Method and computer program product for monitoring integrity of railroad train
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring integrity of a railroad train and determining passage of the train relative to a plurality of virtual blocks defined by wireless transmissions along a section of track over which the train travels, with said virtual blocks providing safeguards for the travel of the train relative to other trains on the section of the track when there is a shared use of the section of track, said method comprising:
- identifying a plurality of failure modes that may lead to an erroneous determination that the entire train has cleared a boundary for a respective one of said virtual blocks;
collecting data at an end-of-train location, said data being collected from multiple sensing devices, wherein each of said sensing devices monitors a different parameter and generates data useful for evaluating whether at least one of said failure modes has occurred;
collecting data at a head-of-train location, with the data collected at the head-of-train corresponding to the type of data collected at the end-of-train location;
storing a plurality of rules for relating the data collected at the head-of-train location to the data collected at the end-of-train location for reducing a probability of making an erroneous determination as to whether the entire train has cleared a boundary for a respective one of said virtual blocks;
processing the data collected at said end-of-train and at said head-of train location using the stored rules to determine whether the entire train has cleared a respective one of said virtual blocks;
in the event said determination indicates clearance of said respective block, declaring said virtual block as being unoccupied and thus available for another train to enter the block; and
in the event said determination indicates a lack of clearance of said respective block, declaring said virtual block as being occupied and thus unavailable for another train to enter the block.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and computer program product are provided for monitoring integrity of a railroad train and determining passage of the train relative to a plurality of virtual blocks defined by wireless transmissions along a section of track over which the train travels. The virtual blocks provide safeguards for the travel of the train relative to other trains on the section of the track when there is a shared use of the section of track. In aspects thereof, the method allows collecting data useful for evaluating conditions that may affect train integrity from at least one sensing device at a end of train location. The method further allows collecting data at a head-of-train location, with the data collected at the head-of-train corresponding to the type of data collected at the end-of-train location. The data collected at the end-of-train and at the head-of train location is processed to determine whether the entire train has cleared a respective one of the virtual blocks. In the event this determination is unable to reach a clearance for the respective block, a cautionary status is associated with the virtual block. The cautionary status for the virtual block is automatically communicated to an offboard system, which is responsible for managing shared use of the track by other trains.
82 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring integrity of a railroad train and determining passage of the train relative to a plurality of virtual blocks defined by wireless transmissions along a section of track over which the train travels, with said virtual blocks providing safeguards for the travel of the train relative to other trains on the section of the track when there is a shared use of the section of track, said method comprising:
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identifying a plurality of failure modes that may lead to an erroneous determination that the entire train has cleared a boundary for a respective one of said virtual blocks; collecting data at an end-of-train location, said data being collected from multiple sensing devices, wherein each of said sensing devices monitors a different parameter and generates data useful for evaluating whether at least one of said failure modes has occurred; collecting data at a head-of-train location, with the data collected at the head-of-train corresponding to the type of data collected at the end-of-train location; storing a plurality of rules for relating the data collected at the head-of-train location to the data collected at the end-of-train location for reducing a probability of making an erroneous determination as to whether the entire train has cleared a boundary for a respective one of said virtual blocks; processing the data collected at said end-of-train and at said head-of train location using the stored rules to determine whether the entire train has cleared a respective one of said virtual blocks; in the event said determination indicates clearance of said respective block, declaring said virtual block as being unoccupied and thus available for another train to enter the block; and in the event said determination indicates a lack of clearance of said respective block, declaring said virtual block as being occupied and thus unavailable for another train to enter the block. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for monitoring integrity of a railroad train and determining passage of the train relative to a plurality of virtual blocks defined by wireless transmissions along a section of track over which the train travels, with said virtual blocks providing safeguards for the travel of the train relative to other trains on the section of the track when there is a shared use of the section of track, said method comprising:
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collecting data useful for evaluating conditions that may affect train integrity from at least one sensing device at a end of train location; collecting data at a head-of-train location, with the data collected at the head-of-train corresponding to the type of data collected at the end-of-train location; processing the data collected at said end-of-train and at said head-of train location to determine whether the entire train has cleared a respective one of said virtual blocks; in the event said determination is unable to reach a clearance for said respective block, associating with said virtual block a cautionary status; and automatically communicating to an offboard system the cautionary status of said virtual block, wherein said offboard system is responsible for managing shared use of the track by other trains. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having computer-readable code therein for monitoring integrity of a railroad train and determining passage of the train relative to a plurality of virtual blocks defined by wireless transmissions along a section of track over which the train travels, with said virtual blocks providing safeguards for the travel of the train relative to other trains on the section of the track when there is a shared use of the section of track, the computer-readable code comprising:
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a software code module for collecting data at an end-of-train location, said data being collected from multiple sensing devices, wherein each of said sensing devices monitors a different parameter and generates data useful for evaluating conditions that may affect train integrity; a software code module for collecting data at a head-of-train location, with the data collected at the head-of-train corresponding to the type of data collected at the end-of-train location; a software code module for accessing a plurality of rules for relating the data collected at the head-of-train location to the data collected at the end-of-train location for reducing a probability of making an erroneous determination as to whether the entire train has cleared a boundary for a respective one of said virtual blocks; a software code module for processing the data collected at said end-of-train and at said head-of train location using the accessed rules to determine whether the entire train has cleared a respective one of said virtual blocks; in the event said determination indicates clearance of said respective block, a software code module for declaring said virtual block as being unoccupied and thus available for another train to enter the block; and in the event said determination indicates a lack of clearance of said respective block, said last-recited software code module declaring said virtual block as being occupied and thus unavailable for another train to enter the block. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having computer-readable code therein for monitoring integrity of a railroad train and determining passage of the train relative to a plurality of virtual blocks defined by wireless transmissions along a section of track over which the train travels, with said virtual blocks providing safeguards for the travel of the train relative to other trains on the section of the track when there is a shared use of the section of track, said method comprising:
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a software code module for collecting data useful for evaluating conditions that may affect train integrity from at least one sensing device at a end of train location; a software code module for collecting data at a head-of-train location, with the data collected at the head-of-train corresponding to the type of data collected at the end-of-train location; a software code module for processing the data collected at said end-of-train and at said head-of train location to determine whether the entire train has cleared a respective one of said virtual blocks; in the event said determination is unable to reach a clearance for said respective block, a software code module for associating with said virtual block a cautionary status; and a software code module for automatically communicating to an offboard system the cautionary status of said virtual block, wherein said offboard system is responsible for managing shared use of the track by other trains. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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Specification