FR3116787A1 - Railway track network management system, method and computer program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

System for managing a network of railway tracks, associated method and computer program The invention relates to a system (10) for managing a network of railway tracks (14) comprising a supervision unit (12) and the network of railway tracks (14), each railway track (14) of said network being segmented into a set of successive sections (14A, 14B) delimited from each other by an electronic beacon (16), each electronic beacon (16) comprising a transmitter (18) configured to transmit, in the presence of a railway vehicle (20), a message intended for said supervision unit (12), said supervision unit (12), comprising a supervision module capable of managing the occupancy state of the sections of each railway track of said network, according to said message. Figure for the abstract: Figure 1

Description

Railway track network management system, method and computer program therefor

The present invention relates to a system for managing a network of railway tracks comprising a supervision unit and the network of railway tracks.

The present invention also relates to a method for managing railway tracks implemented by a system for managing a network of railway tracks, the management system comprising a supervision unit and the network of railway tracks.

The present invention also relates to a computer program comprising software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement such a method for managing railway tracks.

In the railway field, axle counters or track circuits with a transmitter injecting an electrical signal into the rails and a receiver are currently used to detect the presence of a railway vehicle on a railway track.

Such equipment is safety equipment generally associated with a high reliability SIL 4 ( Safety Integrity Level ) risk level. However, such equipment is expensive, so that the railway service tracks and/or depots are generally not equipped with them, their operation being generally unsafe.

An objective of the present invention is to reduce the risk of collision between rail vehicle on this type of service rail tracks and/or depots whose safety currently depends on drivers who implement on-sight walking, while avoiding the cost associated with axle counters or track circuits.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a system for managing a network of railway tracks comprising a supervision unit and the network of railway tracks, each railway track of said network being segmented into a set of successive sections delimited from each other. others by an electronic beacon, each electronic beacon comprising a transmitter configured to transmit, in the presence of a railway vehicle, a message intended for said supervision unit, said supervision unit, comprising a supervision module capable of managing the state occupancy of the sections of each railway line of said network, according to said message.

The railway track network management system may include one or more of the following characteristics, taken individually or in any technically possible combination:

- the transmitter of each electronic beacon is configured to be activated from an induced current associated with a radio signal emitted continuously by an antenna on board said railway vehicle;

- each electronic beacon also includes:

- a recovery module configured to recover the energy associated with said current induced by the emission of the radio signal by the antenna on board said railway vehicle, and

- an energy converter configured to convert the energy recovered by the recovery module into a current for activating and supplying said transmitter;

- the transmitter is a transmitter compliant with the LoRaWAN protocol, or any other mobile data transmission technology;

- Said supervision unit further comprises a receiver configured to receive a message transmitted by each electronic beacon, the supervision module being configured to activate an occupied state of the track section following the electronic beacon transmitting said message;

- the supervision module is configured to also activate:

- an occupied state of a first portion of the track section preceding said electronic beacon transmitting said message, the size of said first portion preferably being substantially equal to the size of said railway vehicle, and

- a free state of a second portion, complementary to the first portion, of the section preceding said electronic beacon transmitting said message, the second complementary portion being upstream of the first portion with respect to the direction of movement of the rail vehicle;

- the railroad network is a network of service railroads and/or depots.

The invention also relates to a method for managing railway tracks implemented by a system for managing a network of railway tracks, the management system comprising a supervision unit and the network of railway tracks, each railway track of said network being segmented into a set of successive sections delimited from one another by an electronic beacon, each electronic beacon comprising a transmitter configured to transmit, in the presence of a railway vehicle, a message intended for said supervision unit, said supervision, comprising a supervision module suitable for managing the occupancy state of the sections of each railway track of said network, according to said message, the method comprising the following steps:

- in the presence of a rail vehicle, transmission by said electronic beacon transmitter of a message representing the presence of said rail vehicle near said electronic beacon transmitting said message,

- reception, by a receiver of said supervision unit, of said message representative of the presence of said railway vehicle near said electronic beacon,

- in the presence of said message, extension by said supervision unit of the occupied zone allocated to said railway vehicle up to the next electronic beacon according to the direction of movement of the railway vehicle.

According to a particular aspect of the method according to the invention, the method also comprises, in the presence of said message, the reduction of said occupancy zone allocated to said railway vehicle upstream of the current position of said railway vehicle up to the previous electronic beacon, from preferably to an intermediate point between said electronic beacon and the previous electronic beacon.

The invention also relates to a computer program comprising software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement, at least in part, such a method for managing railway tracks.

These characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description, given solely by way of non-limiting example, and made with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

- there is a schematic representation of a railway track management system according to one embodiment of the invention;

- there is a schematic representation of a management of the occupancy state of railway track(s) implemented by the management system of the ;

- there is a schematic representation of the operation of an electronic beacon of the management system of the ;

- there is a schematic representation of the evolution of an occupancy zone allocated to a railway vehicle during its route by the traffic management system .

In the present description, unless otherwise specified, the expressions "substantially", "approximately", "approximately" and "of the order of" define a relationship of equality to plus or minus 10%, preferably to plus or minus 5 %.

On the , a railway track management system 10 is shown. Such a system 10 comprises a supervision unit 12 (English interlocking system) and a network of railway tracks 14.

Each railway track 14 is segmented into a set of successive sections 14 _A and 14 _B delimited from each other by an electronic beacon 16 also called electronic pedal hereafter. In other words, a railway section is delimited by two distinct electronic beacons 16 (ie electronic pedals). For example, each electronic beacon 16 is located substantially in the middle of a crosspiece between the two rails of the railway track considered, so that the railway vehicle 20 is able to circulate above the electronic beacon 16.

More specifically, according to the present invention, the electronic beacon (or also called electronic pedal) 16 comprises an electronic transmitter 18 configured to transmit, in the presence of a railway vehicle 20, a message intended for the supervision unit 12, the supervision unit 12, comprising a receiver, not shown, configured to receive the message transmitted by the electronic beacon 16 and a supervision module, not shown, capable of managing the occupancy status of the sections of each railway track 14, depending on the message transmitted by the electronic transmitter 18.

According to a particular aspect, the message comprises an identifier of the transmitting electronic beacon.

On the example of the , the electronic transmitter 18 is a radio transmitter suitable for transmitting to the supervision unit 12, its message, representative of the presence of the railway vehicle 20 in the vicinity, and this, via a wireless communication link 22 and a station of base 24 connected, for example, by an Ethernet cable 26, to the supervision unit 12. Such a wireless communication link 22 is for example compliant with the fourth generation 4G standards for mobile telephony, or with the fifth generation 5G standards for mobile telephony, or any subsequent generation of standards for mobile telephony, or to a telecommunications technology deployed in the Internet of Things, such as LoRawan or Sigfox.

In a variant not shown, the electronic transmitter 18 sends the message via a wired link to the supervision unit.

More precisely, the transmitter 18 of each electronic beacon (or also called electronic pedal) 16 is configured to be activated from an induced current associated with a radio signal emitted continuously by an antenna 28 on board the railway vehicle 20 Such an antenna 28 corresponds in particular in France to the antenna on board the rail vehicle 20 and used by the KVB beacon speed control system, or corresponds to the antenna on board the rail vehicle 20 and used by the European Rail Traffic Management System ERTMS. Such an antenna is particularly capable of continuously emitting electromagnetic radiation at a frequency substantially equal to 27 MHz.

Moreover, as illustrated by the , each electronic beacon 16 further comprises a recovery module 30 configured to recover (ie capture) the energy associated with the current induced by the emission of the radio signal implemented by the antenna 28 on board the railway vehicle 20, and an energy converter 32 configured to convert the energy, recovered by the recovery module 30, into a current, for example direct current, for activating and supplying the electronic card of the transmitter 18.

According to a particular aspect, the transmitter 18 complies with the LoRaWAN protocol associated with a long transmission range of 2 to 5 km in urban areas, which makes it possible to cover a wide area of service roads, with very low energy consumption. . Alternatively, the transmitter 18 complies with any other mobile data transmission technology.

Thus, the electronic beacon (or also called electronic pedal) 16 according to the present invention corresponds to the reuse of the base (i.e. module) of recovery 30 of an existing electronic rail network beacon equipped with its induction loop, such as a KVB electronic beacon, or even KVBP corresponding to a permanent speed control system electronic beacon with continuous reopening function, or even ERTMS, or even in accordance with the SACEM project for driving assistance system, operation and maintenance, this existing electronic beacon base 30 being further enhanced by combination with:

- an energy converter 32 corresponding to a current rectification bridge, for example standard,

- an electronic transmitter 18 corresponding for example to a standard COTS ( off-the- shelf ) commercial transmitter and conforming to the LoRaWAN protocol.

In other words, the present invention proposes an electronic beacon (i.e. an electronic pedal) enriched with respect to existing electronic pedals, the electronic pedal according to the present invention offering a new function, namely the transmission of a message making it possible to optimize the management of the occupancy status of the sections of each railway line equipped with such an electronic pedal at each end of the section, and this while limiting the associated deployment costs.

