Overview
ISO 24978:2009 - Intelligent transport systems - ITS Safety and emergency messages using any available wireless media - Data registry procedures - defines procedures for an updateable ITS Safety Messages Data Registry. The standard provides a media‑independent framework of protocols, parameters and management rules so that safety and emergency data concepts can be unambiguously understood across systems and recipients (vehicles, infrastructure, PSAPs) regardless of the wireless medium used.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Data Registry management: procedures and quality‑of‑service rules for establishing and operating one or more registries that catalogue safety and emergency data concepts.
- Conformance: registries and message implementations must comply with local telecommunications regulations and be able to provide mandatory data and any available standardized optional elements.
- Meta‑attributes and data‑concept names: definitions and required attributes for data concepts (structure, semantics, versioning, provenance).
- Privacy and international relationships: requirements and considerations for privacy, regional/national variances and cross‑border registry use.
- ASN.1 specifications and data representation: annexes include ASN.1 information object specifications and normative data‑concept formats for implementation.
- Functional operating procedures: informative annex provides practical registry operations and update processes.
- Media independence: ISO 24978 is deliberately independent of specific wireless media and transmission security; its role is to ensure unambiguous interpretation of transmitted data.
Practical applications and who uses it
ISO 24978:2009 is intended to support real‑world ITS safety services by enabling consistent interpretation of emergency messages:
- eCall and automatic crash notification systems - ensuring PSAPs receive clear, machine‑readable data.
- Vehicle manufacturers and OEM telematics teams - to publish proprietary or standardized data concepts in a managed registry.
- Road authorities and ITS integrators - to define national/regional message concepts (e.g., VMS variations) and make them discoverable.
- Emergency services and PSAP software vendors - to decode and act on incident data reliably.
- Standards organizations and tool vendors - for registry tools, metadata management and ASN.1 encoding support.
Related standards
- ISO 14817 - ITS/TICS central Data Registry requirements
- ISO/IEC 11179 - Metadata registries (MDR) principles
- ISO/IEC 8824 (ASN.1) - Abstract Syntax Notation One specifications
- ISO 1000 and IEEE 1489 - referenced for units and ITS data dictionaries
ISO 24978:2009 enables interoperable ITS safety messaging by standardizing how data concepts are registered, described and managed - a practical foundation for eCall, emergency notification and vehicle‑to‑vehicle/infrastructure safety services.
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