EP2868547A1 - Signal box and control architecture for railways - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention has for its object to show how the industrial control technology and specifically the railway interlockings can be built by a suitable new approach with the use of widely deployed COTS mobile devices, a new interlocking architecture. According to the invention, this object is achieved by an industrial process control system, in particular a signal box, for controlling decentrally arranged functional units which are connected to the process control system via communication channels; comprising a number of computer-aided control units, the control units being connected in series or in parallel according to a control plan and receiving and / or outputting control data according to this control plan, wherein the computer-aided control units are at least partially embodied as mobile devices having a computer core and at least one communication interface, wherein the Mobile devices perform their control functions by means of the computer core in a redundant determination manner and output and / or receive their control data by means of their at least one communication interface. Thus, the increasing problem of the obsolescence trap, that is, the disappearance (discontinuation of products on the market) of the products of the hardware and software used can be countered by the progression of the market in an efficient manner.

Description

The present invention relates to a new interlocking and control architecture for railways, in particular in the track plan technique and comparable processes.

The interlocking technology follows the national train control systems and is subject to high safety requirements. The innovation cycles of the ICT domain often remain unused due to the requirements and the high expenses for developments for interlockings. The comparatively small number of interlocking systems today gives useful information about the "safety figure" only for a very long time. By contrast, the enormously large user collective with the ICT products makes it possible to make statements that are faster by factors, especially with respect to firmware and applications.

An exception is an FPGA solution in EP 2445771 A1 which, however, has significant similarities with several publications such as the replica of relay logic with chip-based relays.

The present invention implements the appropriate modern ICT products in the interlocking architecture, and at the same time allows to follow the innovation cycles of the ICT world and its results especially in disciplines hardware, software, security engineering, technical innovation, obsolescence management and other domains experience and benefits to draw.

The inventive step of the present invention is to make a paradigm shift in the construction of process controls on a path and / or time axis, such as preferably a railroad interlocking platform.

Signal boxes have been available since the beginning of the last century; at first purely mechanical systems, which had caused the safe states with mutual position-dependent locking. Thereafter, the relay interlocking came with the interlocking and safety relays, which revealed by their construction errors or mechanically excluded. Thereafter state machines were developed with the safety relays, which strictly deterministically stored, constructed and disassembled the requested routes.

The electronic interlockings (ESTW) have replaced the relay interlocking in the market. However, the effort is high due to the rapid technological progress. Three-computer systems are required to ensure the required safety and availability.

New approaches now assume that the relay logic of the trackplan interlocking with FPGA technology. However, measures are required to achieve the properties of mechanical safety relays with positively driven contacts.

Increasingly, aisles are being built on the basis of industrial automation (SPS) technology. The classic ESTWs are based on computer platforms that are comparable to computers from industrial control technology. The high safety requirements of the specific web standards, as a base, the products-family standard EN 50126 with the specified therein Safety Integrity Level 4 (SIL 4), demand for the RAMS requirements (R eliability, A vailability, M aintainability, S afety) according to particular properties of Hardware and software. These are reliability (R), availability (A), maintenance (M) and safety. This means high error disclosure and thus the avoidance of dangerous states at SIL4 level.

A distinction is made in the methods for safe route setting and resolution by means of interlocking technology between the track-plan technology and the shutter-plate technology. The method of the track planning technique is preferred in particular for larger installations. Changes in the tracks and thus the tracks are usually easier to implement in the track planning. However, the track planning technique is more expensive in hardware and at ESTW (also in the software compared to the closure panel method.

The classic track planning technique at the relay interlockings such. the Siemens Domino 67 and the SPDRS 60 operate for each waypoint / leg with control and / or backup function such as e.g. Switch, main signal, distant signal, balise, shunting signal, axle counter, etc. in the track system / in the road network a tax rate, which maps the associated functional element, controls in its function and monitors (positions, locations, states, streams, data flow, etc.). These tax rates are identical to the track system electrically connected by control cables. This makes it possible for a requested roadway to enter step by step or to be able to arrive successively with its tax rates along the requested road in the track plan when the required functional elements become free. The resolution follows the same procedure. In detail, the methods used today in the modern track layout interlockings are decisive.

