using a scenario-based approach that facilitates analysis of relationships between the contents of the RAID database and the actual implementation environment. For those threats that were found to be most critical, mitigation strategies are recommended by RAID. RAID’s activities were complementary to those of the KAREN project.
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FRAME-S – Guide to Configuration Management and ITS Architecture Documentation (April 2003)
This document provides a guide to the Configuration Management practices for the European ITS Architectures that are based on the European ITS Framework Architecture. As a foundation to the definition of the Configuration Management practices, the document includes a definition of what “compatibility” means for the Framework Architecture.
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List of User Needs (August 2000)
The document describes the process of collecting, categorising and endorsing the original List of European ITS User Needs which formed the basis of the first version of the European ITS Architecture Framework. This document has been superseded by one produced by the project E-FRAME in 2011 (see above) and is included here solely for those who are interested in the history of the FRAME Architecture.
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