Train operation control system and method based on train-ground coordination

This application is a 371 of international application of PCT application serial no. PCT/CN2021/128597, filed on Nov. 4, 2021, which claims the priority benefit of China application no. 202011620849.0, filed on Dec. 30, 2020. The entirety of each of the above-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.

The present invention relates to a train signal control system, and, in particular, to a train operation control system and method based on train-ground coordination.

At present, train operation control systems for railway or urban rail transit, no matter the China train control system (CTCS) for high-speed trains or the communication-based train control (CBTC) system for urban rail transit, are mainly based on a control method including performing train route management on the ground, calculating a movement authority, and sending the movement authority to a train. With this method, train routes are under an extensive ground control, which does not allow fine resource management and sharing and does not take full advantage of resources; then, all resources are managed at a ground level, which increases the complexity in resource management of ground equipment and increases the difficulty in implementation; and in addition, the method for train route management on the ground affects the timeliness of resource management, which is unfavorable for improving the operation efficiency of trains.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the defects existing in the above prior art and to provide a train operation control system and method based on train-ground coordination, in order to achieve the safe and efficient control over the operation of trains.

The object of the present invention can be achieved by means of the following technical solutions.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a train operation control system based on train-ground coordination, including a dispatching center server, a resource management unit (RMU) for ground train control equipment, and on-board train control equipment (CC), wherein the dispatching center server is connected via communication to the on-board CC, and the on-board CC is connected via communication to the RMU for the ground train control equipment; and

the RMU for the ground train control equipment and the on-board CC coordinatively complete resource management and implement train operation control, wherein the resource management is divided into two levels, at a first level, the RMU is responsible for performing the resource management in the unit of section, and at a second level, a preceding train and a succeeding train interact with each other via direct train-to-train communication, such that finer resource sharing in a section is achieved between the trains.

As a preferred technical solution, the dispatching center server is responsible for supervising and controlling train operation and has functions of train operation tracking, alarming and event reporting, operation plan adjusting, and operation controlling.

As a preferred technical solution, the RMU for the ground train control equipment is responsible for allocating and recovering line resources and turnout resources and for turnout locking and unlocking management.

As a preferred technical solution, the line resources are in the unit of track circuit or virtual track circuit.

As a preferred technical solution, the on-board CC is responsible for applying, using, and releasing the line resources and the turnout resources, for locking and unlocking turnouts, and for performing train-to-train communication with the preceding and succeeding trains to implement resource sharing.

As a preferred technical solution, the resource sharing between the on-board CC and the preceding and succeeding trains is completed by fine management of the line resources and the turnout resources.

As a preferred technical solution, with respect to section resources and the turnout resources, the preceding and succeeding trains directly perform position information interaction and mutual negotiation to subdivide an application range of the resources.

As a preferred technical solution, the turnout resources are specifically subdivided as follows:

dividing resources of a turnout P 1 into a P 1 -pre-turnout zone, a P 1 -turnout movable zone, a P 1 -forward side defense zone, a P 1 -reverse side defense zone, a P 1 -forward post-turnout zone, and a P 1 -reverse post-turnout zone.

As a preferred technical solution, the subdivided resources are specifically managed as follows:

a) each subdivided zone is the smallest unit for train occupancy and clearance, can be occupied by one train each time, and can be occupied by another train after train clearance; b) the P 1 -forward side defense zone and the P 1 -reverse side defense zone are mutually exclusive in terms of occupancy, and only one of the two can be occupied each time; and c) the P 1 -turnout movable zone can be unlocked by a train originally applying for locking and can be applied and operated by an additional train, as long as the P 1 -turnout movable zone is not occupied.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling the train operation control system based on train-ground coordination as defined. The method includes the following steps:

