A Dynamic Linear Hashing Method for Redundancy Management in Train Ethernet Consist Network

Massive transportation systems like trains are considered critical systems because they use the communication network to control essential subsystems on board. Critical system requires zero recovery time when a failure occurs in a communication network. The newly published IEC62439-3 defines the high-availability seamless redundancy protocol, which fulfills this requirement and ensures no frame loss in the presence of an error. This paper adopts these for train Ethernet consist network. The challenge is management of the circulating frames, capable of dealing with real-time processing requirements, fast switching times, high throughout, and deterministic behavior. The main contribution of this paper is the in-depth analysis it makes of network parameters imposed by the application of the protocols to train control and monitoring system (TCMS) and the redundant circulating frames discarding method based on a dynamic linear hashing, using the fastest method in order to resolve all the issues that are dealt with

Selection of a new hardware and software platform for railway interlocking

The interlocking system is one of the main actors for safe railway transportation. In most cases, the whole system is supplied by a single vendor. The recent regulations from the European Union direct for an “open” architecture to invite new game changers and reduce life-cycle costs. The objective of the thesis is to propose an alternative platform that could replace a legacy interlocking system. In the thesis, various commercial off-the-shelf hardware and software products are studied which could be assembled to compose an alternative interlocking platform. The platform must be open enough to adapt to any changes in the constituent elements and abide by the proposed baselines of new standardization initiatives, such as ERTMS, EULYNX, and RCA. In this thesis, a comparative study is performed between these products based on hardware capacity, architecture, communication protocols, programming tools, security, railway certifications, life-cycle issues, etc

component testing

Este relatório/dissertação foi desenvolvido no âmbito do Curso de Mestrado em Engenharia Eletrotécnica, e para a Unidade Curricular de Estágio, e representa o trabalho desenvolvido na empresa Critical Software, no âmbito do projeto interno Railway Embedded Software Validation na área de Component Testing. No projeto em que está envolvido este estágio, visa-se testar componentes do sistema de controlo do comboio (Luzes, Travagem, ...), ou seja, testar se uma das partes dos componentes está a funcionar dentro dos parâmetros exigidos e/ou estabelecidos. Para isso foi necessário passar por um processo de aprendizagem com várias etapas, entre as quais se podem destacar: - como funcionam os comboios; - como são aplicadas as normas; - como são descritos os requisitos necessários para que os comboios funcionem dentro dos parâmetros de segurança. Com isso em perspetiva, foram realizadas atividades de verificação formal, com objetivo fazer a especificação e desenvolvimento dos diversos níveis de teste o sistema. Alguns dos sistemas estudados foram de tração, sistema de travagem, controlos do motorista e de diagnóstico

Novel Pilot Directional Protection for the FREEDM Smart Grid System

abstract: The presence of distributed generation in high renewable energy penetration system increases the complexity for fault detection as the power flow is bidirectional. The conventional protection scheme is not sufficient for the bidirectional power flow system, hence a fast and accurate protection scheme needs to be developed. This thesis mainly deals with the design and validation of the protection system based on the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) system, which is a bidirectional power flow loop system. The Large-Scale System Simulation (LSSS) is a system level PSCAD model which is used to validate component models for different time-scale platforms to provide a virtual testing platform for the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) system. It is also used to validate the cases of power system protection, renewable energy integration and storage, and load profiles. The protection of the FREEDM system against any abnormal condition is one of the important tasks. Therefore, the pilot directional protection scheme based on wireless communication is used in this thesis. The use of wireless communication is extended to protect the large scale meshed distributed generation from any fault. The complete protection system consists of the main protection and the back-up protection which are both presented in the thesis. The validation of the protection system is performed on a radial system test bed using commercial relays at the ASU power laboratory, and on the RTDS platform (Real Time Digital Power System) in CAPS (Center for Advanced Power System) Florida. Considering that the commercial relays have limitations of high cost and communicating with fault isolation devices, a hardware prototype using the interface between the ADC (analog to digital converter) and MATLAB software is developed, which takes advantage of economic efficiency and communication compatibility. Part of this research work has been written into a conference paper which was presented by IEEE Green Tech Meeting, 2017.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Electrical Engineering 201

Design and tests of the FPGA embedded trigger algorithms for the large PMT JUNO Electronics

The main target of the JUNO experiment is the determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy, which will be accessible through measurement of the antineutrino spectrum coming from nuclear plants located about 53 km away from the experimental site. An excellent energy resolution and a large detector fiducial volume are a key ingredient. This consists in 20 kton liquid scintillator detector observed by about 18'000 large PMT in order to reconstruct any interesting neutrino event. The JUNO experiment requires a discrimination capacity to the single photoelectron. The aim of the thesis is to illustrate the design of the algorithm implemented in FPGA, to discrimniate signal pulses from electronics background noise. After having defined all the steps of the algorithm, Matlab simulations are presented together with hardware implementation simulations. A testing of the trigger algorithm is also performed, in order to verify the successfull implementation into the FPGA and to compare it to a simple leading-edge trigger algorithm

