MILANI, Pietro (Milano, I-20127, IT)
POZZI, Danilo, Emilio (Milano, I-20127, IT)
MILANI, Pietro (Milano, I-20127, IT)
| CLAIMS 1. An electronic apparatus for monitoring an electronic system for controlling a track of railway line, said system comprising at least one central radio station (2) , controlled by at least one appropriate electronic processing unit, which communicates with a plurality of peripheral stations (3) , located along the railway line, via radio calls in the GSM band, the peripheral stations being designed to propagate the signals for the calls along the line itself and to send them and/or receive them to/from at least one radio station on board train (4) , said apparatus being characterized in that it comprises: ■ at least one central electronic monitoring unit (51) , which is able to communicate with the central radio station (2) ; and ■ a plurality of peripheral monitoring units (52) , each of which associated to a corresponding peripheral station (3), the central monitoring unit (51) and peripheral monitoring units (52) being connected to one another via a telecommunication network. (R) , each peripheral monitoring unit (52) comprising at least one GSM modem, which is able to effect and receive at least one monitoring call to/from the peripheral stations (3) , on request by the central monitoring unit (51) . 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a monitoring call comprises at least one control string having a pre-set number of characters . 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a monitoring call comprises a plurality of control strings sent at preset time intervals. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of monitoring calls can be made simultaneously in parallel. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication network (R) is a LAN. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a peripheral monitoring unit (52) comprises at least one electronic processing unit (521) , an interfacing device (522) for interfacing with the telecommunication network (R) , at least one GSM modem (523), and at least one switching device (524) , the switching of which being governed by said processing unit. 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching devices can determine two modes of operation: an antenna mode, in which the GSM modems operate picking up the radio signal from an external antenna; and a wired mode, in which the modems operate picking up the radio signal directly from the peripheral stations (3) . 8. A method for monitoring a system for controlling a track of railway line, said system comprising at least one central radio station (2) , controlled by at least one electronic processing unit, which communicates with a plurality of peripheral stations (3) , located along the railway line, via radio calls in the GSM band, the peripheral stations being designed to propagate the signals for the calls along the line itself and to send them and/or receive them to/from at least one radio station on board the train (4) , said method being characterized in that it comprises the following steps: ■ issuing a command to at least one peripheral monitoring unit (52), selected from among a plurality of peripheral monitoring units, each of which is associated to a respective peripheral GSM-R-signal-repeater station (3) , for making a GSM-R call, which includes at least one control string, in the direction of one of the peripheral stations; ■ monitoring via a central monitoring unit (51) associated to the central station (2) of the system to check that said monitoring call is received by the peripheral station and transferred to the central station (51) . 9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of making a comparison between the control string sent to the peripheral monitoring unit and the string received by the central monitoring unit via the central station. 10. A method for monitoring a system for controlling a track of railway line, said system comprising at least one central radio station (2) , controlled by at least one electronic processing unit, which communicates with a plurality of peripheral stations (3) , located along the railway line, via radio calls in the GSM band, the peripheral stations being designed to propagate the signals for the calls along the line itself and to send them and/or receive them to/from at least one radio station on board the train (4) , said method being characterized in that it comprises the following steps: ■ issuing a command via a central monitoring unit (51) , associated to the central station (2) , for making a GSM monitoring call by at least one of the peripheral stations (3) in the direction of at least one peripheral monitoring unit (52), selected from among a plurality of peripheral monitoring units, each of which is associated to a respective peripheral GSM-R-signal-repeater station, said call including at least one control string; and ■ monitoring to check that said monitoring call is made by the peripheral station (3) and received by the corresponding peripheral monitoring unit (52) . 11. A method for monitoring a system for controlling a track of railway line, said system comprising at least one central radio station (2) , controlled by at least one electronic processing unit, which communicates with a plurality of peripheral stations (3) , located along the railway line, via radio calls in the GSM band, the peripheral stations being designed to propagate the signals for the calls along the line itself and to send them and/or receive them to/from at least one radio station on board train (4) , said method being characterized in that it comprises the following steps : ■ issuing a command to at least one peripheral monitoring unit (52), selected from among a plurality of peripheral monitoring units, each of which is associated to a respective peripheral GSM-R-signal-repeater station, for making a GSM-R railway group call or emergency call in the direction of one of the peripheral stations; and ■ monitoring via a central monitoring unit (51) associated to the central station (2) of the system to check that said railway group/emergency call is received by the peripheral monitoring units that are located in the preset area; the indication of the reception of railway group/emergency call is transferred by the peripheral monitoring units concerned to the central station (51) , which checks that all the peripheral monitoring units (52) belonging to the pre-set area are reached by the railway group/emergency call . 12 The method according to claim 11, wherein by "group calls" are meant connections in which it is possible to involve all the users enabled that are located within a pre-set area, defined on the basis of the peripheral GSM-R- signal-repeater station. |
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for monitoring a system for controlling a railway line. In particular, the present invention regards an apparatus for monitoring a railway line, the management of the railway- traffic of which is controlled via a radio system, for example, a radio system of the type used in mobile telephony (GSM) .
