National ITS Architecture Glossary

An ITS system or piece of a system named as the name used by stakeholders. Elements are the basic building blocks of regional ITS architectures and project ITS architectures.

Enhanced Metafile. A graphics file format, originated by Microsoft Corporation, that has many advantages over the older Windows metafiles (WMF). Images in EMF format can be resized without distortion and loss of detail. Available for download for selected diagrams (e.g., subsystem and terminator diagrams). Many diagrams displayed on the National ITS Architecture CD-ROM and web site are actually in GIF format.

The building blocks of the subsystems of the physical architecture subsystems. Equipment packages group similar processes of a particular subsystem together into an “implementable” package. The grouping also takes into account the user services and the need to accommodate various levels of functionality. The equipment packages were used as a basis for estimating deployment costs (as part of the evaluation that was performed). Since equipment packages are both the most detailed elements of the physical architecture of the National ITS Architecture and tied to specific service packages, they provide the common link between the interface-oriented architecture definition and the deployment-oriented service packages.

A document of the National Architecture that contains a concise summary of the various evaluations that were performed in five other National ITS Architecture documents: Evaluatory Design, Communications Document, Cost Analysis, Performance and Benefits Study, and Risk Analysis.

A document of the National Architecture that supports evaluation of the National ITS Architecture's performance, benefits, and costs for three conceptual scenarios at various points in time. The scenarios consist of "typical" deployment environments: urban, inter-urban, and rural. The entire document will assist you in developing an evaluation methodology for the architecture that you have developed for your particular region or project.

A document of the National Architecture that provides an overview of the most important aspects of the National ITS Architecture including the logical architecture, physical architecture and the implementation strategy.