1) first, managing, by the RMU for the ground train control equipment, the line resources and the turnout resources by section; 2) then, performing communication between on-board CC of adjacent trains, and performing fine management on resources in a section to implement resource sharing between the trains; and 3) finally, actively performing train control by the on-board CC according to the allocated resources to fulfill a train safety protection function and an automatic train driving function.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

1) the present invention realizes the full utilization of line resources, turnout resources and the like by performing hierarchical management and fine processing on the line resources and by sharing the resources based on train-to-train communication, which improves the passing capacity of lines while improving the utilization rate of resources; 2) the present invention reduces the time of information flow and system response on the basis of resource coordination based on train-to-train communication, autonomous train location and autonomous train control, which improves system effectiveness; 3) the resource management method based on train-ground coordination of the present invention simplifies the interface and communication between the trains and the ground train control equipment, which can reduce ground trackside equipment, making the system simpler; 4) the train-ground coordination of the present invention can maximize the compatibility with the existing train operation control methods to achieve the compatibility between the high-efficiency train control system based on train-to-train communication and existing control modes, and also supports a corresponding backup mode; and 5) the present invention has universality and is applicable to railway and urban rail transit, providing the foundation for a unified control method in the future.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an overall architecture of a train operation control system based on train-ground coordination according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of subdivided resources of a turnout P 1 according to the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing operation tracking of two trains according to the present invention.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the embodiments described are some instead of all of the embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments in the present invention, every other embodiment obtained by those of ordinary skills in the art without creative labor shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The train operation control system based on train-ground coordination includes the followings.

1. In this train operation control system, a resource management unit (RMU) for ground train control equipment and on-board train control equipment (CC) coordinatively complete resource management and implement train operation control. The resource management is divided into two levels. At a first level, the RMU is responsible for performing the resource management in the unit of section, and at a second level, a preceding train and a succeeding train interact with each other via direct train-to-train communication, such that finer resource sharing in a section is achieved between the trains.

2. The RMU is responsible for allocating and recovering line resources (which may be in the unit of track circuit or virtual track circuit) and turnout resources, and also for turnout locking and unlocking management.

The CC is responsible for applying, using, and releasing the line resources and the turnout resources, for locking and unlocking turnouts, and for performing train-to-train communication with the preceding and succeeding trains to implement resource sharing.

4. The resource sharing between the CC and the preceding and succeeding trains is completed by fine management of the lien resources and the turnout resources. With respect to section resources and the turnout resources, the preceding and succeeding trains directly perform position information interaction and mutual negotiation to subdivide an application range of the resources.

5. A train control method based on train-ground coordination is applicable to railway or urban rail transit, showing universality.

The structure and interface information of the train operation control system based on train-ground coordination are shown in FIG. 1 . The system includes a dispatching center, a resource management unit (RMU) for ground train control equipment, and on-board train control equipment (CC). The dispatching center is responsible for supervising and controlling train operation, and has functions such as train operation tracking, alarming and event reporting, operation plan adjusting, and operation controlling. The RMU is responsible for allocating and recovering line resources and turnout resources and for acquiring information from and driving trackside equipment. The CC is responsible for requesting and releasing the line resources according to a plan, communicating with adjacent trains for resource sharing, and actively performing train control according to the allocated resources to fulfill a train safety protection function and an automatic train driving function.

In the train operation control system based on grain-ground coordination, the management of turnout resources is fined (as shown in FIG. 2 ). The resources of a turnout P 1 into a P 1 -pre-turnout zone, a P 1 -turnout movable zone, a P 1 -forward side defense zone, a P 1 -reverse side defense zone, a P 1 -forward post-turnout zone, and a P 1 -reverse post-turnout zone. The subdivided resources are management under the following rules:

1) each subdivided zone is the smallest unit for train occupancy and clearance, can be occupied by one train each time, and can be occupied by another train after train clearance; 2) the P 1 -forward side defense zone and the P 1 -reverse side defense zone are mutually exclusive in terms of occupancy, and only one of the two can be occupied each time; and 3) the P 1 -turnout movable zone can be unlocked by a train originally applying for locking and can be applied and operated by an additional train, as long as the P 1 -turnout movable zone is not occupied.

