We believe in open protocols.
About #FREEtheMIBS
We are a group of ITS industry advocates who believe in the free and open sharing of MIBs without restrictive agreements. We also believe it’s the only path to unrestricted innovation and tomorrow’s Smart Cities.
There is a common misconception that manufacturer-specific MIB objects are linked with proprietary operations of a controller’s features. This is simply not true.
Manufacturer specific MIBs only define the object (phase is red, phase is green, cycle length = 100, etc.). They do not include the object’s operational logic, description of operation, nor how the object interacts with other objects within the controller.
Therefore, we believe the only reason a company would withhold their manufacturer-specific MIBs is to prevent interoperability of the device and increase their sales by impeding a customer’s ability to procure solutions from alternate vendors.
At #FREEtheMIBS, we believe in free and open competition. That it drives innovation where the best ideas will prevail and deliver lower cost, more efficient solutions to drive the future of transportation.
What exactly is a MIB?
The National Transportation Communications for ITS Protocols (NTCIP) were established by NEMA, ITE, AASHTO, signal manufacturers, and others to create “a family of standards that provides both rules for communicating (protocols) and the vocabulary (objects) necessary to allow electronic traffic control equipment from different manufacturers to operate with each other as a system.”
Created by NTCIP committees and housed in their standards documents, MIBs are essentially computer programming text with “Object Definitions…” that can be read by humans or computers, and are used to make ITS applications work together. Basically, the object definitions tell controllers what to do - turn green, turn red, etc.
Recognizing technology would drive the future of transportation, the bottom line for creating NTCIP standards and subsequently MIBs, was to make sure traffic control equipment from different manufacturers would be interoperable.
Learn more about MIBs at NTCIP.org.
So what’s the problem?
NTCIP standards were developed nearly two decades ago for agencies to ensure the products they purchased were interchangeable and didn’t lock them into a solution from a single provider. Technology, however, changed rapidly and in order to address new traffic control challenges, companies began creating their own manufacturer-specific MIBs to enable new (but common) features.
While still important, NTCIP standards often provide a false sense of security that equipment from different manufacturers will work together. Why? Because in modern traffic signal controller software, NTCIP-compliant MIBs make up only about 15-20% of the device’s communication “object definitions…,” while the remaining 75-80% of the MIBs are manufacturer specific and proprietary.
Common Operations for Manufacturer-Specific MIBs
Just a few examples of controller functions that are not addressed by NTCIP and are thus defined differently by every manufacturer.
Flashing yellow arrow (FYA)
Flash don’t walk thru yellow phase
Advanced warning flashers
Railroad gate-down input
In a Nut Shell
Products can be 100% NTCIP compliant while sharing only 15% of their MIBs, locking agencies into a single solution because the manufacturer-specific MIBs will not communicate with other systems.
It’s bad for agencies
It’s bad for taxpayers
It’s bad for innovation
The Solution
Join together and free the MIBS.
In doing so, we can ensure a transportation industry rich in interoperable solutions that allow agencies and governments to select the best solutions to meet their needs, regardless of manufacturer. Imagine if you could have a central traffic management system from vendor A, an adaptive signal control solution from vendor B, and local traffic signal controller software from vendor C.
It’s possible and it all starts here. Join us and help #FREEtheMIBS.
I believe…
“Open MIBs benefit all…
Many agencies are using custom central software systems that are controller agnostic, provided the proprietary MIBs are available. Why not provide your MIBs and allow agencies to use your controller and increase your sales while providing options to the agencies?”
Wayne H. Bryan
Traffic Operations Manager | City of Tallahassee - Traffic Operations
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We need your voice.
In order to effect positive change, we need you! In fact, we need everyone – transportation agencies, organizations, individuals, consultants, and – most importantly – manufacturers.
Below are some tools to help you join the fight and advocate for a free and open transportation industry. If you want to get more involved and help craft messaging and tools to spread the word, email us!
Messaging
Click here for messaging that you can use to help promote and talk about #FREEtheMIBS.
Resources
Whether you’re an agency, manufacturer, association, or a member of the media, we’ve prepared resources that can help you.