The tax rates in the trackplan relay trestles are strictly deterministic state machines which, in the event of a malfunction, enter a safe state and interrupt the entry of a road at the location of the fault.

Electronic trackplan interlockings such as Simis W and others work on the same principle, are not necessarily strictly deterministic in the totality of their function. The reason for this is the reliability of the hardware and the unrecognized conflicts in the extensive software / firmware with mostly unforeseen operating states and hardware failures. The required level of SIL4 thus requires a corresponding outlay in terms of procedures, availability and reliability. Three-computer systems are used for this. The computers monitor each other and allow using a two out of three voters (2v3) to isolate a computer with different data output (behavior). The faulty computer can then be replaced in the run (hot plug).

The relay interlockings are nowadays no longer practical due to the scope of functions realized 30 to 50 years ago without major retrofits and, consequently, a strong expansion of the hardware as new systems. The high standards for great functionality and flexibility for changes to the track system and the signaling, as well as, for example, the installation of new safety procedures require costly approvals and trials.

In general, interlocking systems are subject to the development of a large number of regulations, such as laws, EU directives, specific railway standards and specialist standards, the requirements of the regulatory authorities of the respective countries and, ultimately, sometimes complex customer wishes regarding company-specific characteristics in their own railway network.

The effort is not least on the side state with its approval procedures, in which the evidence of compliance with the required security features must be fully identified. All of this takes time, and since the hardware is part of the system regardless of the technology used, a change to the hardware and / or software will restart the approval process, albeit mostly incompletely. This involves availability issues and significant costs.

A new approach for the modernization of the relay interlocking is in the Scriptures EP 2445771 A1 / WO2010148528A1 described. The relay logic (state machine) in the relay sets of trackplan trolleys is replaced by a programmable logic in an FPGA. Such an approach is largely a substitution solution. The possibilities of functional adjustments are limited.

The IT / ICT world is split in two directions. On the one hand in the world of servers, which are designed for maximum performance in terms of data throughput and storage volume, on the other hand, the devices and systems with lower performance, ie in the mobile world with power supply by means of rechargeable battery or with power supply. These are smartphones, tablets or netbooks as well as notebooks. In the following, they will be named as mobile only as a group. All of these devices have a set of functional features in common and allow the development of solutions that make it possible in real life to use all the previously listed mobile device types for new architectures.

The ICT technology is geared to the practicality, handling of the mobile devices, the amount of available power available, and the technology of the appropriate processor systems for said types of devices . The CPUs used are equipped with multicore processors with a generally high density of functionality for the intended use. Processing power is high, but is often unnecessarily reduced by a variety of open but unused tasks (services).

The technological innovation cycles for CPU systems in a chip housing for automation technology and for mobile devices or for systems with low performance in automation will soon be available in the half-yearly cycle for ever greater processing power and thus complexity. More and more CPU cores are being housed in the same enclosure. This allows multiple functions to run continuously without any restrictions. Other applications can be called without noticeable restriction. These are in particular apps and communication services.

There are two worlds. The divergence of silicon functional density and the software knowledge and application breadth is correspondingly high between mobile devices compared to the industrial capital goods with LifeCycle requirements over a service life of many years. Specifically, this includes railway safety and energy technology as well as control for large machines. There are currently worlds that have no points of contact.

It is a logical consequence that the development of plants with SIL4 requirements based on older technologies is steadily becoming more and more difficult over time and increasing the cost of maintaining the operation more and more. Thus, it is necessary to increasingly use electronic solutions for control tasks, e.g. to apply to interlockings that only moderately follow the innovation cycles of standard off-the-shelf products (COTS products). Also, due to security and availability considerations, often only a reduced set of existing functions will be used. The line mentioned above with the servers may be less suitable for the development of plant control, they will develop more and more towards data center tasks out.