Referring to FIG. 3 , it shows a practical application example, in which a train 1 reaches a trackway 3 via the turnout P 1 and stops, a train 2 passes a trackway I via the turnout P 1 , and a following distance between the two trains is short, possibly leading to moving block. The instantaneous situation in the figure is as follows: the train 1 has crossed the P 1 -reverse side defense zone and is heading to stop at the trackway 3 ; and the train 2 occupies track circuits J 1 and J 2 , the turnout P 1 has been locked at a normal position, a receiving route of the train 2 has been prepared, and the train 2 is planned to pass via the trackway I. In FIG. 3 , the resources of interest mainly include: G-J 1 , G-J 2 , G-P 1 , G-I and G- 3 .

Table 1 shows the examples of resource management in respective steps during the operation of the trains 1 and 2 . The main situation is as follows.

In step 1 , the train 1 is located on the track G-J 2 , with the turnout P 1 locked at a reverse position and a receiving signal X cleared; and the train 2 approaches a track G-J 1 .

In step 2 , the train 1 occupies G-J 2 and G-P 1 ; and the train 2 occupies the track G-J 1 .

In step 3 , the train 1 is cleared from the track G-J 2 and occupies G-P 1 to cross the movable zone of the turnout P 1 ; and the train 2 occupies the track circuits G-J 1 and G-J 2 .

In step 4 , the train 1 occupies G-P 1 to cross the reverse side defense region of the turnout P 1 ; and the train 2 occupies G-J 1 and G-J 2 , with its receiving signal X cleared.

In step 5 , the train 1 occupies G- 3 ; and the train 2 occupies G-J 2 and G-P 1 , as well as the normal position of the turnout P 1 .

The resource management in step 4 (as shown in FIG. 3 correspondingly) is described as follows.

A. Resource Management at RMU

The RMU maintains the allocation of the resources G-P 1 and G- 3 to on-board CC 1 , and maintains the allocation of G-J 1 and G-J 2 to the on-board CC 2 , and the on-board CC 1 maintains the allowance of sharing G-P 1 with the on-board CC 2 ; G-P 1 is occupied by the on-board CC 1 , and G-J 1 and G-J 2 are occupied by the on-board CC 2 ; and the turnout P 1 is locked at the normal position by the on-board CC 2 .

B. Resource Management at On-Board CC 1

The on-board CC 1 is cleared from the P 1 -reverse side defense zone, and occupies the P 1 -reverse post-turnout zone; the on-board CC 1 releases the P 1 -reverse side defense zone; and the on-board CC 1 allows sharing the track G-P 1 with the on-board CC 2 .

C. Resource Management at On-Board CC 2

The on-board CC 2 obtains the allocation of and occupies G-J 1 and G-J 2 , and obtains the allowance of sharing G-P 1 from the on-board CC 1 ; and the turnout P 1 is locked to the normal position by the RMU.

In the case of step 4 , the resource management at the RMU, on-board CC 1 , and on-board CC 2 is shown Table 2, Table 3, and Table 4.

Table 1 is a table showing the processing steps of resource management of the train operation control system based on train-ground coordination.

Table 2 is a resource management list of RMU.

Table 3 is a resource sharing list of CC 1 .

Table 4 is a resource sharing list of CC 2 .

Based on the analysis of resource management, the train operation control system based on train-ground coordination performs hierarchical management on the line resources and turnout resources. First, the RMU manages the line resources and turnout resources by section, adjacent trains then communicate with each other, and fine management is performed on resources in the section to achieve resource sharing between the trains, which makes the best of the line resources and turnout resources and improves the passing capacity of the lines.

The above description only provides the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. A variety of equivalent modifications or substitutions readily conceivable to a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subjected to the protection scope of the claims.