Method, railroad car and computer program product for operating a railroad car group

Abstract

A method operates a railroad car group, which is delimited by a front car and a rear car. In at least one of the two mentioned cars, a status indication is determined that indicates the position and/or the speed of this car. The status indication is transmitted to a track-side communication facility. The track-side communication facility relays the status indication to the other of the two mentioned cars, and in each case in the other of the two mentioned cars, the received status indication and another status indication that indicates the position and/or the speed of this other car are subjected to a plausibility check. A safety measure is triggered in the other car if the plausibility check indicates a separation of the railroad car group.

1 . A method for operating a railroad car group being delimited by two mentioned cars including a front car and a rear car, which comprises the steps of:
 determining, in at least one of the two mentioned cars, a status indication that indicates a position and/or a speed of the at least one car;   transmitting the status indication to a track-side communication facility;   relaying the status indication to an other of the two mentioned cars via the track-side communication facility;   subjecting the status indication received and another status indication that indicates the position and/or the speed of the other car to a plausibility check in each case in the other of the two mentioned cars; and   triggering a safety measure in the other car if the plausibility check indicates a separation of the railroad car group.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , which further comprises:
 determining, in each of the two mentioned cars, the status indication in each case that indicates the position and/or the speed of a respective car, namely in the front car a front status indication and in the rear car a rear status indication;   transmitting the front status indication from the front car to the track-side communication facility, which relays the front status indication to the rear car;   transmitting the rear status indication from the rear car to the track-side communication facility, which relays the rear status indication to the front car;   subjecting, in the front car, the front and rear status indication to a front plausibility check and triggering the safety measure in the front car if the front plausibility check indicates a separation of the railroad car group; and   subjecting, in the rear car, the front and rear status indication to a rear plausibility check and triggering the safety measure in the rear car if the rear plausibility check indicates a separation of the railroad car group.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein a generation of the status indication and/or the plausibility check is controlled by a computer program product, which is executed in a computing system of a respective car of the two mentioned cars in which the status indication is formed and/or the plausibility check is performed. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein:
 the railroad car group forms a complete freight train, a front train end of the complete freight train is formed by the front car and a rear train end of the complete freight train is formed by the rear car;   the front car is a front locomotive; and   a plurality of freight cars is present in the railroad car group between the front locomotive and the rear car.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein:
 a generation of the front status indication and the front plausibility check is controlled by a computer program product, which is implemented in locomotive control software of the front locomotive and is executed by a computing system of the front locomotive; and   a generation of the rear status indication and the rear plausibility check is controlled by a computer program product, which is implemented in software of the rear car and is executed by a computing system of the rear locomotive.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein an implementation of the safety measure includes a braking of all cars of the railroad car group. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , which further comprises triggering the safety measure independently of the car and without the involvement of a track-side safety facility. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the plausibility check comprises:
 a check as to whether speeds of both the front car and the rear car, which are indicated in the status indication, correspond, taking into account a predetermined differential speed tolerance range, wherein a separation of the railroad car group is inferred if the differential speed tolerance range is departed; and/or   a check as to whether positions of the front car and the rear car, which are indicated in the status indications, indicate a car spacing that corresponds to an expected car spacing, taking into account a predetermined spacing tolerance range, wherein a separation of the railroad car group is inferred if the spacing tolerance range is departed.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the computer program product is locomotive control software of a rear locomotive that forms the rear car. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 7 , which further comprises triggering the safety measure without an involvement of a track-side signal box. 
     
     
         11 . A railroad car, comprising:
 a car-specific status determining facility for determining a car-specific status indication that indicates a position and/or a speed of the railroad car;   a car-specific communication facility suitable for communication with a track-side communication facility; and   the car-specific status determining facility is configured so as to transmit the car-specific status indication to a plausibility check facility of another car via said car-specific communication facility and the track-side communication facility.   
     
     
         12 . A railroad car, comprising:
 a car-specific status determining facility for determining a car-specific status indication that indicates a position and/or a speed of the railroad car;   a car-specific communication facility being suitable for communication with a track-side communication facility; and   a plausibility check facility that is configured so as to subject to a plausibility check the car-specific status indication of said car-specific status determining facility and a status indication from another car, which said plausibility check facility receives from the track-side communication facility via said car-specific communication facility, and so as to initiate a safety measure if the plausibility check indicates a separation of a train group.   
     
     
         13 . The railroad car according to  claim 10 , wherein said car-specific status determining facility is configured so as to transmit the car-specific status indication to said plausibility check facility of another car via said car-specific communication facility and the track-side communication facility. 
     
     
         14 . A railroad car group, comprising:
 at least two mentioned cars including a front car and a rear car delimiting the railroad car group, at least one of said two mentioned cars being a first car containing:
 a first car status determining facility for determining a car-specific status indication that indicates a position and/or a speed of said first car; 
 a first car communication facility being suitable for communication with a track-side communication facility; and 
 said first car status determining facility is configured so as to transmit the car-specific status indication to a plausibility check facility of another car via said first car communication facility and the track-side communication facility; 
   at least another one of said two mentioned cars being a second car containing:
 a second car status determining facility for determining a car-specific status indication that indicates a position and/or a speed of the second car; 
 a second car communication facility being suitable for communication with the track-side communication facility; and 
 said plausibility check facility that is configured so as to subject to a plausibility check the car-specific status indication of said second car status determining facility and a status indication from another car, which said plausibility check facility receives from the track-side communication facility via said second car communication facility, and so as to initiate a safety measure if the plausibility check indicates a separation of the railroad car group. 
   
     
     
         15 . The railroad car group according to  claim 14 , wherein:
 the railroad car group forms a complete freight train, a front train end of the railroad car group is delimited by said front car and a rear train end of the railroad car group is delimited by said rear car; and   at least one of said mentioned cars is formed as a locomotive.   
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable medium containing computer-executable instructions which when executed by a computing system of a railroad car, performs the following methods steps of:
 generating a status indication that indicates a position and/or a speed of the railroad car;   transmitting the status indication by means of a car-specific communication facility to a track-side communication facility for relaying the status indication to a corresponding computer of another railroad car of a same railroad car group; and/or   subjecting to a plausibility check the status indication and a received status indication from an other car, which indicates the position and/or the speed of the other railroad car, and so as to trigger a safety measure if the plausibility check indicates a separation of the railroad car group.