Advantageous for the task of control system development when using COTS products are the very high quantities and thus the inevitably high quality of the assemblies with the complex semiconductor chips used therein. Errors would be fatal for the manufacturers in the very large quantities. Through the worldwide wide circle of users and through a variety of very heterogeneous usage scenarios, a well-founded application experience and a measurable measure for the practical experience emerge. This is useful for determining possible functional reliability and safety risks.

Today, there are a large number of processes which can be mapped on the time axis and / or a path axis or at most process progress. On the axis are discrete process processing points and / or discrete processing links therebetween, all of which have a particular function required for this process. In operation, data sets are forwarded through the interconnected time or path axis matched to the current process step, according to the functional sequence of the process. Since entering the commands for the operating conditions required in the process is asynchronous to the process, storage is required. The inventive solution is suitable for carrying out this storage. The instruction set can be a generally valid Include process instructions, specific instructions, and individual instructions for specific processing points. Track plan interlockings work according to this principle.

The present invention is therefore based on the object to show how the industrial control technology and specifically the railway interlockings can be built by a suitable new approach with the use of widely deployed COTS mobile devices, a new interlocking architecture. Thus, the increasing problem of the obsolescence trap, that is, the disappearance (discontinuation of products on the market) of the products of the hardware and software used can be countered by the progression of the market in an efficient manner.

At the same time, however, the requirements of the RAMS specifications from the applicable standards still apply to new solutions; they must be implementable for the new solution.

Today, there is an increasing need for interlocking for a flexibilization, which makes it possible to adapt the interlocking technology / safety technology in a simple manner to the required safety standard for extensions and also for dismantling the track system. The current state of technology is used here.

Companies such as ABB and Siemens have developed migration concepts for their investment goods to ensure their long service life. These are above all their controllers in power engineering. The focus is on software customization. However, this scenario takes little account of the fundamental technology change.

Thus, according to the invention, a method and a device are proposed which can follow the rapidly advancing technology and the mass market processes in the platform and communications world in mobile devices (mobile / smartphone and tablet as well as notebook). This can be due to the worldwide wide application to the enormously large Experience potential, know-how and the practical experience of this product group mobile communication turned off and thus solutions for the process control of (iron) railways by signal boxes, in particular according to the tracking plan principle, brought about.

In detail, the inventive solution now consists in an industrial process control system, in particular interlocking, for controlling decentralized functional units, which are connected via communication channels with the process control system, comprising a number of computer-aided control units, wherein the control units are connected in series or in parallel according to a control plan and receive and / or output control data according to this control plan, wherein the computer-aided control units are at least partially embodied as mobile devices with a computer core and at least one communication interface, wherein the mobile devices execute their control functions by means of the computer core in redundant determination mode and output their control data by means of their at least one communication interface and / or received.

In this way, the use of proprietary modules as computer-aided control units can be at least partially avoided. The task and circuitry of these proprietary assemblies are now replicated in the mobile devices, eliminating any issues associated with device de-registration used in the proprietary assemblies. Furthermore, it is also possible to resolve the strict spatial arrangement of modules in control cabinets and to now arrange the control units, for example, more according to logical and / or logistical boundary conditions.

Typically, mobile devices in this context are pure mobile phones, smart phones, PDAs and / or tablets. As these types of devices are mass-produced and work after a possibly erroneous introduction phase but then after a short time reliable and error-free. Otherwise, such long-term faulty devices disappear very quickly due to the high perception of such errors by the audience Market. These devices also have the advantage that they are almost arbitrarily exchangeable and replaceable.

Typically, there are now a number of alternatives as to how these control units, and in particular the control units designed as mobile devices, can communicate with each other within the framework of the control process according to the control plan.

Thus, for the communication of the control units wireless and / or wire-based point-to-point connections or point-to-multipoint connections can be implemented according to the control plan. A point-to-point connection in accordance with the track plan is advantageous. The sent track plan information can be secured with a key. The transfer of process data e.g. from the diagnosis is possible, but a data processing device with communication interface per functional unit is required.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the mobile devices can receive and / or transmit control data via a Wi-Fi interface, all control units being logged on to a WLAN router and receiving information for forwarding control data in accordance with the control plan with the respective control data intended for them. Thus, the control units together with the control data receive the lane data and accordingly send it to the next process processing point (ie to the next control unit according to the control plan) according to the lane plan.

