Method and apparatus for assigning addresses to components in a control system
First Claim
1. A transmitter for remotely controlling a locomotive in which is mounted a slave controller, the locomotive having brakes, said transmitter comprising:
- a) a data storage for holding an identifier of said transmitter and an identifier of the slave controller, said identifier of said transmitter being different from the identifier of the slave controller;
b) a signal transmitting unit in communication with said data storage, said signal transmitting unit being operative to transmit a wireless signal to the slave controller over an RF communication link, the signal conveying a message including a command portion and a tag portion, the command portion conveying a command for causing the brakes of the locomotive to be applied, the tag portion including data derived from the identifier of the transmitter in said data storage and data derived from the identifier of the slave controller in said data storage.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for remotely controlling device, more particularly to a system and method for controlling locomotives in a railway environment using radio frequency signals. This invention makes use of a remote operator programming unit (OPP) to set address information in the transmitter unit via a communication channel such as an infrared link. The use of the operator programming unit allows eliminating the need to open the casing of the transmitter during programming thereby reducing the probability of damaging the electrical components of the transmitter. The invention also allows assigning a unique address to a transmitter/receiver pair in a remote control system. The invention further provides an apparatus for remotely programming a transmitter unit.
35 Citations
54 Claims
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1. A transmitter for remotely controlling a locomotive in which is mounted a slave controller, the locomotive having brakes, said transmitter comprising:
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a) a data storage for holding an identifier of said transmitter and an identifier of the slave controller, said identifier of said transmitter being different from the identifier of the slave controller; b) a signal transmitting unit in communication with said data storage, said signal transmitting unit being operative to transmit a wireless signal to the slave controller over an RF communication link, the signal conveying a message including a command portion and a tag portion, the command portion conveying a command for causing the brakes of the locomotive to be applied, the tag portion including data derived from the identifier of the transmitter in said data storage and data derived from the identifier of the slave controller in said data storage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A transmitter for remotely controlling a locomotive in which is mounted a slave controller, said transmitter comprising:
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a) a data storage for holding an identifier of said transmitter and an identifier of the slave controller, said identifier of said transmitter being different from the identifier of the slave controller; b) a signal transmitting unit in communication with said data storage, said signal transmitting unit being operative to transmit a wireless signal to the slave controller over an RF communication link, the signal conveying a message including a command portion and a tag portion, the command portion conveying a command for causing the locomotive to accelerate, the tag portion including data derived from the identifier of the transmitter in said data storage and data derived from the identifier of the slave controller in said data storage. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A slave controller for use in a locomotive having a controller module, said slave controller comprising:
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a) a data storage for storing address information; b) a signal receiver unit for receiving a signal from the transmitter over an RF communication link, the signal conveying a message including a command portion indicative of at least one command for causing the locomotive to accelerate, the message also including a tag portion including data derived from an identifier of the transmitter and data derived from an identifier of said slave controller, the identifier of the transmitter and the identifier of the slave controller being different; c) a logical processing unit in communication with said data storage and with said signal receiver unit, said logical processing unit being operative to; i) perform a validation procedure on the message including determining if information conveyed in the tag portion matches the address information; ii) if the validation procedure validates the message, generate control signals directed to the controller module for causing the locomotive to accelerate. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 36)
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29. A slave controller for use in a locomotive having a controller module, the locomotive having brakes, said slave controller comprising:
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a) a data storage for storing address information; b) a signal receiver unit for receiving a signal from the transmitter over an RF communication link, the signal conveying a message including a command portion indicative of at least one command for causing the brakes of the locomotive to be applied, the message also including a tag portion including data derived from an identifier of the transmitter and data derived from an identifier of said slave controller, the identifier of the transmitter and the identifier of the slave controller being different; c) a logical processing unit in communication with said data storage and with said signal receiver unit, said logical processing unit being operative to; i) perform a validation procedure on the message including determining if information conveyed in the tag portion matches the address information; ii) if the validation procedure validates the message, generate control signals directed to the controller module for causing the brakes of the locomotive to be applied. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37)
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38. A signal embodied in an RF link established between a transmitter and a slave controller mounted on board a locomotive, the locomotive having brakes, the transmitter and the slave controller having respective identifiers, the signal conveying a message for controlling the locomotive, said message including a command portion and a tag portion, said command portion conveying a command for causing the brakes of the locomotive to be applied, the tag portion including first data derived from the identifier of the transmitter and second data derived from the identifier of the slave controller.
