Overview
ISO/TR 23255:2022 - Intelligent transport systems - Architecture - Applicability of data distribution technologies within ITS evaluates how general-purpose data distribution technologies from the ICT industry can be applied to Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). The report maps these technologies to the ITS station (ITS‑S) reference architecture - specifically the facilities layer (OSI layers 5–7) as defined in ISO 21217 - and provides an objective analysis of their applicability, performance characteristics and architectural fit.
Key topics and technical focus
- Data distribution functionality (DDF) and data distribution services (DDS): definitions and how services such as publish/subscribe and discovery fit ITS use‑cases.
- Publish‑subscribe paradigm: rationale for use in ITS and how it supports scalable vehicle‑to‑vehicle (V2V), vehicle‑to‑infrastructure (V2I) and centre‑to‑any (C2X) exchanges.
- Types of information flows: non‑emergency, emergency, control flows, interrogatives and local exchanges - and their differing requirements.
- Performance and scalability metrics: latency, completion percentage, and scenarios such as Many→One, One→Many, 10→Many, 50→Many and N↔N topologies.
- Solution characteristics and architecture: considerations for topology, deployment maturity, protocol interoperability and system engineering lifecycle (conceptualization, architecture and design).
- Protocol survey: discussion and testing of common protocols and stacks referenced in ITS contexts (examples in the report include DDS, MQTT, AMQP, HTTP/REST, XMPP and others).
- Test environment and objective analysis: methodology and annexed test environment description used to compare protocol behaviors and qualitative lessons learned.
Practical applications and intended users
Who benefits from ISO/TR 23255:2022:
- ITS architects and system designers selecting data distribution approaches for connected‑vehicle systems.
- Transport agencies and solution integrators evaluating publish‑subscribe and other middleware for real‑time messaging.
- Vendors and software developers implementing ITS‑facilities layer services (ITS‑S/ITS‑SU).
- Researchers and project managers running pilots or benchmarking protocols for scalability, latency and reliability in ITS deployments.
Practical uses:
- Informing procurement and technology selection for cooperative ITS projects.
- Guiding system architecture decisions for V2V, V2I and C2X messaging patterns.
- Supporting design trade‑offs around latency, topology and message distribution policies.
Related standards (if applicable)
- ISO 21217 - ITS station reference architecture (facilities layer mapping).
- ISO/TS 14812 - ITS vocabulary.
- ARC‑IT (Architecture Reference for Cooperative and Intelligent Transportation) - contextual material and use‑case guidance cited in the report.
Keywords: ISO/TR 23255:2022, Intelligent Transport Systems, data distribution, publish‑subscribe, ITS architecture, facilities layer, ITS‑S, DDS, MQTT, AMQP, latency, scalability.