WO2024116216A1 - Computer network platform of a train and corresponding configuration method - Google Patents

Abstract

Closed computer network platform (10) of a train comprising a plurality of railway switches (11) of managed type and a configuration device (12) configured to send an auto-configuration file (GND) to a first switch (I la), and method for configuring a closed computer network platform (10) of a train.

Description

“COMPUTER NETWORK PLATFORM OF A TRAIN AND CORRESPONDING CONFIGURATION METHOD”

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a computer network platform of a train, where by train, or Consist, we mean a group of railway wagons that cannot be separated during regular operation, such as metro trains or extra-urban railway networks, for example.

The present invention also concerns a method for configuring the computer network platform of a train.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known that data communication on board trains is based on Ethernet Consist Networks, that is, railway communication networks in Ethernet technology standardized according to legislation IEC-61375-3. This technology enables the implementation of advanced features such as public announcements, advertising, security cameras, sophisticated maintenance tasks and suchlike.

An Ethernet network consists of a series of switches, each of which connects, usually in a star-like topology, the end devices (ED), and if necessary other switches.

The end devices are Ethernet devices that are a communication endpoint and are located at the edge of the computer network. In particular, they are train devices that can be connected, monitored and/or controlled through the computer network, such as servers, monitors, cameras, electromechanical member command devices, maintenance doors in front carriages and suchlike.

The switches are able to optimize the traffic between the end devices, forwarding the frames, or data packets, only on the affected network segments, without the risk of filling the entire network with unwanted traffic.

The switches of an Ethernet Consist Network are managed type switches, that is, capable of performing sophisticated actions, especially in reaction to dynamically generated situations such as, for example, a network failure, managing possible controls and limitations in order to protect specific flows of data packets or defined critical devices, aggregating connections to ensure better performance, modifying (routing) data packets from an internal CPU in order to meet specific communication needs, and so on.

A managed switch is characterized by its own configuration, that is, a certain number of instructions that have to be inserted and stored in it for it to perform the desired controls and activities.

It is easy to understand that, depending on the number of devices, a train can have even tens of switches to connect hundreds of end devices, each of the switches generally having a number of ports, that is, a number of possible cable connections, comprised between 12 and 20, depending on the geometry of the train, the costs of the devices, the need to prevent points of failure and/or similar aspects.

In the state of the art, during the construction of the train, it is necessary to perform an initial configuration on each switch of the network. Such configuration may comprise at least assigning an address and/or other communication parameters to each switch of the network.

This process is long and error-prone. In addition, the cost of configuring the network can easily be up to three times the cost of the network itself.

Network management protocols, such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), are known, used in Internet Protocol (IP) networks to automatically assign IP addresses and other communication parameters to the devices connected to the network. DHCP uses a client-server architecture, in which a client device, for example when connecting to the network, requests an IP address from a server device, which assigns an IP address to the client device automatically, that is, without the need for a user to intervene.

Document US 2008/0120365 Al describes a client/server DHCP device capable of functioning as a server of a network to which it is connected, in the event that a DHCP server is not available in the network.

The paper Ji, L. et al., “On providing secure and portable wireless data networking services: architecture and data forwarding mechanisms”, First International Conference on Mobile Computing and Ubiquitous Networking (ICMU 2004), vol. 45, no. 10, describes a wireless network that can potentially be installed on moving vehicles.

Document US 2020/0044917 Al describes an automatic configuration method of the Zero Touch Provisioning or Low Touch Provisioning type of a network element at the time of its connection to a pre-existing network. Document US 6,560,642 Bl describes a method for establishing an IP network that does not require knowledge of Internet protocol addressing mechanisms.

There is therefore the need to perfect a computer network platform of a train, and a corresponding configuration method, that can overcome at least one of the disadvantages of the state of the art.

To do this, it is necessary to solve the technical problem of identifying a technology and methodologies for the automatic configuration of a railway computer network.

In particular, one purpose of the present invention is to provide a computer network platform of a train that allows the automatic configuration of the network.

