Method and system for monitoring a routing of guided vehicles at a node of a railway network

Abstract

The present invention concerns a system (150) and a method (200) for simultaneously monitoring temporally successive routes followed by guided vehicles (101) at a node N'v (111, 112) of a railway network (100), wherein said node N'v (110) comprises a railway infrastructure connecting different track sections (121-126) for creating, at said node N'v (111, 112), diverging routes for the guided vehicles (101) passing the node N'v (111, 112) of the railway network (100), said method (200) comprising: - acquiring (201) a timetable for said guided vehicles (101), said timetable comprising departure and / or arrival times of the guided vehicles (101) at reference positions R'u (131-133) of said railway network (100) and enabling to determine, for each guided vehicle (101), a corresponding route on said railway network (100), and passing time at each node N'v (111-112) comprised within said route; - acquiring (202) a map (300) of said railway network (100), said map (300) comprising map line segments Si (321-326) - called hereafter "MLS" - representing the track sections (121-126) of the railway network (100) and map node positions Nv (311, 312) corresponding each to a respective node N'v (111, 112) of the railway network (100), wherein at each node position Nv (311, 312), at least three MLS are interconnected to represent an intersection of corresponding track sections (121-126) of the railway network (100); - for each node position Nv (311, 312), automatically determining (203), from the timetable and with respect to an initial time T0, the temporally successive X next paths (401-406) that are followed by guided vehicles (101) that will successively pass the node N'v (111, 112), wherein each of said X paths is defined as a couple of MLS (321-326) connecting at the node position Nv (311,312); - automatically representing (204) said X paths (401-406) simultaneously on the map (300) for each node position Nv; - displaying (205) the map comprising said X paths.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention concerns the monitoring of traffic of guided vehicles over a railway network. By "guided vehicle", it has to be understood any rail transport means configured for moving on tracks of a railway network, said guided vehicle typically running on at least one rail configured for supporting one or several wheels of said guided vehicle or using at least one rail as guiding means for guiding the guided vehicle along a trajectory defined by said rail. Said rail transport means are for instance public transport means like subways, trains or train units, etc., as well as load transporting means such as, for example, freight trains, for which safety is a very important factor.Background Art

[0002] The traffic of guided vehicles over a railway network is usually monitored via maps representing current routes followed by guided vehicles. Said routes are based on a timetable which defines, for each guided vehicle moving on the railway network, arrival and / or departure times at reference positions. The latter comprise for instance the position of a station, and / or of a depot, and / or of a platform, and / or of a headshunt, and / or of a point, and / or of an entry on a given track section, and / or of an exit from a given track section, etc. Current solutions for mapping the routes or paths followed by guided vehicles are not ideal. For instance, no solution provides a clear and understandable monitoring of temporally successive routes that are followed at a node of the railway network. A "node" is typically a position or location within the railway network that comprises a railway infrastructure connecting different track sections for creating, at said position or location, diverging routes for the guided vehicles. In other words, a node comprises or is thus an intersection of tracks of the railway network. Said railway infrastructure is for instance a switch, or a junction, or a crossing, or any railway infrastructure enabling several routes to intersect at the node position, defining several possible routes for a guided vehicle that has to pass the node. At a node, there are at least two different routes that are possible for passing the node. In state-of-the-art railway network traffic monitoring, there is usually only a current route that is shown for a given node and with respect to a guided vehicle moving at a time T0, while the temporally next routes that will be followed by guided vehicles at said node at times t > T0 are not available or not represented. This prevents an early and easy identification of locations, like a node, wherein a potentially conflictual situation may exist. Therefore, the monitoring of temporally successive routes followed by guided vehicles at a node of the railway network is important for determining which guided vehicle crosses first the node and for detecting potential conflictual situations.Summary of Invention

[0003] An objective of the present invention is to propose a method and a system for simultaneously monitoring temporally successive routes followed by guided vehicles at a node of a railway network, said method and system enabling an identification of an order according to which guided vehicles are going to pass a node, making it possible, for instance, to detect, notably visually, potentially conflicting situations.