Furthermore, a routing of the control data managed by a computer according to the control plan can also be provided, with incoming and outgoing information about the control plan being routed to a router, in particular a WLAN router, corresponding to a message information, in particular contained in a header. The manager of the routing has the routing information and can perform the following functions. The process processing points can be addressed directly and commissioning and test procedures can be run as well as tests, data queries, parameterizations, software updates for the respective process processing points as well as for the interface unit and, if necessary, also for the decentrally arranged functional unit itself.

Furthermore, it would also be possible to carry out the communication connections among the mobile devices as Ethernet connections, wherein preferably for mobile devices without an Ethernet interface, an interface unit is provided which comprises an Ethernet interface. The Ethernet solution has certain advantages over Wi-Fi. The network connections are very interference-proof, especially if they are shielded in "STP". The interface unit can be connected to the process processing point (control unit) via the USB interface or via an Ethernet interface. Since netbook and notebook have a WLAN and a network connection, when using more than one connection, the use of a switch resp. Routers will be required. With the Ethernet, all communication methods mentioned above can also be correspondingly cable-supported.

These architectures proposed here are not yet known. It can also be important that the attack points for adverse effects, for example by magnetic fields of short circuits in the power supply as well as lightning strikes in the control building can be largely prevented by the elimination of wired circuits especially with long lines.

In the mobile devices, such as mobile phone / smartphone, tablet, netbook and notebook, basically the computer and the communication technology have grown together.

• Minimierung der physischen Volumina
• Maximierung der Leistung
• Minimierung der elektrischen Verbindungen ausserhalb der Chipgehäuse
• Minimierung des Energieverbrauchs mittels Anpassung der Rechenmittel an die laufenden Tasks
• Implementierung von bis zu acht Rechner-Kernen mit unterschiedlichen Leistungen für die Vermeidung von Overperformance (Stand Oktober 2013)
• Leistungsmerkmale der Datenschnittstellen den Aufgaben anpassen und dadurch den Energieverbrauch optimieren.

Typical features of the further development are:

• Minimization of physical volumes
• Maximizing performance
• Minimization of electrical connections outside the chip package
• Minimization of energy consumption by adapting the calculation means to the running tasks
• Implementation of up to eight computer cores with different performance levels to avoid overperformance (as of October 2013)
• Adapt the features of the data interfaces to the tasks and thereby optimize energy consumption.

From PCs to the servers and many other applications in the respective appropriate form are established: the interfaces to the outside are usually the Ethernet cable, wireless air interface or Bluetooth.

Innovation is used in the familiar technology steps e.g. 32nm on 22nm with the computing chips innovatively continued. However, the limit of light lithography for chip manufacturing will soon reach the limits (about 12nm, EUV) and require completely new approaches.

• Durch den Einsatz der Mobilgeräte in den für sie gebauten Funknetzen sind als Massnahme für den Schutz der Information, d.h. zur Verhinderung unerlaubter Informationszugriffe, geeignete technische Massnahmen wie z.B. eine Gerätenummer die weltweit unique ist, vorhanden, um Eingriffe in die Datenverbindungen zu verhindern.
• Die in den Mobilgeräten realisierten Verfahren / Mechanismen ermöglichen die Realisierung von Safety-Anforderungen für die Eisenbahn-Sicherungsapplikationen.
• Handy/Smartphone und Tablett können vom Funktionsumfang her nicht 1:1 verglichen werden. Sie sind aber in Bezug auf die Anwendung im Grundsatz gleich.
• Netbook und Notebook sind Mobilgeräte, mobile PC, welche den drahtlosen wie den drahtgebundenen Anschluss an die Datennetze bieten.
• Die Prozessoren in den Mobilgeräten weisen 2, 3,4, 6 und bis 8 CPU-Kerne auf. Das ermöglicht den Bau von safety related Applikationen mit Mehrrechner-Architekturen von 1v2, 2v2 sowie, 2v3, wobei 2v2 und 2v3 einen Betrieb im SIL4 Level möglich machen.
• Weitere Ansätze zum Erhöhen der Verfügbarkeit sind realisierbar. 3v4, wobei beim Erstausfall auf 2v4 die Planung der Instandsetzung anlaufen kann.
• Durch eine saubere OOP kann das Fehlerverhalten aus Sicht Safety und Verfügbarkeit optimiert werden.
• Die Akkus in den Mobilgeräten erlauben bei Energieausfällen ein definiertes Verhalten und das Sichern von Betriebszuständen auf nicht flüchtigem Speicher. Ein Wiederaufstart an einem definierten Punkt (Unterbruch) ist dadurch gegeben.