Along the railway lines currently referred to as "highspeed/high-capacity" the traditional light signals, which at speeds of approximately 300 km/h would be hard to see, are not present . The dialogue between the train and the railway network occurs by means of radio waves. The technology on the ground is made up of an apparatus, referred to as "radio block centre" (RBC) , located in specific "central posts", which transmits continuously to each train the speed and distance to be respected, as a function of the position of all the trains present on the line and of the limits imposed by the path followed or by any possible deceleration in progress.
At the same time the trains send their position to a "traffic Central Post" (PCS) . The on-board technology enables the engine driver to drive the train, availing himself exclusively of the information received through the Radio Block Centre. The information is displayed on a screen (Driver-Machine Interface - DMI) , which, in addition to displaying the effective speed of the train, supplies the driver with all the indications necessary for driving the train, such as for example the maximum speed allowed at that moment. This information enables the most appropriate actions to be taken to guarantee travel of the train in safety conditions, activating the braking control in case of the engine driver does not intervene.
The communication and control system of a track of railway- line uses radio frequencies reserved to railway companies (GSM-R) and basically comprises at least one central radio station, controlled by an appropriate processing unit, which communicates with a plurality of peripheral stations, located along the railway line and designed to propagate the signals along the line and to send said signals to at least one radio station on board the train.
Control data are sent from the central station to enable the train to travel according to correct indications. Said data are re-transmitted along the line by the peripheral stations and, once again through them, sent to the various trains that are travelling along that track of line. In addition, the train, via its on-board radio station, retransmits its parameters (for example, its position on the line obtained via the interaction with purposely provided sensors set along the railway track) towards the central station.
In this framework, the applicant has set himself the problem of identifying and solving the faults before they can affect the running of the trains, taking into account that the high level of traffic of trains along commercial lines makes execution of in-field tests problematical and that current supervision systems enable identification of evident hardware failures but at times they do not reveal latent problems, and the reliability of the information obtained from the statistical counters is limited by the low volumes of traffic.
The apparatus according to the present invention solves the aforementioned problem, enabling generation of test connections along the railway line with the purpose of verifying periodically the efficiency of the peripheral stations and in general of the GSM-R connections along the railway line.
One aspect of the present invention regards an apparatus having the characteristics of the attached claim 1.
A further aspect of the present invention regards a method having the characteristics of the attached claim 8.
A further aspect of the present invention regards a method having the characteristics of the attached claim 10.
A further aspect of the present invention regards a method having the characteristics of the attached claim 11.
The characteristics and advantages of the apparatus according to the present invention will emerge more clearly from the following description of an embodiment, provided by way of non- limiting example, with reference to the attached figures, in which:
■ Figure 1 is a block diagram of the apparatus according to the present invention applied to a track of railway line controlled by a radio control system; and
■ Figure 2 is a block diagram of a peripheral monitoring unit according to the present invention.
With reference to the above figures, the communication and control system of a track of railway line basically comprises at least one central radio station 2, controlled by an appropriate processing unit, which communicates with a plurality of peripheral stations 3, located along the railway line. Said peripheral stations are designed to propagate the signals along the line itself and to send and/or receive said signals to/from at least one radio station on board train 4. The central radio station and the various peripheral stations are advantageously connected to one another via a loop connection A, for example obtained by optical fibres.
Control data are sent by the central station to enable the train to travel according to correct indications. Said data are retransmitted and propagated along the line by the peripheral stations and are, once again by them, sent to the various trains that are travelling along that track of line .
The apparatus according to the present invention basically comprises a central electronic monitoring unit 51, which is able to communicate with central radio station 2 of the control system, and a plurality of peripheral monitoring units 52 , each of which is connected to at least one peripheral station 3. Central monitoring unit 51 and peripheral monitoring unit 52 are connected to a connection network, for example a LAN. Each peripheral monitoring unit 52 comprises at least one GSM modem, which is able to make and receive calls to/from peripheral stations 3, on request by central monitoring unit 51.
In this way, central monitoring unit 51 is able to verify the state of efficiency of the various parts of the control system by making GSM-R calls, via peripheral monitoring units 52, in the direction of peripheral stations 3, which retransmit them in turn to central station 2 so that they can be verified by the central monitoring unit itself. In this way, if the loop closes, the efficiency of the control system is verified. In the direction (downlink) opposite to the one described above (uplink) , central monitoring unit 51, through central station 2, determines the making of calls by peripheral stations 3, which can be received by the corresponding peripheral monitoring unit 52 and transferred via the LAN to central monitoring unit 51. Also in this case, closing of the loop determines good operation of the control system.