[0004] This objective is achieved by the measures taken in accordance with the independent claims. Further advantageous embodiments are proposed by the dependent claims.

[0005] More precisely, the present invention concerns a method for simultaneously monitoring or representing temporally successive routes followed by guided vehicles at a node of a railway network, wherein each node N' v of the railway network comprises a railway infrastructure connecting different track sections for creating, at said node N' v , diverging routes (i.e. an intersection of routes) for the guided vehicles passing the node N' v , said railway infrastructure being for instance a switch, or junction, or crossing, and enabling thus several guided vehicle routes to intersect at said node N' v , the method according to the invention comprising: acquiring a timetable for said guided vehicles, said timetable comprising departure and / or arrival times of the guided vehicles at reference positions R' u of said railway network and enabling to determine, for each guided vehicle, a corresponding route on said railway network and a passing time at each node N' v comprised within said route, wherein said route is notably defined as a temporal succession of reference positions; acquiring a map of said railway network, said map comprising map line segments S i - called hereafter "MLS" - representing the track sections of the railway network, map node positions N v corresponding each to a respective node N' v of the railway network and representing, on the map, the position of the node N' v with respect to the railway network, and, optionally, map reference positions R u corresponding each to a respective reference position R' u and representing, on the map, the position of R' u within the railway network, wherein, at each node position N v , at least three MLS S i are interconnected or connected to represent an intersection or connection of corresponding track sections of the railway network. According to the present notation, the indices "i", "j", "k", "u" and "v" represent positive integers used for identifying on the map ∘ the different MLS (indices i, j, k), ∘ reference positions R' u and their respective map reference position R u (index u), and, ∘ the nodes N' v and their respective node positions N v (index v); for each node position N v , automatically determining, e.g. periodically or continuously, from the timetable and with respect to an initial time T0, the temporally successive X next paths that are or will be followed by guided vehicles that will successively pass the node N' v from the initial time T0, wherein X is a positive integer strictly greater than 1 representing the number of said successive next paths that are automatically determined, e.g. X = 3 or 4 or 5, said temporally successive X next paths forming a group or set of X paths, wherein said X paths are preferentially temporally ordered in said group according to the corresponding guided vehicle passing time at the node for each of said X next paths (e.g. the first position in the group is assigned to the path characterized by the earliest passing time and the last position to the path characterized by the latest passing time, other paths being arranged in between according to increasing passing time), wherein each of said X paths is defined as a couple (S i ,S j ) of MLS S i , S j , that connect or intersect at the node position N v , with i ≠ j (i.e. it connects two different MLS among the MLS that interconnect at the node position N v ); automatically representing said X next paths simultaneously on the map for at least one, preferentially each, node position N v , wherein the temporal succession of said X next paths at the concerned node position N v is encoded in a distance separating the considered next path from at least one of said MLS. Said representation might be a dynamic representation, e.g. by periodically or respectively continuously updating the map in function of the time according to the periodically or respectively continuously determined temporally successive X next paths for times greater or smaller than T0; displaying the map comprising said X next paths. For instance, the X next paths might be displayed on said map for said at least one node position N v , or preferentially the X next paths determined for each node position N v is displayed on said map.

[0006] The present invention concerns also a system for simultaneously monitoring or representing, on a railway network map, temporally successive routes followed by guided vehicles at a node of a railway network, wherein each node N' v of the railway network comprises a railway infrastructure connecting different track sections for creating, at said node N' v , diverging routes (i.e. an intersection of routes) for the guided vehicles passing the node N' v of the railway network, said railway infrastructure being for instance a switch, or junction, or crossing, that enables several routes to intersect at said node N' v , said system comprising a processor, a memory and / or database, and a device, like a display or screen, for visually representing said map of said railway network, said system being configured for performing the steps of the method described herewith, which can typically be a computer-implemented method. In particular, the system may comprise an input interface for receiving as input said timetable and said map of the railway network, and an output interface for outputting said map comprising, for each node position of the map, the X next paths simultaneously represented on the map.Description of Embodiments

