System and method for communicating operational status of a railway wayside to a locomotive cab
First Claim
1. A communication system communicating operational status of a railway wayside to a railway locomotive cab positioned at a head-end of a train, wherein the communication system comprises:
- a wayside system located at the railway wayside for sensing a wayside condition of the railway wayside and determining an operational status output signal that characterizes said wayside condition;
a wayside communications unit positioned at said wayside system and electrically coupled to said wayside system, which said wayside communications unit initiates communication with the railway locomotive cab by generating and transmitting a digital transmission signal that is responsive to said operational status output signal, said wayside communications unit comprising first microprocessor means for controlling said wayside communications unit, and transmitting means for transmitting said digital transmission signal to initiate communication with the railway locomotive cab; and
a head of train (HOT) unit positioned at the railway locomotive cab, said head of train (HOT) unit comprising first microprocessor means for controlling said HOT unit, receiving means in radio communication with said transmitting means, for receiving said digital transmission signal from said transmitting means, and display means for displaying a message that is responsive to said digital transmission signal, whereby use of voice radio is eliminated for communicating said operational status output signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method of communicating via digital radio between a train and a device positioned at the wayside of a railway system, wherein the device detects defects at the wayside and information related to the defects is transmitted from the wayside to the train for display in the locomotive cab. A communications unit having a microprocessor control circuit and a transceiver is electrically coupled, preferably by serial connection, to the defect detector along the wayside. The transceiver of the communications unit is in radio communication with an existing transceiver in the head-of-train (HOT) unit located in the locomotive cab at the head-end of the train. The head-of-train unit has a microprocessor control circuit that drives a display which is preferably alphanumeric, for the purpose of displaying messages related to the defects detected by the defect detector at the wayside, and subsequently transmitted between the transceiver of the communications unit and the transceiver of the HOT unit. In a preferred embodiment, the HOT unit includes recording apparatus for recording the messages displayed and an alarm for notifying an operator that a message is being displayed.
56 Citations
77 Claims
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1. A communication system communicating operational status of a railway wayside to a railway locomotive cab positioned at a head-end of a train, wherein the communication system comprises:
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a wayside system located at the railway wayside for sensing a wayside condition of the railway wayside and determining an operational status output signal that characterizes said wayside condition; a wayside communications unit positioned at said wayside system and electrically coupled to said wayside system, which said wayside communications unit initiates communication with the railway locomotive cab by generating and transmitting a digital transmission signal that is responsive to said operational status output signal, said wayside communications unit comprising first microprocessor means for controlling said wayside communications unit, and transmitting means for transmitting said digital transmission signal to initiate communication with the railway locomotive cab; and a head of train (HOT) unit positioned at the railway locomotive cab, said head of train (HOT) unit comprising first microprocessor means for controlling said HOT unit, receiving means in radio communication with said transmitting means, for receiving said digital transmission signal from said transmitting means, and display means for displaying a message that is responsive to said digital transmission signal, whereby use of voice radio is eliminated for communicating said operational status output signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A communication system communicating operational status of a railway wayside to a railway vehicle, wherein the communication system comprises:
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a wayside system located at the railway wayside for sensing a wayside condition of the railway wayside and determining an operational status output signal that characterizes said wayside condition; a first communications unit positioned at said wayside system and electrically coupled to said wayside system, which said first communications unit initiates communication with the railway vehicle by generating and transmitting a digital transmission signal that is responsive to said operational status output signal, said first communications unit comprising first microprocessor means for controlling said first communications unit, and transmitting means for transmitting said digital transmission signal to initiate communication with the railway vehicle; and a second communications unit positioned at the railway vehicle, said second communications unit comprising first microprocessor means for controlling said second communications unit, receiving means in communication with said transmitting means, for receiving said digital transmission signal from said transmitting means, and display means for displaying a message that is responsive to said digital transmission signal, whereby use of voice radio is eliminated for communicating said operational status output. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 40)
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35. A communication system communicating operational status of a first railway apparatus positioned at a first railway wayside location to a second railway apparatus positioned at a second location which is different than the railway wayside location, wherein the communication system comprises:
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a wayside system positioned at the first railway wayside location for sensing a wayside condition of the first railway apparatus and determining an operational status output signal that characterizes said wayside condition; a first communications unit positioned at the first railway wayside location and electrically coupled to said wayside system, which said first communications unit initiates communication with the second railway apparatus by generating and transmitting a digital transmission signal that is responsive to said operational status output signal, said first communications unit comprising first microprocessor means for controlling said first communications unit, and transmitting means for transmitting said digital transmission signal to initiate communication with the second railway apparatus; and a second communications unit positioned at the second location, said second communications unit comprising first microprocessor means for controlling said second communications unit, receiving means in communication with said transmitting means, for receiving said digital transmission signal from said transmitting means, and display means for displaying a message that is responsive to said digital transmission signal, whereby use of voice radio is eliminated for communicating said operational status output signal. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A system communicating operational status of a railway wayside to a railway locomotive cab positioned at a head-end of a train, wherein the system comprises:
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wayside receiving means for receiving at the railway wayside an operational status input signal; wayside transmission means for transmitting a first digital radio signal from the railway wayside, thereby to initiate communication with the railway locomotive cab, whereby said first digital radio signal characterizes said operational status input signal; cab receiving means for receiving said first digital radio signal at the locomotive cab, whereby use of voice channel VHF radio is eliminated for communicating said operational status output signal; cab processing means for providing a status message that characterizes said first digital radio signal received at the locomotive cab, to be viewed by an operator at the locomotive cab; and display means for displaying said status message at the locomotive cab when an acknowledgment of said status message by said operator is detected. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A communication system communicating operational status of a railway wayside to a railway locomotive cab positioned at a head-end of a train, wherein the communication system comprises:
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a head of train unit positioned at the locomotive cab, said head of train unit comprising a first transceiver and a display unit, said head of train unit being controlled by a first microprocessor; a wayside system, located at the railway wayside, for receiving status inputs sensed at the wayside; a wayside communications unit positioned at said wayside system and electrically coupled to said wayside system, which said wayside communications unit initiates communication with the railway locomotive cab by generating and transmitting a digital signal that characterizes said status input, said wayside communications unit comprising a second transceiver in radio communication with said first transceiver, and a second microprocessor which controls said second transceiver, wherein said second microprocessor receives data from said wayside system to be transmitted by said second transceiver to said first transceiver for display as a message at said display unit, whereby use of voice radio is eliminated for communicating said status inputs. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 70, 71, 72)
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66. A method of communicating operational status of a railway wayside to a railway locomotive cab positioned at a head-end of a train, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
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(a) receiving an operational status input signal at a wayside system located at the railway wayside; (b) transmitting a first digital radio signal from the wayside system, whereby said first digital radio signal characterizes said operational status input signal, thereby to initiate communication with the railway locomotive cab; (c) receiving said first digital radio signal at the locomotive cab, whereby use of voice radio is eliminated for communicating said operational status output signal; (d) providing a status message that characterizes said first digital radio signal received at the locomotive cab, to be viewed by an operator at the locomotive cab; and (e) displaying said status message at the locomotive cab when an acknowledgment of said status message by said operator is detected. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
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Specification