Patent ID: 9694835
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: B60R,B61L,G08B

Claim:
1. A detection system, comprising: a control module configured to be operably coupled on board a first rail vehicle, the control module comprising a device interface; wherein the device interface includes a first sensor input for receiving a first signal from a first sensor relating to a first occupancy condition of the first rail vehicle; wherein the device interface includes a second sensor input for receiving a second signal from a second sensor relating to a second occupancy condition of the first rail vehicle; wherein the control module is configured to at least one of: determine an occupancy status of the first rail vehicle based on the first and second signals, or communicate information of the first and second signals for determination of the occupancy status of the first rail vehicle; wherein the control module is configured to at least one of: communicate the occupancy status to a second rail vehicle over a communication channel of a distributed power system of the first and second rail vehicles; or communicate the information of the first and second signals to the second rail vehicle over the communication channel of the distributed power system, for determination of the occupancy status of the first rail vehicle at the second rail vehicle; and wherein the control module is configured to communicate a single bit incorporating the first signal and the second signal reporting the occupancy status of the first rail vehicle to the second rail vehicle.