European Vital Computer

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European Vital Computer on a Czech locomotive
EVC with peripheral systems. Above the EVC (from top to bottom) u. a. Power supply, interfaces to radio and national train control system (STM) arranged below the EVC of the data recorder (JRU, in red)

The European Vital Computer (abbreviation EVC ) is a safe vehicle computer in the European train control system ETCS and the core of the vehicle equipment.

While only a description of the infrastructure is transmitted to the vehicle from the track side, the EVC is responsible for carrying out the resulting actions, for example maintaining braking curves or controlling the main switch on protective lines of the overhead line . Other secure tasks include route and speed monitoring , the processing of ETCS driving permits and level and mode changes . The information that is provided on the track side includes, for example, permissible speeds, gradient profiles and slip paths .

Around 4,000 ETCS on-board devices are in use in Europe, and around 14,000 more have been ordered (as of October 2019).

In German-speaking countries there is no common translation for the EVC. Among the translations include on-board computer , ETCS on-board computer ETCS onboard unit , ETCS on-board computer , ETCS host , ETCS computer , ETCS central unit , vehicle computer , fail-safe computer for ETCS , vehicle system , the core of the ETCS , secure computer central unit , computer and central computer .

Integration into the vehicle

On locomotives , a common EVC is usually installed for both cabs ; on multiple units , depending on the EVC supplier and train length, two EVCs can also be used. The decisive factors are u. a. maximum cable lengths.

The installation location of the EVC receiving housing is u. a. selected taking into account aspects of suitable environmental conditions (including air conditioning / ventilation), fire protection, electromagnetic compatibility and protection against unauthorized access.

The required installation space depends on the respective supplier.

Interfaces

Driver's cab , u. a. with Driver Machine Interface (center)
Control lever of the driver's brake valve

The EVC must have an interface to the train, e.g. a. to control the brake and switch off traction . In addition, information is tapped from switches, for example about the direction of travel and activation of a driver's cab. Optionally, the MMI / DMI control of the pantograph , the braking unit or the main switch can also be connected to the EVC. In some applications, a button for confirming ETCS functions is built in.

Additional safety valve for ETCS on the main air reservoir line

The EVC train interface can either be done with discrete inputs and outputs or by means of a bus (e.g. Profibus , MVB , CAN ). Safety- relevant signals must be transmitted via redundant and independent signal paths. Mixed forms are possible, such as braking requirements on train bus and additional access to emergency braking loops via relay ( contactor relay ). A gateway is sometimes also arranged between the EVC and the vehicle bus .

Due to the large number of different vehicles, no uniform EVC train interface has yet been defined.

Some operators consider it necessary to encrypt EVC interfaces, for example to the balise reader (BTM) or the display ( DMI ).

The transfer of train data via the vehicle bus is also possible.

construction

The EVC is not explicitly mentioned in the ETCS reference architecture. The structure and design of the EVC as well as many interfaces and peripheral systems are manufacturer-specific. EVCs are designed as 2-out-of-2 or 2-out-of-3 computer systems , depending on the supplier .

The EVC can contain modules for input and output, configuration parameters, power supply, odometry, balise antenna and GSM-R . In the case of DMIs according to ETCS Baseline 3 , which have to guarantee a reliable display of certain information, the necessary comparison of the data transmitted to the DMI and the data actually displayed sometimes falls to the EVC. The EVC can be connected to an on-board information system via an interface. With the suspension railway Wuppertal , for example, operational registration data of the train to the EVC and odometry data of the train to the on-board information system are transmitted.

The driver's cab display (DMI) in the driver's field of vision of a train guided by ETCS shows u. a. the current and the permissible speed.

For example, when equipping the 403 series , Alstom used a two-out-of-three computer system in which two computers contain all interfaces and a third only contains assemblies for configuration parameters, odometry and power supply. The third computer runs in hot standby and becomes active if one of the other two EVCs fails. If two computers fail, an irreversible emergency brake is initiated. The DMI image is calculated in the EVC.

Siemens, on the other hand, uses a high-availability 2-of-2 computer system with three height units (status: 2010). A Non Vital Computer (NVC) contains the diagnostic system, the project planning and the data transmission functionalities that are not secure in terms of signaling. The DMI image is calculated in the DMI.

Interaction with national systems

If a vehicle is equipped with other train control systems (e.g. class B systems ) in addition to ETCS , there are four options for connecting the EVC - depending on the operational, technical and economic framework conditions:

  • If a national train control system is connected to the EVC as a Specific Transmission Module (STM), the necessary interfaces of the STM are routed via the EVC. The STM uses the EVC for this purpose. a. to receive odometry data, to display information on the DMI or to trigger brakes. Profibus is used to connect the EVC to STMs. This solution is associated with considerable development effort and therefore only makes sense for functionally comprehensive naitonal systems. For example, the line train control in Spain is operated as an STM. The connection as STM is generally considered to be the preferred variant.
  • National train control systems can also be connected as semi-STM (also specific bus coupling ). The system is controlled in normal operation via the existing vehicle bus; in the event of malfunctions, they can also be operated without EVC. ETCS (EVC) and the national system communicate with the surrounding systems via a common bus, the coupling of the two train control systems serves exclusively to control the transitions. While the interventions in ETCS and the national system can be reduced, additional work arises in the peripheral systems such as the DMI and the data recorder (JRU). For example, the LZB in Germany (coupled via MVB) was specified in this way by Deutsche Bahn.
  • An EVC can also be designed as a bi-standard EVC (sometimes also dual-standard EVC ). The ETCS EVC takes over the function of the national train control system. The function of the national system can be linked within the EVC or by means of proprietary interfaces. This solution is ideal for simple national systems or when there is an acute lack of space. In addition, national expansions that offer operational advantages can be implemented. For example, EVM in Hungary (with implementation in EVC) or EBICAB and Bulgaria (with EVC-internal translation in ETCS telegrams) was implemented in this way. This solution is often developed by manufacturers of national train control systems for their home markets.
  • In principle, parallel operation of the EVC for ETCS and a national system is also possible. Both systems largely use their own peripheral systems (e.g. data recording, odometry), the coupling of the EVC and the national system takes place via a bus connection or relay contacts and is only used to control and monitor the transitions. Such a solution comes into consideration if other solutions are not economically viable or if the systems involved are operationally independent. For example, ATS in Turkey or MIREL in Slovakia (via an RS-485 interface ) was connected.

