AU2005309079B2

AU2005309079B2 - Method and system for verification of a data transmission unit for control of a travelling object

Info

Publication number: AU2005309079B2
Application number: AU2005309079A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Rolf Schmid
Original assignee: Siemens Schweiz AG
Current assignee: Siemens Schweiz AG
Priority date: 2004-11-25
Filing date: 2005-10-25
Publication date: 2009-04-23
Anticipated expiration: 2025-10-25
Also published as: ES2301065T3; CN101065283A; WO2006056284A1; ATE388072T1; EP1824721B1; CN101065283B; AU2005309079A1; EP1824721A1; DE502005003148D1; EP1661784A1; DK1824721T3

Abstract

The checking process involves using a data transmission unit (B) with an aerial (A) to transmit information (BT) via a signal path. A receiving device (AP) receives this information. The end coded signals go to a logic control unit (KE) which compares them with a code and can be set in accordance with the operating state of the data transmission unit and/or the signal path.

Description

PCT/EP2005/011407 / 2004P19680WO 1 Siemens Schweiz AG CH-8047 Zurich Switzerland Method and system for testing a data transmission unit for controlling a travelling object The present invention relates to a method and a system for testing a data transmission unit provided for controlling a travelling object, in particular a track-bound vehicle. In track-bound transportation, data transmission units operating on the basis of signal transmission from discrete points and/or operating continuously, such as, for example, beacons, transmit loops or, as the case may be, leaky cables, are used in order to transmit information that is relevant to the operation of the vehicle to said vehicle. This information that is transmitted to the vehicle includes for example a signal aspect displayed at the next light signal in the direction of travel. Depending on the operating status of the vehicle, information of this kind can also result in the observing of predefined speed profiles, braking profiles or even automatic train stopping if the safety of this and/or other vehicles and the passengers and/or goods transported by means of said vehicles can otherwise no longer be guaranteed. In particular in the new automatic train control system ETCS/ERTMS that is to be deployed across Europe in the future (ETCS/ERTMS: European Train Control System / European Railway Traffic Management System), in ETCS Level 1 the train control information will be transmitted by means of intermittently signalling fixed data and/or variable data transmission units, PCT/EP2005/011407 / 2004P19680WO 2 referred to in the technical vernacular as beacons, tags or "balises", via the air interface A according to the ETCS/ERTMS specification. Great importance is therefore attached to the information transmitted by means of said balises in respect of the protection of rail traffic, which is why the module units and the data transmission methods performed are generally required to conform to a security level corresponding to SIL Level 4 (Security Integrity Level to standards EN50159, EN50126 and EN50129 for failsafe connections). Accordingly, as well as the high level of safety required in operation, high requirements are also placed on the track section acceptance and the modules and system availability as well as their fault reporting. In the prior art the locations for positioning a variable data balise, i.e. a balise which conveys different signal aspects in a transparent manner, and the ETCS balise telegrams are configured in the laboratory or office. This data is transferred to a trackside control unit for the balise, hereinafter referred to as an LEU (Lineside Electronic Unit) or transferred via a modular control element, hereinafter referred to as an MSTT, into the telegram memory of the logic core of the modular control element. For the acceptance of the spaced points along a track section it must accordingly be verified that the balise for each signal aspect configured for this track section transmission point also outputs the right (associated) balise telegram to the air interface (A according to ETCS specification). For this purpose it is currently necessary to close the track section for the purpose of reading out the configuration data provided per signal aspect and to tap the transmitted balise telegram locally at the air interface manually using a programming and readout device. The tapped balise telegram is then processed by means of a PCT/EP2005/011407 / 2004P19680WO 3 checksum method such as, for example, MD4/MD5 or CRC32 and the correspondingly determined code per signal aspect is read off and recorded. This requires the signal aspects to be patched through in succession individually and clearly separated from one another by the signal box or the control and communications centre, which must be resolved for example by the track walkers with the signal box personnel or via other radio links. This method is problematical particularly in tunnels or on such sections that are not adequately covered by wireless telecommunication services. After this (even if sometimes complicated and laborious) recording of the codes for the different possible signal aspects per track section transmission point, both codes - i.e. the code corresponding to the assigned signal aspect, which is output by the signal box to the control unit, and the code associated with the balise telegram recorded by means of the