Microwave link data communication between a moving vehicle and a roadside beacon

This link has been developed within the European DRIVE Programme, to implement an automatic debiting system for the PAMELA project. It will enable tolls to be collected without the requirement for vehicles to slow down or be confined to lanes. The features of the link, as designed, are the localised communication area, the small size and low cost of the vehicle-mounted unit, and the capacity to operate with a short communication time. The passive transponder allows close control of the operating range, without vehicle-to-vehicle interference, and has the advantage of an extremely simple microwave front end. Implemented as a microstrip circuit, this can be accommodated within the outline of a credit card including all microwave transmit and receive components