APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REPEATING COMMUNICATION MESSAGES IN RAIL VEHICLE SYSTEM

• US 20120276841A1
• Filed: 11/05/2010
• Published: 11/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Global Sourcing LLC (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Smith, Mark E., Mason, Gary William
• Granted Patent: US 9,026,038 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/7
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0027 Radio-based, e.g. using GSM-R
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15528 Control of operation parameters of a relay station to exploit the physical medium
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2606 Arrangements for base station coverage control, e.g. by using relays in tunnels

Abstract

A communication apparatus includes an operation module configured for communication with a wireless message repeater, e.g., a rail vehicle distributed power message repeater. The wireless message repeater is of the type having an antenna system, a receiver for receiving an incoming message, and a transmitter for transmitting a repeat message of the incoming message. The operation module is further configured to assess operation of the message repeater by comparing a feedback signal to the incoming message. The feedback signal may comprise part of a signal energy of the transmitted repeat message as received by the receiver. Alternatively or additionally, the operation module is further configured to assess operation of the message repeater by comparing at least one signal power associated with the transmitted repeat message to at least one threshold,

Claims

1. A communication apparatus comprising:

a wireless message repeater having an antenna system, a transmitter, and a receiver, the transmitter and receiver operably coupled to the antenna system, the receiver configured to receive an incoming message and the transmitter configured to transmit a repeat message of the incoming message; and

an operation module configured to assess message repeater operation by;

comparing a feedback signal to the incoming message, the feedback signal comprising part of a signal energy of the transmitted repeat message as received by the receiver; and

/or

comparing at least one signal power associated with the transmitted repeat message to at least one threshold.

2. The communication apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

the at least one signal power comprises a measured forward power associated with the transmitted repeat message; and

the operation module is configured to generate an alert signal if the measured forward power is below a first threshold.

3. The communication apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a directional coupler sub-system coupled between the transmitter and the antenna system, the directional coupler sub-system configured to measure the forward power by sampling a signal of the transmitted repeat message that passes through the directional coupler sub-system from the transmitter to the antenna system.

4. The communication apparatus of claim 2 wherein the operation module is configured to generate the alert signal if the measured forward power is above a second threshold.

5. The communication apparatus of claim 2 wherein the at least one signal power further comprises a measured reflected power associated with the transmitted repeat message, and the operation module is configured to at least one of generate the alert signal if the measured reflected power is above a third threshold and/or generate the alert signal based on a ratio between the measured reflected power and the measured forward power.

6. The communication apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

the at least one signal power comprises a measured forward power of a signal of the transmitted repeat message as passed from the transmitter to the antenna system and a measured reflected power of the signal as reflected back from the antenna system;

the operation module is configured to generate an alert signal if the measured forward power is below a first threshold, and the operation module is configured to generate the alert signal if the measured reflected power is above a third threshold; and

the apparatus further comprises a directional coupler sub-system coupled between the transmitter and the antenna system, the signal passing through the directional coupler sub-system, and the directional coupler sub-system configured to measure the forward power and the reflected power by sampling the signal.

7. The communication apparatus of claim 6 further comprising a detector sub-system connected to the directional coupler sub-system, the detector sub-system configured to convert sampling outputs of the forward power and the reflected power of the directional coupler sub-system into a format for use by the operation module i comparing the measured forward power and reflected power to the first threshold and the third threshold, respectively.

8. The communication apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an RF circulator coupled between the receiver, the transmitter, and the antenna system for passing the incoming message from the antenna system to the receiver and the repeat message from the transmitter to the antenna system, wherein the feedback signal is generated through an impedance mismatch between a port of the RF circulator to which the transmitter is connected and a port of the RF circulator to which the antenna system is connected.

9. The communication system of claim 1 wherein the operation module is configured to generate an alert signal if a message or other information content of the feedback signal does not match a message or other information content of the incoming message, according to designated criteria.

10. The communication apparatus of claim 1 wherein the operation module is configured to assess message repeater operation by both comparing the feedback signal to the incoming message and comparing the at least one signal power to the at least one threshold.

11. The communication apparatus of claim 1 wherein the message repeater is positioned proximate to a designated vehicle route, and the receiver is configured to receive the incoming message from a vehicle traveling along the vehicle route and the transmitter is configured to transmit the repeat message back to the vehicle.

12. The communication apparatus of claim 11 wherein the designated vehicle route is a rail vehicle track, and the incoming message is a control message for distributed power operations of a rail vehicle traveling along the track.

13. The communication apparatus of claim 1 wherein the operation module is configured to at least one of

generate an alert signal if a message or other information content of the feedback signal does not match a message or other information content of the incoming message;

and/or

generate the alert signal;

if a measured forward power associated with the transmitted repeat message is below a first threshold; and

/or if a measured reflected power associated with the transmitted repeat message is above a third threshold; and

/or based on a ratio between the measured reflected power and the measured forward power.

14. A communication apparatus comprising:

an off-board wireless message repeater positioned proximate to a rail vehicle track, the message repeater having an antenna system, a transmitter, and a receiver, the transmitter and receiver operably coupled to the antenna system, the receiver configured to receive an incoming message from a rail vehicle traveling along the track and the transmitter configured to transmit a repeat message of the incoming message to the rail vehicle; and

an operation module in communication with the message repeater, wherein;

the operation module is configured to generate an alert signal if a message or other information content of a feedback signal does not match a message or other information content of the incoming message, the feedback signal comprising part of a signal energy of the transmitted repeat message as received by the receiver; and

the operation module is configured to generate the alert signal if a measured forward power associated with the transmitted repeat message is below a first threshold.