Digital Beamforming Implementation on an FPGA Platform

This work is part of UPC contribution to the CORPA (Cost-Optimised high Performance Active Receive Phase Array antenna for mobile terminals) project of ESA (European Space Agency)The objective of the work presented is to implement a Digital Beamforming (DBF) platform for an antenna array receiver designed for the S-DMB system. Our project deals with the design of antenna arrays from a hardware point of view, in contrast to other theo- retic studies regarding DBF algorithms. Hence, we will study practical aspects of DBF implementation such as signal quantization and required computational resources

Towards the Internet of Smart Trains: A Review on Industrial IoT-Connected Railways

[Abstract] Nowadays, the railway industry is in a position where it is able to exploit the opportunities created by the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and enabling communication technologies under the paradigm of Internet of Trains. This review details the evolution of communication technologies since the deployment of GSM-R, describing the main alternatives and how railway requirements, specifications and recommendations have evolved over time. The advantages of the latest generation of broadband communication systems (e.g., LTE, 5G, IEEE 802.11ad) and the emergence of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) for the railway environment are also explained together with the strategic roadmap to ensure a smooth migration from GSM-R. Furthermore, this survey focuses on providing a holistic approach, identifying scenarios and architectures where railways could leverage better commercial IIoT capabilities. After reviewing the main industrial developments, short and medium-term IIoT-enabled services for smart railways are evaluated. Then, it is analyzed the latest research on predictive maintenance, smart infrastructure, advanced monitoring of assets, video surveillance systems, railway operations, Passenger and Freight Information Systems (PIS/FIS), train control systems, safety assurance, signaling systems, cyber security and energy efficiency. Overall, it can be stated that the aim of this article is to provide a detailed examination of the state-of-the-art of different technologies and services that will revolutionize the railway industry and will allow for confronting today challenges.Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; ED431C 2016-045Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; ED341D R2016/012Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; ED431G/01Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España); TEC2013-47141-C4-1-RAgencia Estatal de Investigación (España); TEC2015-69648-REDCAgencia Estatal de Investigación (España); TEC2016-75067-C4-1-

Model-Based Testing in Practice: An Industrial Case Study using GraphWalker

Model-based testing (MBT) is a test design technique that supports the automation of software testing processes and generates test artefacts based on a system model representing behavioural aspects of the system under test (SUT). Previous research has shown some positive aspects of MBT such as low-cost test case generation and fault detection effectiveness. However, it is still a challenge for both practitioners and researchers to evaluate MBT tools and techniques in real, industrial settings. Consequently, the empirical evidence regarding the mainstream use, including the modelling and test case generation using MBT tools, is limited. In this paper, we report the results of a case study on applying GraphWalker, an open-source tool for MBT, on an industrial cyber-physical system (i.e., a Train Control Management System developed by Bombardier Transportation in Sweden), from modelling of real-world requirements and test specifications to test case generation. We evaluate the models of the SUT for completeness and representativeness, compare MBT with manual test cases written by practitioners using multiple attributes as well as share our experiences of selecting and using GraphWalker for industrial application. The results show that a model of the SUT created using both requirements and test specifications provides better understanding of the SUT from testers’ perspective, making it more complete and representative than the model created based only on the requirements specification alone. The generated model-based test cases are longer in terms of the number of test steps, achieve better edge coverage and can cover requirements more frequently in different orders while achieving the same level of requirements coverage as manually created test cases

Assembly-setup verification and quality control using machine vision within a reconfigurable assembly system

Thesis (M. Tech. (Engineering: Electrical)) -- Central University of technology, Free State, [2014]The project is aimed at exploring the application of Machine Vision in a Reconfigurable Manufacturing System (RMS) Environment. The Machine Vision System interfaces with the RMS to verify the reconfiguration and positioning of devices within the assembly system, and inspects the product for defects that infringe on the quality of that product. The vision system interfaces to the Multi-agent System (MAS), which is in charge of scheduling and allocating resources of the RMS, in order to communicate and exchange data regarding the quality of the product. The vision system is comprised of a Compact Vision System (CVS) device with fire-wire cameras to aid in the image acquisition, inspection and verification process. Various hardware and software manufacturers offer a platform to implement this with a multiple array of vision equipment and software packages. The most appropriate devices and software platform were identified for the implementation of the project. An investigation into illumination was also undertaken in order to determine whether external lighting sources would be required at the point of inspection. Integration into the assembly system involved the establishment communication between the vision system and assembly system controller