programming and readout device - must be compared in the office (by the already completed configuration). Only then can it be verified whether an LEU or an MSTT has possibly been wrongly configured, in other words whether the bit contents and the assignment of the right ETCS telegram are correct for each signal aspect, and whether the balise is operating correctly at all in terms of its radio communication function. Even during operation the error susceptibility of this signal chain for broadcasting the ETCS telegram is noticed only when the telegram is either not transmitted in full or is transmitted with an error of some kind or when the driver of the vehicle himself notices that the transmitted information is not consistent with the signal aspect actually displayed at the signal. A considerable period of time can therefore elapse before a malfunction of this kind reveals itself. This malfunction can then have significant repercussions on the 4 availability of the respective section of track, which can lead to an unacceptable loss of safety and an associated outage of person- and/or tonne-kilometres, since, of course, the section has to be taken out of service until the fault has been rectified. Thus, a need exists to specify a method and a system for testing the correct operation of a data transmission unit for controlling a travelling object, in particular a track-bound vehicle, by means of which a significantly easier procedure can be achieved than with the previous track walking and subsequent operational monitoring for the acceptance and function monitoring of (trackside) data transmission units. With regard to the method, according to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for testing the operation of a data transmission unit which serves for wireless control of a travelling object, in particular a track-bound vehicle, wherein a) information to be transferred to the vehicle and brought via a signal path is broadcast by means of the data transmission unit; b) a receiving device disposed in the data transmission unit is provided for receiving the information that is to be transmitted; c) the signals received by means of the receiving device are transmitted unchanged or, evaluated by means of an analysing device, in the form of a code to a logical control unit; d) the logical control unit compares the information that is to be broadcast by means of the data transmission 5 unit and the received signals or, as the case may be, code; and e) based on the result of the comparison, the operating status of the data transmission unit and/or the signal path are/is determined. With regard to the system, according to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a system for testing the operation of a data transmission unit for controlling a travelling object, in particular a track-bound vehicle, comprising: a) an antenna which is assigned to the data transmission unit and by means of which information to be transferred to the vehicle and brought via a signal path can be broadcast; b) a receiving device assigned to the data transmission unit for the purpose of receiving the information to be transmitted; c) data transmission means with which the signals received by means of the receiving device can be transmitted unchanged or, evaluated by means of an analysing device, in particular a coder or, as the case may be, decoder, in the form of a code to a logical control unit; d) the logical control unit is embodied such that the information to be broadcast by means of the data transmission unit and the received signals or, as the case may be, code can be compared; and e) based on the result of the comparison, the operating status of the data transmission unit and/or the signal path can be determined. In this way the method and the system permit an immediate feedback of the transmitted information for checking the 6 information actually sent. The source of this readback information channel is thus generated "onboard" in the data transmission unit by a receive antenna similar to the transmit antenna. It should be noted that the transmission at the data transmission unit can be performed actively or passively, because, for example, reflection modulation would also be possible. As a result of the implementation of a bit stream coder (balise telegram coder) in the data transmission unit as the backward information channel (MD4/MD5, CRC32 etc.) it is possible to realize a sufficiently good level of security and reliability of the readback channel. This means that an automated, more cost-effective acceptance of the data transmission unit can be achieved taking into account the required personal safety and efficiency as well as a qualitative improvement in system availability and error reporting. In a useful embodiment of the present disclosure, the information to be transmitted can be issued from a signal box and/or a control and communications centre. Accordingly the logical control unit can be assigned to the signal box and/or the control and communications centre. A full test of the signal path can be implemented with SIL Level 4 if the received signals or, as the case may be, the code are/is routed via the signal path in the opposite direction to the direction of the information that is to be transmitted. For simple decoupling of uplink and downlink signal, the received signals or code can be transmitted on a different frequency from the information that is to be transmitted.

