Railroad computing system and device

Abstract

The invention provides computing devices and systems for railroad control and automation in railyards and on rail lines. A computing device has a housing having a front, a back, a top, a bottom, an exposed side, and an unexposed side, as well as an interior. The interior of the housing is adapted to support a communications bus, a processor board with a digital signal processor having memory thereon coupled to the communications bus. The memory stores a unique device identification. Additionally in the interior is an input/output board coupled to the communications bus, and a user-interface board coupled to the communications bus. The front has a user-viewable screen adapted to display a plurality of alphanumeric characters, and a user-interactive input device adapted to allow a user to scroll through alphanumeric data displayed on the screen. The top has a bank of output connectors comprising a first output connector adapted to send a control signal to a first railroad device, a first microphone, and a bank of power input connectors. The bottom has a bank of input connectors comprising a first input connector adapted to accept a signal from the first railroad device, and a wire-line data communications receptacle, while the back is adapted to couple to a DIN-Rail.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A railroad computing device, comprising:
 a first housing, the first housing comprising a front, a back, a top, a bottom, an exposed side, and an unexposed side, as well as an interior;   the interior of the first housing adapted to support
 a communications bus and a user interface bus, 
 a processor board coupled to the communications bus and the user interface bus, the processor board comprising a digital signal processor coupled thereto; 
 the processor associated with a memory, the memory storing a first device identification that is unique to the computing device; 
 an input/output board coupled to the processor board via the communications bus, and 
 a user-interface board coupled to the user interface bus; 
   the front having
 a screen adapted to display a plurality of alphanumeric characters, the screen coupled to user-interface board; 
 a user-interactive input device adapted to allow a user to scroll through alphanumeric data displayed on the screen, the user-interactive input device coupled to the processor board; 
   the top comprising
 a bank of output connectors comprising a first output connector adapted to send a control signal to a first railroad device, the bank of output connectors being coupled to the input/output board, 
 a first microphone, and 
 a bank of power input connectors; 
   the bottom comprising
 a bank of input connectors comprising a first input connector adapted to accept a signal from the first railroad device, the bank of input connectors being coupled to the input/output board, and 
 a wire-line data communications receptacle coupled to the input/output board; and 
   the back adapted to couple to a DIN-Rail.   
     
     
         2 . A railroad computing system, comprising:
 a first railroad computing device comprising
 a first housing, the first housing comprising a front, a back, a top, a bottom, an exposed side, and an unexposed side, as well as an interior; 
 the interior of the first housing adapted to support
 a communications bus and a user interface bus, 
 a processor board coupled to the communications bus and the user interface bus, the processor board comprising a digital signal processor coupled thereto; 
 the processor associated with a memory, the memory storing a first device identification that is unique to the computing device; 
 an input/output board coupled to the processor board via the communications bus, and 
 a user-interface board coupled to the user interface bus; 
 
 the front having
 a screen adapted to display a plurality of alphanumeric characters, the screen coupled to user-interface board; 
 a user-interactive input device adapted to allow a user to scroll through alphanumeric data displayed on the screen, the user-interactive input device coupled to the processor board; 
 
 the top comprising
 a bank of output connectors comprising a first output connector adapted to send a control signal to a first railroad device, the bank of output connectors being coupled to the input/output board, 
 a first microphone, and 
 a bank of power input connectors; 
 
 the bottom comprising
 a bank of input connectors comprising a first input connector adapted to accept a signal from the first railroad device, the bank of input connectors being coupled to the input/output board, 
 a wire-line data communications receptacle coupled to the input/output board; 
 
 the back adapted to couple to a DIN-Rail; 
 a second railroad computing device, comprising 
   a second housing, the second housing comprising a front, a back, a top, a bottom, an exposed side, and an unexposed side, as well as an interior;
 the interior of the second housing adapted to support
 a communications bus, 
 a processor board coupled to the communications bus, the processor board having a digital signal processor coupled thereto; 
 the processor associated with a memory, the memory storing a device identification unique to the second railroad computing device; 
 an input/output board coupled to the communications bus, and 
 a user-interface board coupled to the communications bus; 
 
 the front comprising
 a user-viewable screen adapted to display a plurality of alphanumeric characters; 
 a user-interactive input device adapted to allow a user to scroll through alphanumeric data displayed on the screen; 
 
 the top comprising a bank of output connectors comprising a first output connector adapted to send a control signal to a second railroad device, a microphone, and a bank of power input connectors; 
 the bottom comprising
 a bank of input connectors comprising a first input connector adapted to accept a signal from the second railroad device, 
 a wire-line data communications receptacle; 
 
 the back adapted to couple to an interior of a railroad device; and 
   wherein the first railroad computing device has a first RS-232 Connector and the second railroad computing device are communicatively coupled to each other through their respective RS-232 Connectors, and the first railroad device is coupled to a radio also via the RS-232 Connector.