Patent ID: 8820685
Filing Date: 2014-09-02
Classification: B61L

Abstract:
1. A method for managing circulation of vehicles on a railway network, the network being subdivided into a plurality of resources, each resource having an allocation state, assuming the value “allocated” or “unallocated,” and having an interlocking state, assuming one value from among a plurality of predetermined values, one or several of the resources being driven by a ground controller equipped for wireless communication, a regulating unit capable of planning all of movements of the vehicles circulating on the network, and being connected to fixed base stations, on the ground, being equipped for wireless communication, and each vehicle circulating on the network including an onboard controller equipped for wireless communication permitting communication with the ground controllers and base stations connected to the regulating unit, the method comprising: planning, by the regulating unit, of a mission assigned to a vehicle; transmitting the mission from the regulating unit to the onboard controller of the vehicle; identifying, by the onboard controller of the vehicle and for a given time slot of the mission, a group of resources that, on condition each of the resources being allocated to the vehicle and being in a required interlocking state, would permit the vehicle to continue said mission, by using a path on the network corresponding to the group of identified resources; reserving the identified resources by implementing a predetermined protocol in the onboard controller requiring, from each of the ground controllers associated with the resources of the group of identified resources, the specific allocation of the resource to the vehicle; then, once all of the resources of the group have been allocated to the vehicle, interlocking the resources by implementing a further predetermined protocol of the onboard controller requiring, from each of the ground controllers associated with the resources of the group of allocated resources, modification of the interlocking state of the resource in compliance with the required interlocking states; verifying, by the onboard controller of the vehicle, that each of the resources of the group of identified resources has been allocated to the vehicle and is in the required interlocking state; and, when the result of the verifying step is affirmative, extending authorization, by the onboard controller, for the vehicle to move on the path of the network corresponding to the group of identified resources, allocated and correctly interlocked.