×

Method and apparatus for remote control of a locomotive throttle controller

  • US 5,570,284 A
  • Filed: 12/05/1994
  • Issued: 10/29/1996
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/05/1994
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
Patent Images

1. A method for controlling a locomotive from a remote host first computer, said locomotive having a throttle controller equipped with a second computer, said method comprising the steps of:

  • (a) establishing two-way transmission of signals representing digital data packets between said first computer and said second computer;

    (b) transmitting signals representing digital data packets representing engine control commands from said first computer to said second computer at time intervals no greater than a predetermined maximum time interval, each of said data packets including the following bytes disposed sequentially in time,(I) two bytes of data which serve as a start flag for said data packet,(II) one byte of data, which is reserved as an address for said data packet,(III) one byte of data, which is reserved to indicate different types of packet,(IV) two bytes of data, a first header byte representing the type of information represented by said data packet and a second header byte representing a version number, used to facilitate implementation with successive software versions,(V) at least one byte of information,(VI) at least two bytes representing integers calculated for a cyclic redundancy check, and(VII) two bytes which serve as an end flag for said data packet,wherein ambiguity between said at least one information byte in Step (V) and said end flag bytes of Step (VII) is eliminated by the following substeps,(A) using known numeric values for said end flag bytes,(B) selecting a first byte of said end flag bytes, and, whenever the numeric value of said first byte appears in the stream of bytes to be transmitted, transmitting its numeric value twice in sequence, and(C) in said second computer, interpreting said twice transmitted numeric value as a single byte of information, and not as an end flag;

    (c) driving signals on trainlines via said throttle controller means based on said engine control commands; and

    (d) responding to one of corruption of transmission and loss of transmission from said first computer.

View all claims
  • 3 Assignments
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×