[0007] The method and the system previously described enable notably to visually identify, on the map, and without any doubts, an order according to which guided vehicles are going to pass a node of the railway network. Advantageously, the mapping of the railway network traffic according to the invention enables an operator to quickly visualize, on said map, a location of a potential conflictual situation. In particular, the system and method described therein are able to automatically detect whether a conflictual situation may happen with respect to a passing order of guided vehicles at a node N' v , and may preferentially automatically alert an operator, by providing for instance a visual alert on the map (using for instance a special color, or a flashing light for the node position for which said conflictual situation has been detected). Therefore, the system and method may detect an inconsistency in the order of guided vehicles passing a node, which enables to correct said inconsistency, notably before it happens in the reality, given that the map may show the next X paths with respect to a time T0, which might be a current time or a time in the future, or any other time for the purpose of analysis of the guided vehicle traffic on the railway network.

[0008] Preferentially, the next X paths (S i ,S j ) are each represented as a succession of path line segments - hereafter PLS -, said succession of PLS comprising, for each of said X paths (S i ,S j ), a main PLS S M,i parallel to S i , a main PLS S M',j parallel to S j , and one or several connection points for connecting S M,i to S M',j , with M,M' ∈ {1,... ,X}, i.e. 1 ≤ M ≤ X and 1 ≤ M' ≤ X, wherein M,M' are positive integers. According to said representation, S M,i is preferentially disjoint from S i , and S M',j is preferentially disjoint from S j . Whatever the index k, i.e. ∀k, if the group formed by said X paths comprises a same MLS S k that appears in several paths of said group, then its corresponding main PLS S M,k are represented according to the closest the main PLS S M,k to the MLS S k , the temporally earliest with respect to the temporal succession of said X paths at the node N' v . As explained earlier, i,j,k are positive integers used for identifying the different MLS that interconnect at a node position. For instance, if i=1, j=2, and k=3 for a given node position, then the MLS are S 1 , S 2 , S 3 , and couples of MLS can be (S 1 ,S 2 ) or (S 2 ,S 1 ) or (S 2 ,S 3 ), or any other combination of two different of said MLS. Preferentially, said corresponding main PLS S M,k are represented below the MLS S k when considering a map wherein a horizontal direction is chosen as a main direction for representing the railway network. Preferentially, all X next paths of the map are represented below the map line segments of the map. Of course, other representations of the paths, like for instance with the corresponding main PLS S M,k represented above the MLS S k and accordingly all paths represented above MLS on said map, might be chosen by the skilled person. Preferentially, the respective main PLS S M,k that are parallel to a same MLS S k are separated from each other by a distance D that might be predefined and constant. In particular, said automatic detection of a conflictual situation at a node might be realized by the system by identifying a connection problem between one of said X next paths defined for the node position N v and at least another path that is part of another group of X next paths defined for another node position, and / or between different PLS at a node position, notably when automatically constructing said X next paths on the map. Said conflictual situation might be then visually represented on the map for alerting an operator. In particular, the system is configured for automatically checking, for each node position N v , whether a temporal order according to which guided vehicles are reaching (i.e. are going to pass) the node and a temporal order according to which said guided vehicles are leaving the node position N v (i.e. just after having passed the node) are identical, and if it is not the case, the system is configured for automatically generating an alert. In other words, the system according to the invention is configured for automatically controlling that the order of the guided vehicles at the "entrance" of the node (i.e. according to which they are temporally entering the node one after the other) is the same as the temporal order of said guided vehicles at the "exit" of the node.

[0009] Preferentially, each connection point is located on an intersection between a first line and a second line, wherein the first line is parallel to one of the MLS connecting at the node position N v and the second line is parallel to another one of the MLS connecting at said node position N v . Preferentially, if one of said X next paths is (S i ,S j ), then at least one among said first line and said second line is parallel to either to S i or S j , and, preferentially, the other one among said first line and said second line is then parallel either to S j or S i respectively.