Today's mobile features include:

• By using the mobile devices in the radio networks built for them as a measure for the protection of information, ie to prevent unauthorized information access, appropriate technical measures such as a device number that is unique worldwide, available to prevent interference with the data connections.
• The implemented in the mobile devices / mechanisms allow the realization of safety requirements for the railway safety applications.
• Mobile / smartphone and tablet can not be compared 1: 1 in terms of functionality. But they are basically the same in terms of application.
• Netbook and notebook are mobile devices, mobile PCs that provide wireless as well as wired connection to the data networks.
• The processors in the mobile devices have 2, 3,4, 6 and up to 8 CPU cores. This enables the construction of safety-related applications with multicomputer architectures of 1v2, 2v2 and 2v3, whereby 2v2 and 2v3 enable operation in the SIL4 level.
• Other approaches to increasing availability are feasible. 3v4, whereby at the first failure on 2v4 the planning of the repair can start.
• A clean OOP can be used to optimize fault behavior from the point of view of safety and availability.
• The batteries in the mobile devices allow in case of power failure, a defined behavior and the backup of operating states to non-volatile memory. A restart at a defined point (interruption) is given by.

Operating Systems

The operating systems on the mobile devices (IT / ICT communication devices) such as Apple IOS5 and 7, Google Android 4.X and 5.X, MS Windows Phone 8, BlackBerry OS, HCT and derivatives have prevailed and proven. Firefox OS is still on the go for mobile devices.

Only stable OS with well-defined interfaces allow to offer a very large pool of APP's. As a result, the respective OS becomes transparent and consequently the know-how for the application development software (APP) is correspondingly broadly supported. This is illustrated by the many small to large companies, which deal with the development and maintenance of apps for the mobile platforms and generate knowledge.

This means that the initial effort for the use of this hardware is small and it can be on an enormously large pool of application and distribution turned off.

Figure 1

schematisch ein Stellwerk mit Spurplan mit Verbindungen zwischen den Prozessverarbeitungseinheiten über ein Netzwerk vom Typ WLAN;

Figur 2

schematisch ein Stellwerk mit Spurplan mit Verbindungen zwischen den Prozessverarbeitungseinheiten über ein Netzwerk vom Typ Ethernet; Routing Verfahren 1 wird angewendet; und

Figur 3

schematisch ein Stellwerk mit Spurplan mit Verbindungen zwischen den Prozessverarbeitungseinheiten über ein Netzwerk vom Typ Ethernet; Routing Verfahren 2 wird angewendet.

The inventive solution of the problem is exemplified in the track plan interlocking technology in the FIGS. 1 to 3 demonstrated. Showing:

Figure 1

schematically a signal box with track plan with connections between the process processing units via a network of the type WLAN;

FIG. 2

schematically a signal box with track plan with connections between the processing units over an Ethernet-type network; Routing method 1 is applied; and

FIG. 3

schematically a signal box with track plan with connections between the processing units over an Ethernet-type network; Routing method 2 is applied.

However, the architecture exemplarily shown here for a signal box is also generally applicable to state machines and controllers. It can also be implemented for interlockings according to the closure panel principle.