Another purpose of the present invention is to develop a method for configuring a computer network platform of a train.

The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claims. The dependent claims describe other characteristics of the present invention or variants to the main inventive idea.

In accordance with the above purposes and to resolve the technical problem disclosed above in a new and original way, also achieving considerable advantages compared to the state of the prior art, a closed computer network platform of a train according to the present invention comprises a plurality of managed type switches.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the computer network platform comprises a configuration device configured to make available an autoconfiguration file to a first of said switches which is unconfigured; the switches are railway switches able to be configured in order to switch from a DHCP client configuration to a DHCP server configuration. Each of the switches is able, in DHCP server configuration, to send data packets to make available the autoconfiguration file to one or more subsequent unconfigured switches of the plurality of switches directly connected to it.

Doing so achieves at least the advantage that it is possible to automatically spread the configuration across the entire network, thus reducing the time needed for the configuration and also the probability of making errors.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the configuration device is an external DHCP server.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the configuration device is a device for storing the auto-configuration file, chosen from a USB device or an external mass memory.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method for configuring a closed computer network platform of a train comprises:

- making available a plurality of unconfigured railway switches;

- making available, by means of a configuration device, an auto-configuration file to a first switch;

- auto-configuring the first switch according to the auto-configuration file;

- making available, by means of the first switch, the auto-configuration file to one or more subsequent switches directly connected to the first switch;

- auto-configuring the one or more switches directly connected to the first switch according to the auto-configuration file;

- making available, by means of each subsequent switch, the auto-configuration file to one or more switches directly connected to it, until the switches are exhausted;

- auto-configuring, according to the auto-configuration file, each switch that receives it; wherein the auto-configuration file comprises instructions for obtaining the initial configuration of the closed computer network and for the conversion of each switch from a DHCP client configuration to a DHCP server configuration in order to send data packets to make available the auto-configuration file, at the end of the configuration of the switch itself.

By “making the auto-configuration file available” we mean supplying the autoconfiguration file directly, by sending the file from a configured switch to a directly connected switch to be configured, or indirectly, by sending a URL, from which it is possible to download the auto-configuration file, from a configured switch to a directly connected switch to be configured.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the method provides that the configuration device is a DHCP server and that the first switch receives, from the DHCP server, a URL for downloading the auto-configuration file using option 66 of the DHCP.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the method provides that the configuration device is a storage device chosen from a USB device or an external mass memory; at least the first switch comprises a management command through which to request and download the auto-configuration file from the configuration device.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the method provides that the first switch is chosen from any one of the switches.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the method provides to interface end switches of the plurality of switches with end devices of the train to communicate with and control the end devices.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of some embodiments, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawing wherein:

- fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a computer network platform of a train, according to the present invention.

We must clarify that the phraseology and terminology used in the present description, as well as the figure in the attached drawing also in relation as to how described, have the sole function of better illustrating and explaining the present invention, their purpose being to provide a non-limiting example of the invention itself, since the scope of protection is defined by the claims.

To facilitate comprehension, the same reference numbers have been used, where possible, to identify identical common elements in the drawings. It is understood that elements and characteristics of one embodiment can be conveniently combined or incorporated into other embodiments without further clarifications. DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

With reference to fig. 1 , a computer network platform 10 of a train according to the present invention comprises a plurality of switches 11 and a configuration device 12.

The platform 10 can be a closed computer network platform, understood as a network whose topology is defined and does not change dynamically over time. The aforementioned switches 11 are railway switches, that is, they can be used in on-board communication networks and track to train systems, of a managed type.

We must clarify that, when a train is initially built, the switches 11 of its computer network platform 10 are not configured, in the sense that they do not have an IP (Internet Protocol) address and are reachable only at the L2, or MacAddress, level. The structure of the network is therefore not known a priori, that is, before configuration.