Examples of monitoring calls are calls that can have a preset duration (for example, of approximately one minute) , envisaging sending of data strings both in uplink and in downlink with the following characteristics. Each call can contain at least one control string having a pre-set number of characters (for example one hundred) .
Each call can contain a pre-set number of control strings with pre-set time intervals between one string and the next .
In addition, it is possible to fix the total time of a call. The number of characters for each string may be modified, keeping in mind that said variation affects the duration of each connection and consequently the duration of the querying cycle.
Furthermore, it is possible to set up/monitor a plurality of Communications in parallel.
Illustrated in Figure 2 is an example of a peripheral monitoring unit 52, which is installed along the line in the proximity of peripheral stations 3.
Said unit 52 basically comprises an electronic processing unit 521 (for example, a PLC) an interfacing device 522 for interfacing with telecommunication network R, at least one
GSM modem 523, and at least one switching device 524, the switching of which are governed by said processing unit.
Two GSM-R modems (a primary one and a secondary one) and two switching devices are provided in the embodiment illustrated in the figures.
The GSM-R modems are used for setting up the test connections. The radio signal useful for making the calls is supplied to the GSM-R modems through the switching devices. Said devices operate as selectors and enable choice of source from which to pick up the radio signal . In particular, the switching devices can determine two modes of operation: an antenna mode, in which the modems operate picking up the radio signal from an external antenna AE; and a wired mode, in which the modems operate picking up the radio signal directly from peripheral stations 3, for example, through a coaxial cable C.
In the first case, the monitoring system is used for conducting the tests in conditions similar to those of a train or of a user positioned in the proximity of the sites along the track. In these conditions, the modems are associated to the cell that ensures the highest level of field (normally the closest cell) and, in the case of failure of closest peripheral station 3, can exploit the redundancy of coverage for carrying out in any case the tests envisaged.
In the second case, the monitoring apparatus is used for conducting the tests directly on closest peripheral station 3, irrespective of the radio conditions present along the railway line. In this case, in fact, the modems receive (via coaxial cable) only the signal of the peripheral station close to which they are installed and cannot be associated to any other station. In the case of failure of the closest station, the apparatus will highlight the impossibility of making calls.
The possibility of performing the tests in the two modes makes it possible to highlight latent problems at the peripheral stations, the effectiveness of the redundancy of coverage in pre-set points of the track, and possible problems regarding the radiating system.
A possible operating sequence of the operations performed by the apparatus for monitoring the system, as described above, is the following:
■ issuing a command to at least one peripheral monitoring unit 52, selected from among a plurality of peripheral monitoring units, each of which is associated to a respective peripheral GSM-R-signal-repeater station, for making a GSM-R call, which includes at least one control string, in the direction of one of the peripheral stations;
■ monitoring, via a central monitoring unit 51 associated to central station 2 of the system, to check that said monitoring call is received by the peripheral station and transferred to central station 51;
■ next, making a comparison between the control string sent to the peripheral monitoring unit and the one received by the central monitoring unit via the central station; depending upon the outcome of said comparison determining a signalling of fault or breakdown of the system.
A further possible operating sequence of the operations performed by the apparatus for monitoring the system, as described above, is the following:
■ issuing a command, via a central monitoring unit 51, associated to central station 2, for making a GSM-R call by at least one of peripheral stations 3 in the direction of at least one peripheral monitoring unit 52, selected from among a plurality of peripheral monitoring units, each of which is associated to a respective peripheral GSM-R-signal -repeater station, said call including at least one control string; and
■ monitoring that said monitoring call is made by peripheral station 3 and received by corresponding peripheral monitoring unit 52.
Also in this case, following upon the reception of the calls a comparison is made between the control string sent and the return string received.
It is moreover possible to monitor the successful outcome of the connections referred to as "railway group calls" and "railway emergency calls" . For the purposes of the present invention by "group calls" are meant connections in which it is possible to involve all the users enabled who are located within a pre-set area (defined on the basis of the peripheral GSM-R-signal-repeater station) . A possible operating sequence of the operations executed by the monitoring apparatus in order to verify the correct execution of the railway group/emergency calls is the following :
■ issuing a command to at least one peripheral monitoring unit 52, selected from among a plurality of peripheral monitoring units, each of which is associated to a respective peripheral GSM-R-signal-repeater station, for making a GSM-R railway group call or emergency call in the direction of one of the peripheral stations;
■ monitoring, via a central monitoring unit 51 associated to central station 2 of the system, to check that said railway group/emergency call is received by peripheral monitoring units 52 that are located in the pre-set area; the indication of the reception of the railway group/emergency call is transferred by the peripheral monitoring units concerned to central station 51, which checks that all peripheral monitoring units 52 belonging to the pre-set area are reached by the railway group/emergency calls.
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