Patent Publication Number: US-6708038-B1

Title: Vehicle communications system

Description:
This patent application claims the benefit of the U.S. provisional application file on Oct. 28, 1999, and assigned application Ser. No. 60/162,294. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed in general to communications systems for vehicles and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for establishing and controlling the communications between a vehicle and a remote site, e.g., a monitoring and diagnostic service center. 
     Establishing, maintaining and managing a communications link between a mobile asset (e.g., an on-road, off-road or rail-based vehicle) can provide opportunities for cost-saving operation through efficient vehicle dispatching and the remote acquisition of vehicle performance information. As applied to railroad operations, cost-efficiency requires minimization of locomotive down time and especially the avoidance of line-of-road locomotive failures. Failure of a major locomotive system can cause serious damage, require costly repairs, and introduce significant operational delays in the railroad transportation network. A line-of-road failure is an especially costly event as it requires dispatching a replacement locomotive to pull the train consist rendering a track segment unusable until the disabled train is removed. As a result, the health of the locomotive engine and its constituent subassemblies is of significant concern to the railroad operator. 
     In the past, there has been no automatic or systematic mechanism for locomotive fault detection. Instead, the railroad operator relies primarily on regular inspections and the observation of performance anomalies by the locomotive operator. Some cursory inspection processes are accomplished while the locomotive is in service. More thorough inspections require the locomotive to be taken out of service for several days. Any locomotive down time, whether for inspection or repair, represents a significant railroad cost that advantageously should be minimized. The same generic inspections processes are applied to off-road, on-road, and other rail-based vehicles. 
     One such apparatus for detecting faults and thereby hopefully minimizing locomotive down time is an on-board monitor that measures performance and faul-trelated operational parameters of the locomotive or other mobile asset during operation. Off-board analysis of this information can provide timely indications of actual and expected component failures. With timely and nearly continuous access to locomotive performance data, it is now possible for locomotive repair experts to predict and/or prevent untimely failures. The on-board monitor collects, aggregates and communicates locomotive performance and fault related data from an operating locomotive to a monitoring and diagnostic center. The data may be collected periodically or as required by various triggering events occurring during locomotive operation. Generally, anomalous or fault data is brought to the attention of the locomotive operator directly by the locomotive systems, but the locomotive itself lacks the necessary hardware and software devices to diagnose the fault. It is therefore, advantageous to utilize the on-board monitor to collect and aggregate the information and at the appropriate time, send the information to a monitoring and diagnostic service center. Upon receipt of the performance data at the monitoring and diagnostic service center, computer based data analysis tools analyze the data to identify the root cause of potential or actual faults. Also, experts in locomotive maintenance and operation analyze the received data to prepare recommendations for preventive maintenance or to correct existing faults or anomalous conditions. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for commissioning the communications system installed on board an off-road, on-road or rail-based vehicle so that the vehicle number is associated with the unique communications identifier or telephone number assigned to the communications system installed on the vehicle. Once commissioned, the communications system can establish a link between the operating vehicle and a remote site for the purpose of transmitting fault, operational parametric and location information from the vehicle to the remote site and for uploading control information and instructions in the reverse direction. 
     The process of providing communications services to a remotely located vehicle requires the initialization, configuration and synchronization of several different systems and databases. The present invention establishes an automatic commissioning process for accomplishing these tasks. 
     The present invention further includes control system algorithms for handling specific communications events between the vehicle and the remote site. These algorithms provide a communications system that is more robust and reliable and less susceptible to fault. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention can be more easily understood and the further advantages and uses thereof more readily apparent, when considered in view of the description of the preferred embodiments below and the following figures, in which: 
     FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a flow chart depicting the communications commissioning process of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the communications system in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a state diagram illustrating operational status of the communications system of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating another embodiment of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the process for enabling the communications system of FIG.  2 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Before describing in detail the particular vehicle communication system in accordance with the present invention, it should be observed that the present invention resides primarily in a novel combination of processing steps and hardware related to a vehicle communication system. Accordingly, these processing steps and hardware components have been represented by conventional processes in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with structural details that will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the description herein. 