There is a schematic representation of the management of the occupancy state of railway track(s), and more specifically, of the occupancy state of the same track 14 segmented into successive sections (ie sections) 14A , 14B, 14C, 14D at two distinct instants t1 and t2 successively implemented by the management system 10 and in particular the supervision unit 12.

The successive sections 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D are delimited from each other by an electronic beacon 16 as detailed above in relation to the . More precisely the section of track 14A is delimited from the section 14B by the beacon 16B, the section of track 14B is delimited from the section 14C by the beacon 16C, the section of track 14C is delimited from the section 14D by the beacon 16D.

At time t ₁ , rail vehicle 20 is substantially located in the middle of section 14 _B between electronic beacons 16 _B and 16 _C , and according to the present invention, the supervision unit defines an occupied zone 34 of track 14 then corresponding to the section 14 _B and to the portion P ₁ of the section 14 _A preceding the electronic beacon 16 _B , the size of the portion P ₁ of track 14 being substantially equal to the size of the railway vehicle 20. Outside this occupied zone 34, corresponding to the juxtaposition of the portion P ₁ and the section 14 _B succeeding it, the supervision unit defines that the rest of the track is a free zone 36 shown in dotted lines. In other words, at time t ₁ , the supervision unit considers that section 14 _A comprises both a first portion P ₁ , whose state is busy, and a second portion P ₂ complementary to the first portion P ₁ (ie corresponding to the rest of the section 14 _A (ie without the portion P ₁ ) whose state is free to traffic and shown in dotted lines.

At time t2, the railway vehicle 20 has moved in the direction of movement S as far as the electronic beacon 16C. In the presence of the railway vehicle 20, the transmitter 18 as illustrated previously on the , of the electronic beacon 16C then sends a message to the supervision unit 12 illustrated on the and not shown on the . After reception, by the receiver of the supervision unit 12, the supervision module of the supervision unit 12 is then configured to activate both:

- a busy state of the track section 14 _C following the electronic beacon 16 _C transmitting the message, and a busy state of the first portion P ₁ of the section 14 _B preceding said electronic beacon 16 _C transmitting the message, the size of the first portion P ₁ being substantially equal to the size of the railway vehicle 20 considered,

- A free state of the second portion P ₂ of the section 14 _B , complementary to the first portion P ₁ of the section 14 _B preceding the electronic beacon 16 _C transmitting the message, the second complementary portion P ₂ being upstream of the first portion P ₁ with respect to the direction of movement S of the railway vehicle 20, and a free state of the first portion P ₁ of the section 14 _A .

Thus at time t ₂ , occupied zone 34 of track 14 then corresponds to section 14 _C and to portion P ₁ of section 14 _B preceding electronic beacon 16 _C , and apart from this occupied zone 34, the rest of the track is a free zone 36 shown in dotted lines. In other words, at time t ₂ , section 14 _B comprises both a first portion P ₁ , whose state is occupied, and a second portion P ₂ complementary to the first portion P ₁ (ie corresponding to the rest of the section 14 _B (ie without the portion P ₁ ) the state of which is free to traffic, and so on each time the next electronic beacon passes.

There is a schematic representation of the operation of the electronic beacon 16, according to the present invention, shared between an activated state of the transmitter 18 of the electronic beacon 16 as illustrated by the part 38 of the , and a standby state of the transmitter 18 of the electronic beacon 16 as illustrated by the part 40 of the .

More specifically, part 38 illustrates that when a railway vehicle 20 passes at the level of the electronic beacon 16 _B (ie electronic pedal 16), according to the direction of movement S, from the section 14 _A towards the section 14 _B , the the antenna 28 on board the railway vehicle 20 supplies the electronic beacon 16 _B with energy. In particular, the recovery module 30 recovers the energy associated with the current induced by the transmission of the radio signal implemented by the antenna 28 on board the railway vehicle 20, and the energy converter 32 converts this energy into a direct current for activating and supplying the transmitter 18, which then sends E a message, representative of the presence of the railway vehicle 20 to the supervision unit 12. On reception, the supervision unit 12 switches section 14 _B to busy state. In other words, upon receipt of the message, the supervision unit 12 extends the occupied zone 34 of the railway track 14 to include the whole of the section 14 _B up to the next electronic beacon 16 _C , and reduces the occupied zone 34 by upstream of the railway vehicle 20, in the direction of movement S of the railway vehicle 20, so that the occupied zone 34 now only comprises the portion P ₁ of the section 14 _A preceding the electronic beacon 16 _B transmitting the message, the size of this portion P ₁ being substantially equal to the size of the railway vehicle 20.