7 In a simple implementation of an embodiment of the present disclosure, the data transmission unit can be controlled by means of a control unit, with a signal aspect being converted by means of the control unit into a telegram for the data transmission unit and the received signals being converted, preferably already on the data transmission unit, into the code by means of a checksum method. One or more embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing, in which: Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a first system with a return path for the balise telegram broadcast by a balise; Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of a second system with a return path for the balise telegram broadcast by a balise; Figure 3 shows a schematic representation of a layout for the balise and an MSTT controlling the balise; and Figure 4 shows a schematic representation of the frequency usage for the balise telegram and the return code transmission. Figure 1 shows a system for controlling trains by means of a balise B and a signal S in a schematic representation. In data terms both the balise B and the signal S represent a signal PCT/EP2005/011407 / 2004P19680WO 8 aspect output by a signal box STW. In the case of the example according to Figure 1, a trackside control unit, referred to in the following as LEU for short, records this signal aspect and controls the display of this signal aspect at the signal S accordingly by controlling the signal lamps corresponding to the signal aspect. In addition a balise telegram BT assigned to the signal aspect is transmitted to the balise B via a telegram path TP (also called interface "C") to the balise B and there transmitted transparently to the air interface (as already mentioned in the introduction, defined as interface "A" according to ETCS/ERTMS) to a track vehicle that is not shown in further detail here. Owing to the components additionally disposed in the balise B and explained in detail with reference to Figure 3, the balise B can record this balise telegram BT output to the air interface A and send it back to the signal box STW via a return path RP in the form of a code obtained according to a checksum method. In this case a T element T assigned to the LEU and embodied as a band pass filter and band stop filter helps separate the returned code from the forward-directed balise telegram BT, with the result that the code can be compared directly at the T element T, for example, or after the transmission via a universal process interface for data and diagnostics UPS in the signal box STW by a logical control unit KE with the originally transmitted signal aspect. The logical control unit KE is indicated here by the stick figure and a separate data cable. The logical control unit KE can of course be implemented in software to operate fully automatically and automatically generate an error telegram if the returned code (e.g. according to MD4/MD5, CRC32) does not match the signal aspect originally issued by the signal box STW. In a fault situation of this kind at least one element in the signal chain from the signal box STW to the balise B is not operating correctly and must be PCT/EP2005/011407 / 2004P19680WO 9 replaced immediately on account of the possible compromising of safety. Figure 2 shows the case comparable to Figure 1 of the balise B being controlled via a modular control element MSTT. Said modular control element MSTT operates in a similar manner to the LEU, but unlike the LEU is also able to process the code sent via the return path itself and send it back to the signal box STW. A schematic layout of an embodiment of the invention shows the balise B and the modular control element MSTT. The components used are explained with reference to the signal path. The modular control element MSTT receives a signal aspect SB from the signal box STW via an ISDN connection. By means of a processor CPU and a universal logic core ULK the modular control element MSTT determines the balise telegram BT associated with this signal aspect SB and feeds said balise telegram BT in the uplink direction via the balise-side T element T to a data transmitter DT which transfers the balise telegram BT in modulated form by way of an FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) modulation to an analogue amplifier AV. The analogue amplifier AV then sends the modulated balise telegram BT' via a frame antenna/current loop A to the air interface "A". This modulated balise telegram BT' is now received by means of a second antenna (loop) disposed on the balise B, referred to below as antenna probe AP, and converted by means of a coder Coder into a code obtained in accordance with an arbitrary checksum method. In addition this code is modulated by means of the coder onto an analogue or digital carrier signal whose frequency differs significantly from the frequency of the data PCT/EP2005/011407 / 2004P19680WO 10 signal of the balise telegram BT (cf. Fig. 4), with the result that the T element T rules out a repercussion of this code on the antenna A. The code is then transmitted back via the interface "C" and via a further T element T which is disposed on the modular control element MSTT to the modular control element MSTT and from there again transmitted back into the signal box STW via the ISDN connection. The automatable check whether the returned code corresponds to the originally issued signal aspect SB now takes place in the signal box STW. It should be noted that the T element T can also be omitted in such applications in which the receive signal is known to the balise B and can be recovered by means of a mathematical correlation function, as is known for example from echo compensation in telecommunications. Figure 4 shows a schematic representation of frequency usage in the aforesaid signal paths. The free frequency ranges on which for example the code can be returned are designated by FS. Since the code, for example MD5 or CRC32, is only approx. 32 bits long, only minor requirements are placed on the transfer rate of the return path RP which of course corresponds physically to the telegram path TP (in contrast to the telegram path on which the 1024-bit long ETCS balise telegram BT has to be transmitted). The signal for the power supply of the balise B transmits on a frequency of 8.826 kHz. The data signal of the balise telegram C transmits in a range from 232 kHz to approx. 1.3 MHz. Convenient ranges of free frequency spectrum FS therefore remain for the returned code. In this way the method and the system permit an immediate feedback of the transmitted balise telegram BT for checking in the signal box STW. The source of this readback information channel (return path RP) is thus generated "onboard" in the PCT/EP2005/011407 / 2004P19680WO 11 balise B by means of a receive antenna AP similar to the transmit antenna A. The security and reliability of the return path RP can be realised through the implementation of a bit stream coder (balise telegram coder) in the balise B as the backward information channel (MD4/MD5, CRC32 etc.). This means that an automatable, cost-effective acceptance of the variable data balise B can be achieved taking into account the required personal safety and efficiency as well as a qualitative improvement in the system availability and error reporting in the network operated under the "rolling wheel" (i.e. during normal service). Even though the present exemplary embodiment is situated in the domain of track-bound transportation systems, the present system and the present method can basically be used to test any type of data transmission units with regard to approval and release, and to monitor the same for correct operation while traffic is running. By way of example a section transmission point for controlling matrix sign portals on roads, in particular freeways, may be cited here, wherein not only the information controlling the traffic is displayed, but in future will also be transmitted to the vehicles.