     The remote site can comprise a monitoring and diagnostic center (for monitoring and providing repair recommendations to vehicles within a fleet) a vehicle dispatching center or any other remote site that communicates regularly with the vehicle fleet for providing information to or collecting information from the fleet vehicles. 
     The process of commissioning the vehicle communication system is illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The commissioning process associates a unique vehicle number with the access or contact number assigned to the communications system aboard that vehicle. Therefore, data sent to or received from the communications system contact number will be matched to the correct vehicle. The mechanism for accessing or contacting the communications system on the vehicle is dependent on the communications system type. For instance, satellite-based or cellular-type systems employ a unique telephone number. A TCP/IP based system (transmission control protocol/internet protocol) employs a unique address or uniform resource locator. As used herein, the phrase “telephone number” or “phone number” is intended to apply to all types of communications systems where the called party has a unique communications system identifier, (comprised of numerals and/or characters) such as a cellular or personal communications system, a dedicated or private land line system, the public-switched telephone network, a satellite communications system or an Internet-based system where a universal resource locator serves as the “called party” identifier, such that the remote site can establish a communications link with a selected vehicle. 
     Once commissioned, the vehicle can establish a communications link with a remote computer, such as a computer at a remote site for in one embodiment, downloading information from the vehicle to the remote computer or for uploading information from the remote computer to the vehicle. Also, after commissioning the system, a remote computer can call a specific vehicle number by calling the telephone number associated (through the commissioning process) with that vehicle number. The algorithm of FIGS. 1A and 1B can be stored in and executed by a microprocessor in the communications system controller (to be discussed herein below) or by any of the microprocessors aboard a modern-day vehicle. 
     The communication system commissioning algorithm  10  begins at a step  14  when communications equipment is installed within a vehicle. When the equipment is then powered up at a step  15 , the commissioning algorithm  10  starts processing. Note that when the communications system is subsequently powered up, processing begins at the step  15 . At a step  16 , the vehicle number is obtained from a storage location within the vehicle. As applied to locomotives, the locomotive road number is stored in the integrated function controller (IFC). The IFC, as is well known by those skilled in the art, is one of the primary vehicle control systems for controlling several locomotive subsystems. At a step  18 , the retrieved vehicle number is compared with the number stored in the communications controller. In the event the communications system had been transferred from another vehicle, the vehicle number stored therein will be the number of the vehicle from which the equipment was taken. Or if the communications system is new, a dummy vehicle number, created when the system was built, will be stored in the communications controller. At the step  18  the vehicle number stored in the communications controller is compared to the retrieved number, and at a step  20  a determination is made whether the two numbers match. A match indicates that the communication system had been previously commissioned (see a step  22 ) and is now ready for transferring data between the vehicle and the remote computer at a step  42 . As discussed above, in one embodiment, the remote computer at the remote site will receive parametric operational information and also data related to vehicle status, location, faults, anomalous conditions, etc. for the purpose of dispatching the vehicle, recommending repairs to correct faults or to avoid incipient vehicle failures. 
     The vehicle number check process is critical because it ensures that the phone number of the communications system controller is associated with the vehicle number in which the communications system is installed. Because information communicated to the remote computer at the remote site is identified by the calling phone number, it is imperative that the calling phone number is associated with the correct vehicle, as identified by vehicle number. In this way, data received from and identified by the calling phone number will be associated with the correct vehicle number. For example, a situation can arise where a communications system is removed from a first vehicle and installed in a second vehicle. Based on the calling telephone number (which is embedded in the communications system), the remote computer will associate calls from that calling phone number with the first vehicle number. The commissioning algorithm  10  avoids this problem by ensuring that the calling phone number and vehicle number are correctly associated before permitting communications with the remote computer. 
     If the two vehicle numbers do not match, at a step  23  the number in the communications controller is replaced with the number stored within the vehicle. At a step  24 , the communications system calls the remote site. These calls utilize a satellite-based communications system, a cellular system, microwave links or other terrestrial satellite communications systems. The status of the connection between the vehicle communication system and the remote site is checked at a decision step  26 . If a connection has not been successfully accomplished, then processing moves back to the step  24  to repeat the connection attempt. 