In the absence of a railway vehicle 20, as illustrated by part 40 of the , the transmitter 18 remains on standby in order to limit its energy consumption, and does not transmit any message, and the section 14B downstream of the electronic beacon 16B is considered as free 36 by the supervision unit 12 as shown in dotted lines .

There is a schematic representation of the evolution of the occupation zone 34 allocated to a railway vehicle 20 during its route.

In particular, the represents three separate tracks 141, 142, 143, these tracks preferably being service and/or depot railway tracks. There comprises four parts 42, 44, 46, 48 illustrating four distinct and successive occupancy states over time, of the track 142 corresponding to the route engaged for the movement of the rail vehicle 20 in the direction of movement S.

On the engaged route corresponding to the channel 14 ₂ there are four separate electronic pedals (ie electronic beacons according to the invention) 16 _B , 16 _C , 16 _D and 16 _E .

At the start at time tA, represented by part 42 of the , the route corresponding to channel 142 is therefore engaged, and the occupied zone 34 of channel 142 then corresponds to the section preceding the electronic beacon 16B, and the rest of channel 142 is a free zone 36 shown in dotted lines.

At time tB, represented by part 44 of the , the railway vehicle 20 drives the electronic pedal 16B which, as previously described, sends E a message intended for the supervision unit 12 not represented on the . On receipt of such a message, the supervision unit 12 reduces the occupied zone 34 upstream of the electronic pedal 16B to a portion P1 directly upstream of the electronic pedal 16B, according to the direction of movement S of the rail vehicle. 20, the size of which is substantially equal to that of the railway vehicle 20 considered, and the supervision unit also extends the occupied zone 34 as far as the next electronic pedal 16C according to the direction of movement S of the railway vehicle 20. Otherwise said, the supervision unit 12 considers that the occupied zone 34 is equal to the length of the railway vehicle 20 upstream of the electronic pedal 16B, according to the direction of movement S of the railway vehicle 20, to which is added the downstream section located between the electronic pedals (ie electronic beacons) 16B and 16C, the rest of the route corresponding to the track 142 being additionally considered as a free zone 36. According to a specific aspect ic of the invention, the state of the switch located within the occupied zone 34 remains blocked (ie immutable) as long as the busy state of the occupied zone 34 remains activated, this switch allowing the selection route between track 143, and the track common to the two tracks 141 and 142. In other words, in the presence of the occupied state of the occupation zone 34 of part 44 of the , the switch cannot be ordered for another traffic.

At time tC, represented by part 46 of the , the railway vehicle 20 attacks the next electronic pedal 16C which, as previously described, in turn transmits a message intended for the supervision unit 12 not represented on the .

At time tD, represented by part 48 of the , the supervision unit 12 receives the message transmitted at time tC, and reduces the occupied zone 34 upstream of the electronic pedal 16C according to the direction of movement S of the rail vehicle 20, to a portion P1 directly upstream of the electronic pedal 16C, the size of which is substantially equal to that of the railway vehicle 20 considered, and the supervision unit also extends the occupied zone 34 to the next electronic pedal 16D according to the direction of movement S of the railway vehicle 20. In other words, at time tD, the supervision unit 12 considers that the occupied zone 34 is equal to the length of the railway vehicle 20 upstream of the electronic pedal 16C to which is added the section downstream, along the direction of travel S of the rail vehicle 20, located between the electronic pedals (ie electronic beacons) 16C and 16D, the rest of the route corresponding to the track 142 being additionally considered as an area free 36 with unlocking of the switch allowing route selection between track 143, and the track common to the two tracks 141 and 142, this switch being again able to be controlled for another circulation of another separate railway vehicle of the railway vehicle considered.

Subsequently, the method for managing railway tracks implemented by the system for managing a network of railway tracks previously described in relation to FIGS. 1 to 3 is described.

According to a first step, the transmitter 18 of electronic beacon 16 (i.e. electronic pedal), implements automatically (i.e. without human intervention) in the presence of a railway vehicle, the transmission of a message representative of the presence of said vehicle rail near the electronic beacon transmitting the message.

According to a second step, the supervision unit 12 automatically receives (i.e. without human intervention), via its receiver, this message representing the presence of said rail vehicle near said electronic beacon.

According to a third step, in the presence of such a message, the supervision unit 12, via its supervision module, automatically implements (i.e. without human intervention) an extension of the occupied zone allocated to the railway vehicle 20 up to 'to the next electronic beacon according to the direction of movement of the railway vehicle and automatically implements (i.e. without human intervention) a reduction in the area of occupancy allocated to the railway vehicle upstream of the current position of said railway vehicle until the previous electronic beacon, preferably up to an intermediate point between said electronic beacon and the previous electronic beacon.