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39. A signal embodied in an RF link established between a transmitter and a slave controller mounted on board a locomotive, the transmitter and the slave controller having respective identifiers, the signal conveying a message for controlling the locomotive, said message including a command portion and a tag portion, said command portion conveying a command for causing the locomotive to accelerate, the tag portion including first data derived from the identifier of the transmitter and second data derived from the identifier of the slave controller.
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40. A method for manufacturing a set of transmitters for remotely controlling one or more locomotives in which are mounted slave controllers, each transmitter including:
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a) a data storage for holding an identifier of the transmitter and an identifier of at least one slave controller, the identifier of the transmitter and the identifier of the at least one slave controller being different; b) a signal transmitting unit in communication with said data storage, the signal transmitting unit being operative to transmit a wireless signal to a slave controller over an RF communication link, the signal conveying a message including a command portion and a tag portion, the command portion conveying a command for causing the locomotive to perform a predetermined action, the tag portion including data derived from the identifier of the transmitter in the data storage and data derived from the identifier of the slave controller in the data storage; said method comprising; i) assigning to each transmitter of the set an identifier that is unique in the set; ii) storing each identifier in the data storage of the respective transmitter.
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41. A method for manufacturing a set of slave controllers, each slave controller suitable for use in a locomotive having a controller module, each slave controller having:
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a) a data storage for storing an identifier of said slave controller and an identifier of a remote transmitter; b) a signal receiver unit for receiving a wireless signal from the remote transmitter over an RF communication link, the signal conveying a message including a command portion and a tag portion, the command portion conveying a command for causing the locomotive to perform a predetermined action; c) a logical processing unit in communication with the data storage and with the signal receiver unit, the logical processing unit being operative to perform a validation procedure on the message including comparing data in the tag portion with the identifier of the remote transmitter and the identifier of said slave controller in the data storage; said method comprising; i) assigning to each slave controller of the set an identifier that is unique in the set; ii) storing each identifier in the data storage of the respective slave controller.
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42. A method, comprising:
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a) manufacturing a set of transmitters for remotely controlling locomotives in which are mounted slave controllers, each transmitter comprising; i) a data storage for holding an identifier of the transmitter; ii) a signal transmitting unit in communication with the data storage, the signal transmitting unit being operative to transmit a wireless signal to a slave controller over an RF communication link, the signal conveying a message including a command portion and a tag portion, the command portion conveying a command for causing the locomotive to perform a predetermined action, the tag portion including data derived from the identifier of the transmitter in the data storage; the manufacturing of the set of transmitters including 1) assigning to each transmitter of the set an identifier that is unique in the set; 2) storing each identifier in the data storage of the respective transmitter; b) manufacturing a group of slave controllers for mounting in the locomotives, each slave controller in the group including; i) a data storage for storing an identifier of the slave controller and an identifier of a transmitter in the set of transmitters; ii) a signal receiver unit for receiving a wireless signal from a transmitter in said set of transmitters over the RE communication link, the tag portion of the message including data derived from the identifier of the slave controller; iii) a logical processing unit in communication with the data storage of the slave controller and with said signal receiver unit, the logical processing unit being operative to perform a validation procedure on the message conveyed by the wireless signal received by said signal receiver unit, the validation procedure including comparing data in the tag portion with the identifier of the transmitter in the set of transmitters and the identifier of the slave controller in the data storage of the slave controller; the manufacturing of the group of slave controllers comprising; 1) assigning to each slave controller of the group an identifier that is unique in the group; 2) storing the identifier assigned at (1) in the data storage of the respective slave controller.
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43. A portable transmitter for remotely controlling a locomotive, said transmitter comprising:
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a) a user interface for receiving user commands; b) a wireless interface for receiving an identifier associated with the locomotive to be controlled via a first communication link, the first communication link, being a wireless communication link; c) a signal transmitting unit for transmitting a signal over a second communication link, the second communication link being an RF communication link, the signal being directed to the locomotive to be controlled, the signal conveying; i) a locomotive command derived from a user command entered at said user interface ii) data derived from the identifier of the locomotive to be controlled and data derived from an identifier of said portable transmitter. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46)
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47. A transmitter for remotely controlling a locomotive in which is mounted a slave controller, said transmitter comprising:
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a) an interface for receiving an identifier of the slave controller via a first wireless communication link; b) a signal transmitting unit for transmitting a modulated signal over a second communication link, the second communication link being an RF communication link, said signal transmitting unit including a modulator outputting the modulated signal, the modulated signal being indicative of at least one command for causing an action to be performed by the locomotive, the modulated signal conveying data derived from the identifier of the slave controller received over the first communication link and data derived from an identifier of said transmitter. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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Specification