     Once the communications connection has been established, processing moves to a step  28  where the vehicle communication system provides the vehicle number to the remote site. The number provided is the number stored within the vehicle communication system controller at the step  23 . 
     At a step  30 , the remote site determines the phone number of the calling vehicle. The phone number can be obtained by a conventional caller identification processes or the communication system controller of the vehicle can provide the phone number digits directly to the remote computer at the remote site. The remote computer associates the received vehicle number and phone number at a step  32  and stores this information in a data base for later use. Then, each time the remote computer receives information from the vehicle, a comparison process is undertaken to ensure that the calling telephone number and the number of the calling vehicle match the calling number/vehicle number pair stored in the remote computer. If a mismatch is detected, this is an indication that the communication equipment may have been transferred to a different vehicle. In the embodiment where the remote site is at a monitoring and diagnostic service center, it is critical that the calling phone number and the vehicle number match the stored pair so that the downloaded parametric operational location, and fault information will be assigned to the correct vehicle. The only mechanism for accomplishing this accurately is through the use of the vehicle number matched to the calling telephone number. 
     Once the vehicle number and calling phone number have been correlated, the initial call from the vehicle to the remote computer is terminated at a step  33 . At a step  34  the remote computer calls the vehicle, using the phone number determined at the step  30 , to verify that the communications system is functioning properly. A decision step  36  determines the success of that call and creates a fault message at a step  38  if the call was not successful, indicating the system may not have been properly commissioned. The failure event is logged at the remote computer and at the on-board monitor of the vehicle. The call to the vehicle will be placed again at a later time. 
     If the call was successful, processing moves to a step  40  where the successful commissioning of the vehicle communications system is noted at the remote site and in the operations log maintained by the on-board monitor in the vehicle. Specifically, the telephone number/road number pair is activated at the remote site so that thereafter the telephone number/road number pair will be recognized as identifying a commissioned vehicle communication system. The operations log on the vehicle can be retrieved via a portable test unit (one example is a laptop computer) by a vehicle service technician to verify the operational status of the vehicle communications system. 
     As represented generally by a step  42 , the remote computer then downloads operational information or location information from the vehicle. In the embodiment where the remote site is a monitoring and diagnostic service center, the data is used to evaluate the vehicle performance and develop necessary repair recommendations. The monitoring and diagnostic service system also uploads configuration information to the vehicle via the communications link. This configuration information configures the various systems and software applications on board the vehicle, including the onward monitor. 
     The ability of the vehicle communications system to automatically execute a self-commissioning process with the remote site is critical, given that the vehicle may be one member of a large vehicle fleet equipped with a communications system for communicating with the remote site. Also, it is likely that during its operational lifetime, new or upgraded vehicle communications systems will be installed in the vehicle. Therefore, it is advantageous to provide a reliable and cost effective process for commissioning and configuring the vehicle communications system at initial start-up. 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram applying the teachings of the present invention to a locomotive communications systems  60 . A communications system controller  62  executes a plurality of control algorithms (including the communications commissioning algorithm  10 ) to handle specific communication events. Parametric operational and fault information related to the locomotive communications system  60  is recorded in a locomotive operational log (not shown). Information from this log is sent periodically (or immediately for certain significant severe faults) to the monitoring and diagnostic service center (MDSC)  64 , shown in FIG.  2 . As discussed above in conjunction with the commissioning process, operational information and fault data is analyzed and repair recommendations are generated at the MDSC  64 . FIG. 2 depicts the communications system controller system  62  as a separate element of the locomotive communications system  60 . Those skilled in the art will recognize that in fact the functions performed by the communications systems controller  62  can instead be executed by another controller on board the locomotive. 