In the plurality of switches 11 there is comprised a first switch 1 la, intermediate switches 1 lb, and end switches 11c. The first switch I la, or pivot, is the one that is interfaced with the configuration device 12. The switches 1 lb are those that, on a branch of the computer network, are located between the first switch 11 a and the end switches 11c. The end switches 11c are those that are interfaced with the end devices ED.

In the present description and claims, reference number 11 is understood as any one of either reference numbers I la, 11b and 11c.

According to one embodiment, one of the plurality of switches 11 is able to operate as a first switch I la.

According to a variant, any one of the plurality of switches 11 may be chosen as the first switch I la.

The switches 11 are configurable to switch from a DHCP client configuration to a DHCP server configuration. By DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) we mean a network management protocol used in Internet Protocol (IP) networks to automatically assign IP addresses and other communication parameters to the devices connected to the network using a client-server architecture.

In the DHCP client configuration, the switches 11 can receive data packets. In the DHCP server configuration, a given switch 11 can assign an IP address to the switches 11 connected to it, thereby being able to send data packets to those connected switches 11.

The data packets can be data packets relating to an auto-configuration, or Global Network Description (GND) file, understood as a file that describes the details of the network, in the form of a list of all the necessary configurations or through a description of the network from which the configurations of the individual switches 11 derive. In addition, the configuration file contains instructions at least for configuring each switch 11 to send data packets, for example to send the autoconfiguration file GND, or alternatively a URL from which to download it.

The configuration device 12 is configured to supply the pivot 1 la at least with information such as IP address, hostname and suchlike. The configuration device 12 is then configured to make the auto-configuration file GND available to the pivot 11 a.

According to one embodiment, the configuration device 12 is an external DHCP server.

The external DHCP server is connectable to the pivot 11 a by means of a wired, Ethernet type or serial cable connection, or suchlike.

The external DHCP server, for making the auto-configuration file available to the pivot 11 a, is configured to communicate the URL for the download of the autoconfiguration file by the pivot 11 a.

The external DHCP server is configured to use option 66 to communicate the URL.

According to a variant, the configuration device 12 is an auto-configuration file GND storage device, such as a USB device, an external mass memory or suchlike.

In the variant as above, at least one of the switches 11, specifically the pivot I la, comprises a management command by means of which to request and download the auto-configuration file GND to/from the configuration device 12. Preferably, all switches 11 comprise the aforementioned management command and can be chosen as pivot I la.

The operation of the platform 10 described heretofore, which corresponds to the configuration method according to the present invention, comprises the steps described below.

The method comprises making available a plurality of unconfigured switches 11 , therefore which do not have an IP address.

An auto-configuration file GND is made available to a first switch, or pivot, I la.

The first switch 1 la is auto-configured according to the auto-configuration file GND. The pivot I la makes the auto-configuration file GND available to one or more of the subsequent switches 11 directly connected to the pivot 1 la. In particular, at the end of its configuration, the first switch 1 la can assume the function of DHCP server, thus being able to assign to each subsequent switch 11 directly connected with the first switch 11 a itself an IP address, so as to be able to send the autoconfiguration file GND or the URL from which to download it to each subsequent directly connected switch 11.

Each of the switches 11 that has received the auto-configuration file GND makes it available to one or more subsequent switches 11 directly connected to it, until the end switches 11c are reached and therefore the switches 11 are exhausted.

The method provides that, in the steps described above, each of the switches 11 that has received the auto-configuration file GND, at the end of the configuration of the switch 11 itself, converts from a DHCP client configuration to a DHCP server configuration.

The method provides that the auto-configuration file GND is made available to the pivot 1 la by a configuration device 12.

According to one embodiment, the method can provide that the configuration device 12 is an external DHCP server. The pivot I la receives a URL from the DHCP server for downloading the auto-configuration file GND, using option 66 of the DHCP.

According to one embodiment, the dissemination of the auto-configuration file GND can occur not by directly sending such file from each configured switch 11 to each subsequent directly connected switch 11 , but by sending the URL for downloading the auto-configuration file GND, using option 66 of the DHCP.