According to the exemplary embodiment, each process processing point is represented by a mobile device, preferably a powerful mobile phone / smartphone, a tablet or a netbook as well as a notebook. The mobile device assumes the task of controlling and / or controlling the associated functional unit, such as switch, main signal, distant signal, balise, maneuvering, axle counter, track circuits, etc. in the track system. The mobile devices used are so-called COTS products (Commercial of the shelf) with modern communication technology.

Typical features include two, three, four or more CPU cores, which is very powerful data processing that is achieved by optimizing power consumption. Furthermore, the mobile devices are equipped with the data channels used in modern wired and mostly wireless communication / Interfaces for the mobile telephone network, for WLAN and the various interfaces for the closer environment of the mobile devices such as USB, Bluetooth, NFC, audio. Advantageously used are common mobile phones / smartphones widely used by the public. As a result, the conditions of practical testing and suitability are transparent and, as a rule, reliable and suitable for mass production. Preference is given to mobile phones / smartphones with two, four or more cores.

The communication between the processing points and the associated functional unit, such as switches, etc. (see above), an interface unit (also called control part) may be interposed, which carries out the adaptation of the electrical signals. Not every functional unit requires an interface unit for connecting the functional unit. By way of example, in local arrangements for connecting the interface unit, standard data interfaces, such as USB or Ethernet, are used.

These process processing points are identical to each other using the track layout interlocking technology of the track layout / track layout. At the same time, the process and the device with the track planning technique can be presented and compared in a particularly clear manner. The track / track image is a path axis that is set for a train journey and is used after the intended use or in exceptional cases, such as, for example. in the case of malfunctions, even without using it again.

The later insertion of further process processing points is possible at any time. However, it is also possible to change the functionality in the process processing points resp. to increase. Further, e.g. from an occupancy time of a track section with knowledge of the length of the section and the train length (for information on this, implicitly in the train number), the average speed in the section under consideration can be calculated.

The track planning technique for the route search and adjustment is not time-sensitive. Minimum and maximum times, thus time limits but are usually present. The inventive solution also enables time-based information and decisions as well as a differentiated response to error conditions in the functional unit. Furthermore, in the mobile devices, the data processing for the analysis of the behavior of the functional units, such as switch cycle time or switch motor current possible.

It is the classic approach. The interlocking logic and the control units with the respective interface unit to the functional units on the track are housed in the same location up to the same housing. A new approach protected by Siemens Switzerland with the brand name SINET® provides that the interface units are arranged decentrally very close to the functional units. The interface units are controlled by a redundant bus system. This allows the interlocking be connected in the inventive design with the Ethernet outputs of the process processing points to the SINET.

The connection of the process processing points is identical to the track course (path-specific).
For the proposed smartphone, tablet, netbook, notebook, the connection via the WLAN interface is a general solution. However, this wireless solution can also have certain disadvantages. The connections can be significantly disturbed by a broadband noise signal. This requires effective space shielding. This also provides protection against performance burglaries caused by a high load on the channels due to a high density of surrounding WLAN connections.

• Ia Wi-Fi direkt, für Punkt zu Punkt oder Punkt zu Multipunkt
  Vorteilhaft ist dabei Punkt zu Punkt entsprechend dem Spurplan.
  Die gesendete Spurplan-Information ist mit einem Schlüssel gesichert.
  Das Übertragen von Prozessdaten z.B. von der Diagnose ist im Prinzip möglich,
  es ist jedoch eine Daterverarbeitungs-Einrichtung mit WLAN Schnittstelle pro Funktionseinheit erforderlich.
• Ib Wi-Fi Router, über die Wi-Fi Schnittstelle sendet und empfängt die Steuerungseinheit (Prozessverarbeitungshardware) die für sie gültige Information. Es sind alle Prozessverarbeitungspunkte am WLAN-Router angemeldet und empfangen die Spurdaten und senden sie entsprechend an den nächsten Prozessverarbeitungspunkt nach Spurplan weiter.
• Ic Wi-Fi gemanagt, über einen von einem Rechner gemanagten Router. Die einkommende und die ausgehende Spurplaninformation werden mit einem WLAN-Router entsprechend der Telegramm Information (Header) geroutet. Der Manager hat die Routing Information und kann folgende Funktionen wahrnehmen. Die Prozessverarbeitungspunkte sind ansprechbar. Es können:
  1. 1 Inbetriebnahme- und Testprozeduren können gefahren werden.
     Tests, Datenabfragen, Parametrierungen, Software update für die jeweiligen Prozessverarbeitungspunkte wie auch die Interfaceeinheit- wie die Funktionseinheit durchgeführt werden.

