Integrated real-time satellite positioning and communication system for railway applications

Pavkovic, B; Berbakov, L; Ulianov, C; Hyde, P

Integrated real-time satellite positioning and communication system for railway applications

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Cristian Ulianov ORCiD, Dr Paul Hyde

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Abstract

An integrated satellite positioning and communication system has been developed within the EU FP7 funded project SPARTACUS, to provide live tracking and coordination of critical assets in a variety of different operational environments. This paper describes the system and the integration of its components to meet the specific requirements of operating in rail transport environment. The functions of each integrated component, as well as the operation of the overall system is presented. The technologies used to generate accurate positional data from the Global Positioning System (GPS) and inertial navigation (for when there is no satellite reception for the GPS system) are described. The article also describes the generation of the positional data, the technologies for communicating the positional data from each monitored asset via wireless propagation of the information between adjacent vehicles to a collection and communication unit on the train. The technologies for the continuous communication of the collected positions of the monitored assets in the train with remote logistics databases using terrestrial, cellular mobile networks, and satellite communications, with a "Smart Link" feature to automatically select the most efficient mode of data transfer are further presented. The integration of these technologies to produce a system to meet the specific requirements for operation within the rail transport environment is discussed. Potential applications of the system in rail sector are proposed and discussed.