According to a variant, the method provides that the configuration device 12 is a storage device chosen from a USB device, an external mass memory or suchlike. The method then provides that the pivot I la requests and downloads the autoconfiguration file GND to/from the configuration device 12, through a management command.

The method can provide that one of the switches 11, able to act as pivot 1 la, comprises the management command.

The method can provide that each of the switches 11 comprises the management command and that one of them is chosen as pivot I la. In general, the method can provide that the pivot 11 a is any one of the switches 11.

The method provides that the end switches 11 c are interfaced with end devices ED of the train, to communicate with and control them.

We wish to clarify that the switching of a switch 11 from the DHCP client configuration to the DHCP server configuration is strictly necessary only during the initial configuration, to allow the assignment of IP addresses that is necessary for the transmission of the auto-configuration file GND or the URL to download it. The configuration as a DHCP client and/or server is therefore not necessarily maintained by the switches 11 once the configuration is finished, unless required by the specific network configuration, which in any case is not the subject of the present invention.

It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts and/or steps may be made to the platform 10 and to the method as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention, as defined by the claims. It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person of skill in the art will be able to achieve other equivalent forms of a computer network platform of a train and corresponding configuration method, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

In the following claims, the sole purpose of the references in brackets is to facilitate their reading and they must not be considered as restrictive factors with regard to the field of protection defined by the claims.

Claims

1. Closed computer network platform (10) of a train comprising a plurality of switches (11) of a managed type, characterized in that it comprises a configuration device (12) configured to make available an auto-configuration file (GND) to an unconfigured first (I la) of said switches (11), and in that said switches (11) are railway switches able to be configured to switch from a DHCP client configuration to a DHCP server configuration, each one of said switches (11) being able, in DHCP server configuration, to send data packets to make available said auto-configuration file (GND) to one or more subsequent unconfigured switches (11) of said plurality of switches (11) directly connected to it.

2. Platform (10) as in claim 1, characterized in that said configuration device (12) is an external DHCP server.

3. Platform (10) as in claim 1, characterized in that said configuration device (12) is a device for storing said auto-configuration file (GND), chosen from a USB device or an external mass memory.

4. Method for configuring a closed computer network platform (10) of a train, characterized in that it comprises:

- making available a plurality of unconfigured railway switches (11);

- making available, by means of a configuration device (12), an auto-configuration file (GND) to a first (1 la) of said switches (1 1);

- auto-configuring said first switch (I la) according to said auto-configuration file (GND);

- making available, by means of said first switch (I la), said auto-configuration file (GND) to one or more of said subsequent switches (11) directly connected to said first switch (I la);

- auto-configuring said one or more switches (11) directly connected to said first switch (I la) according to said auto-configuration file (GND);

- making available, by means of each subsequent switch (11), said autoconfiguration file (GND) to one or more of said switches (11) directly connected to it, until said switches (11) are exhausted;

- auto-configuring according to said auto-configuration file (GND) each switch (11) that receives it; wherein said auto-configuration file (GND) comprises instructions for obtaining the initial configuration of said closed computer network and for the conversion of each switch (11) from a DHCP client configuration to a DHCP server configuration to send data packets to make available said auto-configuration file (GND), at the end of the configuration of the switch (11) itself.

5. Configuration method as in claim 4, characterized in that it provides that said configuration device (12) is an external DHCP server and that said first switch (I la) receives from said DHCP server a URL for downloading said autoconfiguration file (GND) using option 66 of the DHCP.

6. Configuration method as in claim 4, characterized in that it provides that at least said first switch (I la) comprises a management command through which to request and download said auto-configuration file (GND) from said configuration device (12), said configuration device (12) being a storage device chosen from a USB device or an external mass memory.

7. Configuration method as in any claim from 4 to 6, characterized in that it provides that said first switch (1 la) is any one of said switches (11).

8. Configuration method as in any claim from 4 to 7, characterized in that the end switches ( 11 c) of said plurality of switches ( 11 ) are interfaced with end devices (ED) of said train to communicate with and control said end devices (ED).