Solutions for this communication problem therefore look like this:

• Ia Wi-Fi direct, for point to point or point to multipoint
  It is advantageous point to point according to the track plan.
  The sent track plan information is saved with a key.
  The transfer of process data eg from the diagnosis is possible in principle
  however, a data processing device with WLAN interface per functional unit is required.
• Ib Wi-Fi Router, via the Wi-Fi interface sends and receives the control unit (process processing hardware) the valid information for them. All process processing points are logged into the WLAN router and receive the trace data and send it accordingly to the next process processing point according to track plan.
• Ic Wi-Fi managed via a router managed by a computer. The incoming and the outgoing track plan information is routed with a WLAN router according to the message information (header). The manager has the routing information and can perform the following functions. The process processing points are accessible. It can:
  1. 1 commissioning and test procedures can be run.
     Tests, data requests, parameterization, software update for the respective process processing points as well as the interface unit as the functional unit to be performed.

II Ethernet

The Ethernet solution may have certain advantages over Wi-Fi. The network connections are very interference-proof if they are shielded in "STP". It should be noted that only the netbook and the notebook usually have an Ethernet and always have several USB interfaces. Smartphones have Wi-Fi and usually a USB interface. The interface unit can be connected to the process processing point via the USB interface or via an Ethernet interface. Since netbook and notebook have a WLAN and a network connection, the assignment of more than one connection requires the use of a switch resp. Routers required.

IIa, IIb, IIc Ethernet

Analogously to section I WLAN / Wi-Fi with Ia, Ib, Ic the same methods are also used with Ethernet.

Since the energy requirement is minimized in the mobile devices (charging cycle interval), no redundancy is provided. The number of calculation cores serves the parallel processing of services / programs on the appropriate cores and minimizes the overhead through multitasking.

Ensuring the required SIL 3 resp. SIL4 requires appropriate measures. They are considered on the mobile device side for bugs in the cores and related functions. The data transmissions from the mobile devices and the devices through the interfaces use the procedures for error detection and correction. There is a corresponding Hamming distance to define. The suitable methods are known in the railway safety technology and are widely used. It is not at this point the task of the document to discuss the various methods according to the prior art.

Claims (7)

Industrial process control system, in particular interlocking, for controlling decentralized functional units, which are connected via communication channels with the process control system, comprising a number of computer-aided control units, wherein the control units are connected in series or in parallel according to a control plan and receive and / or control data according to this control plan output,
characterized in that
the computer-aided control units are at least partially embodied as mobile devices with a computer core and at least one communication interface, wherein the mobile devices execute their control functions by means of the computer core in redundant determination mode and output and / or receive their control data by means of their at least one communication interface. Plant according to claim 1,
characterized in that
the mobile devices pure mobile phones, smart phones, PDAs and / or tablets are running. Plant according to claim 1 or 2,
characterized in that
for the communication of the control units wireless and / or wire-based point-to-point connections or point-to-multipoint connections are implemented according to the control plan. Plant according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that
the mobile devices receive and / or transmit control data via a Wi-Fi interface, wherein all control units are logged on to a WLAN router and receive information for forwarding control data according to the control plan with the respective control data intended for them. Plant according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that
a computer-managed routing of the control data according to the control plan is provided, wherein incoming and outgoing information to the control plan with a router, in particular a wireless router, according to a telegram information, in particular contained in a header, are routed. Plant according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that
the communication links among the mobile devices are implemented as Ethernet connections, preferably for mobile devices without an Ethernet interface, an interface unit is provided which comprises an Ethernet interface. Plant according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized in that
the control plan is a track plan of a railway interlocking.

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