COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A RAIL VEHICLE

• US 20110051663A1
• Filed: 09/02/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Global Sourcing LLC (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: COOPER, Jared Klineman, Gilbertson, Keith, Nagrodsky, Nick David, Brand, John William
• Granted Patent: US 8,494,695 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0018 Communication with or on the vehicle or train
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols

Abstract

A rail vehicle includes of one or more locomotives and may further include one or more rail cars, and the rail vehicle further includes a locator element, a communications device and a control module located on the rail vehicle. The locator elements provide a location information of the rail vehicle to a control module. The control module is coupled to the communications device and the locator element. The control module determines control settings for controlling the operations of the communications device based on the location of the rail vehicle. The communications device sends and/or receives data, including communications data, off-board the rail vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for communicating data for a rail vehicle, the method comprising:

determining a first location of the rail vehicle;

determining a first control setting of a communications device based on the determined first location of the rail vehicle, the communications device being located on the rail vehicle and configured for communications off board the rail vehicle; and

automatically controlling the communications device based on the first control setting,

wherein the first control setting comprises a designated first communication channel for use in communicating with rail vehicles in a particular geographic region.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

automatically determining that the rail vehicle is traversing and/or has traversed from the first location where the first control setting is used for communicating with the rail vehicle, to a second location where a second control setting is used for communicating with the rail vehicle, wherein the second control setting comprises a designated second communication channel for use in communicating with rail vehicles in a region comprising the second location; and

controlling the communications device by automatically switching the communications device from the first control setting to the second control setting.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first location and/or the second location are determined using information from one or more locator elements, the locator elements comprising at least one of a GPS unit located on the rail vehicle, a wayside device, a control system of the rail vehicle, and/or a cell phone network device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first location and/or the second location are determined based at least in part on switching between at least one of the GPS unit located on the rail vehicle, the wayside device, the control system of the rail vehicle, and/or the cell phone network device.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the first location and/or the second location are determined at least in part by comparing concurrent location information from multiple locator elements.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying and/or annunciating a message, wherein the message relates to at least one of a control setting of the communications device and/or an operational parameter of the rail vehicle comprising one or more of a speed of the rail vehicle, a designated speed for the rail vehicle for a particular section of a rail track, a time to reach destination, a time elapsed from a previous stoppage, a journey time, an estimated distance at which the control setting may be changed, an estimated time at which the control setting may be changed, a distance to destination, a distance covered during the journey, or a current signal for the train.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first location is determined by comparing a first concurrent location information from a first locator element and a second concurrent location information from a second locator element.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the first control setting comprises:

determining the first control setting based on the first concurrent location information;

determining a second control setting based on the second concurrent location information; and

determining that a conflict has occurred if the first control setting is not the same as the second control setting.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising re-determining the first concurrent location information and the second concurrent location information.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising receiving the first control setting from a dispatch located off board the rail vehicle.

11. The method of claim 8 further comprising determining the first control setting using the first concurrent location information, wherein the first concurrent location information is likely to be more accurate than the second concurrent location information.

12. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

conducting a message test on the communications device configured according to the first control setting; and

presenting the first control setting as a current control selling of the communications device if a designated response is received on the communications device configured according to the first control setting.

13. The method of claim 8 further comprising receiving one or more new location information, respectively, from one or more new locator elements, for resolving the conflict.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein automatically controlling the communications device based on the first control selling comprises:

automatically providing the first control setting to the communications device;

annunciating the first control setting to an operator; and

applying the first control setting to the communications device upon receiving an operator input.

15. A method for communicating data for a rail vehicle, the method comprising:

determining a first location of the rail vehicle;

determining a new control setting of a communications device based on the determined first location of the rail vehicle, the communications device being located on the rail vehicle and configured for communications off board the rail vehicle; and

automatically providing the new control setting to the communications device,

wherein the new control setting comprises a designated communication channel for use in communicating with rail vehicles in a first geographic region.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising automatically switching the communications device from a current control setting of the communications device to the new control setting.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising determining that the rail vehicle has transitioned from a second, previous location to the first location, wherein the current control selling is a designated communication channel for use in communicating with rail vehicles in a second geographic region that encompasses the second, previous location.

18. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

informing a human operator of the new control setting; and

if the operator actuates a designated user interface, automatically switching the communications device from a current control setting of the communications device to the new control setting.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising determining that the rail vehicle has transitioned from a second, previous location to the first location, wherein the current control setting is a designated communication channel for use in communicating with rail vehicles in a second geographic region that encompasses the second, previous location.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein:

the first location is determined by comparing a first concurrent location information from a first locator element to a second concurrent location information from a second, different locator element,

if the first concurrent location information and the second concurrent location information match within a designated threshold, the first location is determined based on the first concurrent location information and/or the second concurrent location information; and

if the first concurrent location information and the second concurrent location information do not match within the designated threshold, the first location is determined using a conflict resolution process.

21. A method for communicating data for a rail vehicle, the method comprising:

determining a location of the rail vehicle;

determining a control setting of a communications device based on the determined location of the rail vehicle, the communications device being located on the rail vehicle and configured for communications off board the rail vehicle; and

controlling the communications device based on the determined control setting,

wherein the control setting comprises a designated communication channel for use in communicating with rail vehicles in a particular geographical region,

and wherein the location of the rail vehicle is determined using a plurality of location information values respectively from a plurality of locator elements.

22. A method for retrofitting a rail vehicle with a communications system, the method comprising:

providing a locator element for determining a location of the rail vehicle;

providing a communications device configured to send and/or receive communications off-board the rail vehicle, the communications device located within the rail vehicle; and

providing a control module coupled to the communications device and the locator element, the control module configured to determine control settings for controlling the operations of the communications device based on the location of the rail vehicle.

23. A system for communicating data for a rail vehicle, the system comprising:

a locator element for providing a location of the rail vehicle;

a communications device configured to send and/or receive communications off-board the rail vehicle, the communications device located within the rail vehicle; and

a control module coupled to the communications device and the locator element, the control module configured to determine control settings for controlling the operations of the communications device based on the location of the rail vehicle.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the locator element is selected from a group comprising at least one of a GPS unit located on the rail vehicle, a wayside device, a control system of the rail vehicle, and/or a cell phone network device.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the locator element comprises a plurality of locator elements.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the control module operates either autonomously or in conjunction with a human operator for controlling the communications device.

27. The system of claim 23 further comprising a button, wherein the control module is configured not to apply the control settings determined by the control module for controlling the operations of the communications device until the button is actuated by a human operator.