     Both the communications system controller  62  and a main locomotive controller switch  64  are fed power produced by the generator (or an alternative source), as driven by the diesel engine of the locomotive. The main locomotive controller switch  64  when closed, supplies power to other locomotive systems, including locomotive controllers  66  and  68 . The locomotive controllers  66  and  68  can represent the integrated function controller mentioned above or the propulsion system controller for controlling the locomotive propulsion system, which transfer parametric data bidirectionally with the onward monitor  69 . When the main locomotive switch  64  is open, no power is supplied to the locomotive controllers  66  and  68 , but since the communications system controller  62  is not powered through the switch  64 , it remains energized. A status signal representing the position of the main locomotive controller switch  64  is input to the communication system controller  62  as shown. In one embodiment of the present invention, the functionality of the communications system controller  62  is performed by the onward monitor  69 . As shown, data is transferred between the communications system controller  62  and a receiver/transmitter  70 , which is coupled to an antenna  72  for transmitting to and receiving RF signals from the MDSC  64 . The communication system controller  62  is also connected to the receiver/transmitter  70  via a control link, as labeled in FIG.  2 . The control link monitors and controls the receiver/transmitter  70 . 
     FIG. 3 is a system state diagram illustrating operation of the locomotive control system  60  and the other elements shown in FIG.  2 . System startup is depicted by a state  90 . This is the initial state of the locomotive communication system  60 , which occurs whenever the on-board monitor is powered up. At a state  92 , the locomotive communication system  60  determines the health of both the data and control connection between the communication system controller system  62  and the receiver/transmitter  70 . See FIG.  2 . If one or both of these connections is not operating properly, the system moves to a state  94  where a fault handling process is executed. As is the case with the other faults detected on the locomotive by the on board monitor, faults associated with the locomotive communications system  60  are logged into the operations log. Also, the communication system controller  62  tracks the number of consecutive fault occurrences, which is also included in the operations log. On a predetermined schedule, the operations log is downloaded to the monitoring and diagnostic service center  64 . In addition to logging them into the operational log, certain conditions or faults associated with the locomotive communications  60  are also displayed to the locomotive operator. Each communication system fault has an associated reset strategy, which is a sequence of events to clear the fault or confirm that fault condition continues to exist. 
     The normal operational state of the locomotive communication system  60  is indicated by a state  96  in FIG.  3 . When an incoming call is received an answer and download state  98  is activated, the call is answered and information is transferred between the locomotive communication system  60  and the monitoring and diagnostic service center  64 . As discussed above, the information downloaded to the MDSC  64  includes operational parametric data, and data related to fault conditions and anomalous situations aboard the locomotive. The data uploaded to the locomotive includes software reconfiguration information. For example, the MDSC may issue a command to reconfigure a specific software application to increase the frequency at which a certain locomotive operational parameter is measured by the onward monitor. When the data transfer ends, the system returns to the operational state  96 . 
     Prior to answering a call at the answer and download state  98  discussed above, the communications system controller  62  first determines whether the main locomotive controller switch is  64  closed by examining the signal on the status line shown in FIG.  2 . If the status signal indicates that the controller switch is open, the call is not answered and the system returns to the operational state  96 . 
     The call home state is identified by a reference character  100  in FIG.  3 . As discussed in detail in the onward monitor patent application referred to above, certain locomotive faults require an immediate call back to the monitoring and diagnostic service center  64  so that information related to the fault can be immediately downloaded to the MDSC  64 . When such a fault occurs, the call home state  100  is activated, but only if there are no incoming calls (state  98 ) and the main locomotive switch  64  is closed. That is, incoming calls at the state  98  are given a higher priority than the outgoing calls at the state  100 . If the first call home is unsuccessful because, for example, the locomotive communication system  60  cannot establish a communications link with the monitor and diagnostic service center  64 , then the call home is terminated and retried after a predetermined wait period has expired. The locomotive communication system  60  is programmed to execute a predetermined number of retries before discontinuing the call home associated with that fault. This feature of waiting a predetermined number of minutes before making the next call home and limiting the number of calls home allows the locomotive communication system  60  to be available for answering possible incoming calls. The number of retries, and the retry period can be remotely configured from the MDSC, thus providing a way of continually optimizing the communications system without a major software upgrade. All call home events (both successful and failed attempts) are recorded in the operational log. In the event the call home attempt is terminated unsuccessfully after the predetermined number of attempts have been made, the operations log is so notated and the information that was to have been downloaded is also recorded in the operations log. The operations log contents will be downloaded to the MDSC  64  during the next scheduled download. After the call home has ended or if is determined that the main locomotive switch  64  is open, the system moves from the call home state  100  to the operational state  96 . 