Claims

1. A method for testing the operation of a data transmission unit for controlling a travelling object, wherein a) information to be transferred to the vehicle and brought via a signal path is broadcast by means of the data transmission unit; b) a receiving device disposed in the data transmission unit is provided for receiving the information that is to be transmitted; c) the signals received by means of the receiving device are transmitted unchanged or, evaluated by means of an analysing device, in the form of a code to a logical control unit; d) the logical control unit compares the information that is to be broadcast by means of the data transmission unit and the received signals or, as the case may be, code; and e) based on the result of the comparison, the operating status of the data transmission unit and/or the signal path are/is determined.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information to be transmitted is issued from a signal box and/or a control and communications centre.

3. The method as claimed in either one of claims 1 and 2, wherein the logical control unit is assigned to the signal box and/or the control and communications centre. 13

4. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the received signals or, as the case may be, code are/is routed via the signal path in the opposite direction to the direction of the information that is to be transmitted.

5. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the received signals or, as the case may be, code are/is transmitted on a different frequency from the information that is to be transmitted.

6. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the data transmission unit is controlled by means of a control unit, a signal aspect being converted by means of the control unit into a telegram for the data transmission unit and the received signals are converted into the code by means of a checksum method.

7. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said travelling object is a track-bound vehicle.

8. A system for testing the operation of a data transmission unit for controlling a travelling object, comprising: a) an antenna which is assigned to the data transmission unit and by means of which information to be transferred to the vehicle and brought via a signal path can be broadcast; b) a receiving device assigned to the data transmission unit for the purpose of receiving the information to be transmitted; c) data transmission means with which the signals received by means of the receiving device can 14 be transmitted unchanged or, evaluated by means of an analysing device, in the form of a code to a logical control unit; d) the logical control unit is embodied such that the information to be broadcast by means of the data transmission unit and the received signals or, as the case may be, code can be compared; and e) based on the result of the comparison, the operating status of the data transmission unit and/or the signal path can be determined.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein a signal box and/or a control and communications centre are/is provided which sends the information to be transmitted to a control unit controlling the data transmission unit.

10. The system as claimed in either one of claims 8 and 9, wherein the logical control unit is assigned to the signal box and/or the control and communications centre.

11. The system as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein transmission means are provided which route the received signals or, as the case may be, code via the signal path in the opposite direction to the information to be transmitted.

12. The system as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the transmission means transmit the received signals or, as the case may be, code on a different frequency from the information to be transmitted. 15

13. The system as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the data transmission unit is controlled by means of a control unit, a signal aspect being converted by means of the control unit into a telegram for the data transmission unit and the received signals being converted into the code by means of a coder disposed in the data transmission unit, preferably in accordance with a checksum method.

14. The system as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein said travelling object is a track-bound vehicle.

15. A method for testing the operation of a data transmission unit for controlling a travelling object, said method being substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

16. A system for testing the operation of a data transmission unit for controlling a travelling object, said system being substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this twentieth Day of March, 2009 Siemens Schweiz AG Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON & FERGUSON