conditions

An on-board unit must be ready to enter the driver's number within three seconds of activating the driver's cab and, in the simplest case, be ready for shunting (ETCS Mode Shunting, SH) within 15 seconds .

The power supply of the EVC is considered to be a major weak point of the ETCS vehicle architecture. The reference architecture therefore provides for two redundant power supplies. The connection to peripheral systems is also redundant.

ETCS on-board units must be used on DB Netz u. a. meet an MTBF of at least 23,000 hours and a technical availability of 99.9913%.

Testing

The conformity of EVCs to the ETCS specification is described in Subset-094 of the ETCS specification. The EVC is integrated in a test adapter, the behavior described in around 800 specified test sequences is converted into logical and physical signals and checked for functional correctness and completeness. Such a universal interface , also known as an I / OSI adapter (In / Out System Interface ), enables the functions of necessary peripheral devices such as balises and modems to be used in interoperability tests and assumed to be error-free.

The interoperability to ensure are also special interoperability tests in which, for example, a RBC with integrated, is offered. The cases described in subsets 110, 111 and 112 focus on scenarios that require the components involved to interact.

Suppliers

ETCS vehicle equipment is offered by various suppliers:

Stadler announced in 2017 that it would manufacture its own ETCS on-board devices. To this end, Stadler and Mermec founded the Angelstar joint venture . The as Guardia designated system is scheduled to start on Flirt trains of BLS are used. At the beginning of 2019, field and approval tests were carried out in Switzerland and other European countries.

The Company The Company Signaling to announced in 2019, the future manufacture ETCS on-board equipment.

Alcatel offered ETCS on- board devices under the name ALTRACS BDZ .

history

In the mid-1990s, the ETCS vehicle architecture provided for a non-secure management computer (MC) in addition to the EVC (for safety-relevant systems) . He was responsible for functions such as diagnostics or the control of the operating devices (MMI), which were therefore not included in the EVC's safety verification. By 2000, however, control was the responsibility of the EVC.

In the mid-1990s, various degrees of modularity were considered for the on-board device, ranging from full hardware and software modularity (with defined, manufacturer-independent interfaces) to black box solutions.

An Operating System Switch (OSS) was considered as an alternative to the STM around 1996 . Switching between different train control systems should have taken place. This would have required a standardized EVC - u. a. in terms of interfaces, basic functions, operating system and programming language - so that one supplier could have integrated the software of another supplier.

In the “Class 1” specification passed by UNISIG to the European Commission in April 2000 , the standardization of the vehicle architecture was largely abandoned compared to the previous version A200. I.a. standardized interfaces were not used. Such a standardized vehicle equipment was called EURO-Cab . Their elements should be connected to the EVC via an ETCS bus. The underlying project Eurocab was one of several cooperation projects of the European signaling industry ( EUROSIG ).

After a software upgrade to around 140 locomotives in Switzerland, there were more EVC connections at the end of 2004. If this error occurs, it should not continue to drive even after a vehicle reset. The error should be fixed with another update.

As part of the openETCS project, Deutsche Bahn pursued the idea in the 2010s of developing uniform EVC software under an open source license , which ETCS suppliers should supplement with specific APIs and hardware- specific adaptations.

For the implementation of automated driving , two conceptual approaches were discussed in the context of Shift2Rail around 2016: the implementation of the ATO functions in the EVC (with additional software) or the use of an ATO architecture with separate hardware. In any case, the safety responsibility should rest exclusively with the train control system.

From August 2017, EVCs on Cityjet multiple units of the ÖBB series 4744 and 4746 were subjected to a safety test according to Baseline 3 for the first time.

Others

In order to measure the quality of service parameters of the GSM-R data transmission, an EVC can be simulated on the vehicle side.

A train completeness check (for ETCS Level 3 ) can be implemented through position reports of two EVCs running at the beginning and end of a train .

In France, a vehicle solution called NextEVC (previously EVC Portable ) is to be put out to tender . The localization should be exclusively based on satellites and the balise information should be replaced by cellular information.

Web links

  • ETCS specification on the homepage of the European Railway Agency (ERA)
  • ETCS manual for train drivers in Word and HTML format on the homepage of the European Railway Agency.

Individual evidence

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  31. ↑ ETCS specification , subset 026, version 3.6.0, section 2.5.3, p. 11.
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  58. ↑ NEXT EVC - CONSULTATION PREALABLE. (PDF; 150 kB) In: Association of Historical Railways Switzerland . SNCF Réseau DGII TTD, February 14, 2019, accessed on May 4, 2019 (French).
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