15. The communication apparatus of claim 14 further comprising a directional coupler sub-system coupled between the transmitter and antenna system, the directional coupler sub-system configured to measure the forward power by sampling a signal of the transmitted repeat message that passes through the directional coupler sub-system from the transmitter to the antenna system.

16. The communication apparatus of claim 15 further comprising a detector sub-system connected to the directional coupler sub-system, the detector sub-system configured to convert a sampling output of the forward power of the directional coupler sub-system into a format for use by the operation module in comparing the measured forward power to the first threshold.

17. The communication apparatus of claim 14 further comprising an RF circulator coupled between the receiver, the transmitter, and the antenna system for passing the incoming message from the antenna system to the receiver and the repeat message from the transmitter to the antenna system, wherein the feedback signal is generated through an impedance mismatch between a port of the circulator to which the transmitter is connected and a port of the circulator to which the antenna system is connected.

18. A communication apparatus comprising:

an operation module configured for communication with a wireless message repeater, the wireless message repeater having an antenna system, a receiver for receiving an incoming message, and a transmitter for transmitting a repeat message of the incoming message;

wherein the operation module is further configured to assess message repeater operation by;

comparing a feedback signal of the transmitted repeat message to the incoming message; and

/or

comparing at least one signal power associated with the transmitted repeat message to at least one threshold.

19. The communication apparatus of claim 18 wherein the feedback signal comprises part of a signal energy of the transmitted repeat message as received by the receiver.

20. The communication apparatus of claim 18 wherein the operation module is configured to assess message repeater operation by both comparing the feedback signal to the incoming message and comparing the at least one signal power associated with the transmitted repeat message to the at least one threshold.

21. The communication apparatus of claim 20 wherein:

the operation module is configured to generate an alert signal if an information content of the feedback signal does not match an information content of the incoming message, according to designated criteria; and

the operation module is configured to generate the alert signal if a measured forward power associated with the transmitted repeat message is below a first threshold.

22. A communication method comprising the steps of:

assessing operation of a wireless message repeater, the wireless message repeater comprising a receiver for receiving an incoming message and a transmitter for transmitting a repeat message of the incoming message, wherein message repeater operation is assessed by at least one of;

comparing a feedback signal of the transmitted repeat message to the incoming message; and

/or

comparing a power level associated with the transmitted repeat message to at least one threshold; and

generating an alert signal based on assessing the message repeater operation.

23. The communication method of claim 22 wherein:

message repeater operation is assessed by comparing the feedback signal of the transmitted repeat message to the incoming message; and

the feedback signal comprises part of a signal energy of the transmitted repeat message as received at the receiver of the wireless message repeater.

24. The communication method of claim 22 wherein message repeater operation is assessed by comparing an information content of the feedback signal to an information content of the incoming message.

25. The communication method of claim 24 wherein message repeater operation is further assessed by comparing the power level associated with the transmitted repeat message to the at least one threshold.

26. The communication method of claim 25 comprising:

generating the alert signal if the information content of the feedback signal does not match the information content of the incoming message according to designated criteria;

receiving a measured forward signal power associated with the transmitted repeat message;

receiving a measured reflected signal power associated with the transmitted repeat message;

generating the alert signal based on a comparison of the measured forward signal power to a first threshold and/or to a second threshold; and

generating the alert signal based on a ratio between the measured reflected signal power and the measured forward signal power and/or based on a comparison of the measured reflected signal power to a third threshold.

27. A communication method comprising the steps of:

receiving, at a receiver, an incoming message from a vehicle;

transmitting, from a transmitter, a repeat message of the incoming message to the vehicle;

measuring a signal power associated with the transmitted repeat message;

receiving, at the receiver, a first feedback signal comprising part of a signal energy of the transmitted repeat message;

generating an alert signal if the first feedback signal does not match the incoming message according to first designated criteria; and

generating the alert signal based on a comparison of the signal power to a threshold.

28. The communication method of claim 27 further comprising:

measuring a forward signal power associated with the transmitted repeat message;

measuring a reflected signal power associated with the transmitted repeat message;

generating the alert signal based on a comparison of the measured forward signal power to a first threshold and/or to a second threshold; and

generating the alert signal based on a ratio between the reflected signal power and the measured forward signal power and/or based on a comparison of the measured reflected signal power to a third threshold.

29. The communication method of claim 27 further comprising:

transmitting, from the transmitter, a known signal;

receiving, at the receiver, a second feedback signal comprising part of a signal energy of the transmitted known signal; and

generating the alert signal if the second feedback signal and the known signal do not match according to second designated criteria.

30. A communication method comprising the steps of:

automatically performing an operations assessment of a rail vehicle distributed power message repeater, the message repeater configured to wirelessly repeat distributed power messages for a train or other rail vehicle traveling along a track; and

communicating with a remote facility based on the operations assessment.

31. The communication method of claim 30 wherein the operations assessment includes automatically assessing operations of one or more electronic components or electronic sub-systems in the message repeater during ongoing operations of the message repeater in wirelessly repeating distributed power message for the train or other rail vehicle.

32. The communication method of claim 30 wherein the operations assessment includes message verification using a transmitter-to-receiver feedback loop and/or monitoring power levels of RF signals transmitted by the message repeater.