It is thus understood that the invention makes it possible to optimize, at lower cost, compared to the use of axle counters or track circuits, the management of traffic on a network of railway tracks, in particular a network of tracks service railways and/or depots.

Indeed, the invention makes it possible to reduce the risks of collision between railway vehicles in this type of track, the safety of which is generally ensured only by the drivers walking at sight, and to optimize the operation of the service tracks because the information on the release of a section of track is fed back in real time via each electronic beacon 16 (i.e. electronic pedal).

The implementation costs of the present invention are limited by the use of autonomous equipment such as the electronic beacon proposed according to the present invention which has an integrated battery and is provided with a radio interface, in particular conforming to the LoRaWAN protocol allowing have a long range and therefore cover a wide area of sidings, with very low energy consumption or at least less than that associated with the use of axle counters or track circuits.

The management of the occupancy of the tracks according to an occupied or free state obtained according to the present invention allows the operator to have visibility on the occupancy rate of the tracks in real time, to circulate several rail vehicles on routes having common sections, to reduce the risk of collisions between railway vehicles because the switch control authorizations are only given on free sections.

There is thus obtained a reduction in the time of operations and the waiting time on railway tracks equipped with electronic beacons (i.e. electronic pedals) according to the present invention, and a securing of the associated operations.

Claims (10)

System (10) for managing a network of railway tracks (14) comprising a supervision unit (12) and the network of railway tracks (14),
characterized in that each railway line (14) of said network is segmented into a set of successive sections (14 _A , 14 _B ) delimited from each other by an electronic beacon (16), each electronic beacon (16) comprising a transmitter ( 18) configured to transmit, in the presence of a railway vehicle (20), a message intended for said supervision unit (12), said supervision unit (12), comprising a supervision module suitable for managing the state of occupancy of the sections of each railway line of said network, according to said message. System (10) according to claim 1, in which the transmitter (18) of each electronic beacon (16) is configured to be activated from an induced current associated with a radio signal continuously transmitted by an antenna (28) loaded on board said railway vehicle (20). A system (10) according to claim 2, wherein each electronic beacon (16) further comprises:
- a recovery module (30) configured to recover the energy associated with said current induced by the emission of the radio signal by the antenna (28) on board said railway vehicle, and
- an energy converter (32) configured to convert the energy recovered by the recovery module (30) into a current for activating and supplying said transmitter (18). A system (10) according to any preceding claim, wherein the transmitter (18) is a LoRaWAN or Sigfox protocol compliant transmitter. System (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the said supervision unit (12) further comprises a receiver configured to receive a message transmitted by each electronic beacon (16), the supervision module being configured to activate a busy state of the track section following the electronic beacon (16) transmitting said message. System (10) according to claim 5, wherein the supervisor module is configured to also activate:
- an occupied state of a first portion (P ₁ ) of the track section preceding said electronic beacon (16) transmitting said message, the size of said first portion (P ₁ ) preferably being substantially equal to the size of said railway vehicle ( 20), and
- a free state of a second portion (P ₂ ), complementary to the first portion (P ₁ ), of the section preceding said electronic beacon (16) transmitting said message, the second complementary portion (P ₂ ) being upstream of the first portion (P ₁ ) relative to the direction (S) of movement of the rail vehicle (20). A system (10) according to any preceding claim, wherein the network of railroad tracks (14) is a network of service and/or depot railroads. A method of managing railway tracks implemented by a system (10) for managing a network of railway tracks (14), the management system (10) comprising a supervision unit (12) and the network of railway tracks ( 14), each rail track of said network being segmented into a set of successive sections delimited from each other by an electronic beacon (16), each electronic beacon (16) comprising a transmitter (18) configured to transmit, in the presence of a railway vehicle (20), a message intended for said supervision unit, said supervision unit, comprising a supervision module capable of managing the occupancy state of the sections of each railway track of said network, according to said message, the process comprising the following steps:
- in the presence of a rail vehicle (20), transmission (E) by said transmitter (18) of electronic beacon (16), of a message representative of the presence of said rail vehicle (20) near said transmitting electronic beacon of said message,
- reception, by a receiver of said supervision unit (12), of said message representative of the presence of said railway vehicle near said electronic beacon,
- in the presence of said message, extension by said supervision unit of the occupied zone allocated to said railway vehicle (20) up to the next electronic beacon according to the direction of movement of the railway vehicle. Method according to claim 8, also comprising in the presence of said message, reducing the said occupied area allocated to said rail vehicle upstream of the current position of said rail vehicle up to the previous electronic beacon, preferably up to an intermediate point between said electronic beacon and the preceding electronic beacon. Computer program comprising software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method of managing railway tracks according to claim 8 or 9.