     In another related embodiment of the present invention, a communications system commissioning process can be performed as shown in FIG.  4 . The communications equipment is installed in a vehicle at a step  102  and powered up at a step  103 . At a step  104 , the vehicle locomotive road number and the phone number of the communications system are retrieved and transmitted to the fixed site at a step  105 . In one embodiment of the present invention, the fixed site can be a monitoring and diagnostic service center, or a dispatching center, where the remote computer is located. At the remote site, the vehicle number and phone number pair is used to search a database to find a matching vehicle number/phone number pair. This is accomplished at a step  106 . A decision step  107  determines whether a match was located. A communications system is enabled at a step  108  if the transmitted vehicle number/phone number pair matched one of the entries in the database. If a match was not found, then the system has not been properly commissioned and a commissioning algorithm  10  (FIGS. 1A and 1B) must be executed. This step is illustrated at a step  109 . 
     The present invention further includes a feature for ensuring that RF transmissions are not transmitted from nor received while maintenance personnel are servicing equipment in the vicinity of the antenna  72 . It can be seen from FIG. 2 that the communications system controller  62  receives power independent of the main locomotive switch  64  status. That is, whether the main locomotive switch  64  is open or closed, power is supplied to the communication system controller  62 . The communication system controller  62  is independently supplied with power to allow the controlled shut down of the communications system controller  62  and the onward monitor  69 . Certain fault related and communications information must be retained by the onward monitor  69  and the locomotive communications system  60 , even after power has been removed. To safely store this information, the onward monitor and the locomotive communications system  60  must therefore execute a controlled shutdown process. In the event the locomotive communications system  60  and the onward monitor are abruptly shut down, for instance, by opening of the main locomotive controller switch  64 , valuable information may be lost due to a system fault. 
     Maintenance personnel are instructed to open the main locomotive controller switch  64  before beginning maintenance work near the antenna  72 . The “open” status signal causes the communications system controller  62  to disable the receiver/transmitter  70 . But because the communications system controller  62  is powered independently from the main locomotive controller switch  64 , power will be present to activate the communications system  60  if the “open” signal fails to disable the communications system controller  62  or if the status signal “closed” hangs in that state when in fact the switch is open. Therefore, a redundant control scheme is utilized to provide a higher degree of safety. In the absence of the redundant scheme, the communications system controller system  62  would rely upon the status signal input thereto, and activate the receiver/transmitter  70  whenever the status signal indicates that the main locomotive controller switch  64  is closed. The redundant scheme assumes that the main locomotive controller switch  64  is closed only when the status signal indicates closure and when either the locomotive controller  66  or the locomotive controller  68  is in an active state. The receiver/transmitter  70  will be activated only when these conditions are both true. 
     FIG. 5 depicts a flow chart of another embodiment for enabling the communications system  60 , especially with regard to the RF protection feature. The process begins at a start step  110  and continues to a step  112  where the status of the main locomotive controller switch  64  is checked. The status is determined at a decision step  114 . If the main locomotive controller switch  64  is open, processing proceeds to a step  116  where the communications system  60  is disabled. If the main locomotive controller switch  64  is closed, processing moves to a step  118  where one or more of the other locomotive controllers (for example, locomotive controllers  66  and  68 ) are checked to determine whether they are receiving power. If the other locomotive controllers are energized, as determined at a decision step  120 , then the communications system is enabled at a step  122 . If one or more of the other locomotive controllers are not energized, then processing proceeds back to the step  116  where the communications system is disabled. 
     While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalent elements may be substituted for the elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of the present invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.