[0010] In particular, if among the MLS connecting at the node position N v there are more than one MLS that are part of several paths among all possible paths that can be implemented (i.e. technically realized or followed by the guided vehicles) at the node N' v , then, for said node N' v , and for each of the X paths of the group, the position on said map of said one or several connection points of the PLS representing the concerned path is configured for encoding, with respect to the position of the one or several connection points of the PLS representing the other one(s) of said X paths at the node position N v , and notably relatively to the node position N v on said map, said temporal succession (i.e. a temporal order) of guided vehicles passing the node N' v by temporally ordering, notably within an area surrounding the node position N v , the path line segments of each of said X paths according to the path line segment the closest to the node position N v , the temporally earliest. In particular, it is considered that in said area surrounding the node position N v , no guided vehicle may pass another guided vehicle.

[0011] Preferentially, said encoding is obtained by aligning at least one connection point of each of the X paths on a temporal encoding line passing by the node position N v and disjoint from any of the MLS S k intersecting at the node position N v , wherein said temporal encoding line is preferentially a bisector of the angle made by two of the MLS S i S j at the node position N v .

[0012] Preferentially, the system according to the invention uses a reference grid of equidistant points (resp. lines) for representing said X paths on the map, wherein for each node position N v , one or several versions of said reference grid are used, wherein each of said versions is an identical copy of the reference grid, but with an orientation configured for having said points (resp. lines) being aligned with one of the MLS intersecting at the node position so that each MLS intersecting at the node position be parallel to points (resp. lines) of at least one of said reference grid versions, and wherein each of said X paths is constructed by connecting points of said grid versions (or resp. points that are each on one of said equidistant lines of at least one of said grid versions).

[0013] In particular, the system according to the invention is configured for storing in a database, types of nodes, and for each type of node, further storing all combinations of X temporally successive paths that can be successively followed by a guided vehicle at a node of said type, and, for each of said combination, storing a representation of said X paths. Said representation is typically configured for being displayed on said map of the railway network. Storing all said representations of X paths enables the system to rapidly respond to timetable changes by automatically updating the map according to changes that occurred with respect to the different paths represented on said map.

[0014] In particular, "automatically representing said X paths" may comprise automatically determining, by the system according to the invention, a type of node corresponding to the node position N v , automatically selecting, by the system according to the invention and among the stored combinations, the combination matching the determined X next paths, and using, by the system according to the invention, the representation associated to the matching combination for representing said X next paths on the map. Preferentially, the system according to the invention may store in said database, and for each type of node, all possible paths that can be implemented at a node of said type, wherein each type of node is defined in function of said railway infrastructure equipping the concerned node. Preferentially, the method further comprises assigning, by the system according to the invention, to each node position N v of the map a type of node in function of the railway infrastructure equipping the node N' v . In particular, said "all combinations of X temporally successive paths" is automatically determined by the system, for each type of node and based on said all possible paths defined for the concerned type of node, and is then automatically stored in the database.

[0015] Preferentially, the system is configured for repeating said determination of the temporally successive X next paths with respect to other times (typically, future times with respect to T0) for creating a dynamic representation of the map in function of the time, wherein said map is (e.g. continuously or periodically) updated with successive representations of the X next paths.Brief Description of the Drawing

[0016] Further aspects of the present invention will be better understood through the following drawings, wherein like numbers designate like objects: Fig. 1schematic illustration of a railway network according to the invention. Fig. 2flowchart of a preferred embodiment of a method according to the invention. Fig. 3schematic illustration of a map according to the invention. Fig. 4schematic illustration of said map comprising additionally 3 temporally successive next paths represented for each node. Fig. 5schematic illustration of a grid according to the invention. Fig. 6schematic illustration of a construction of temporally successive next paths. Fig. 7schematic illustration of a map comprising 3 temporally successive next paths forming itineraries for guided vehicles. Description of Examples

[0017] Figure 1 presents a schematic illustration of a railway network 100 according to the invention. Said railway network 100 comprises tracks or track sections 121-126 interconnected with each other at nodes 111,112 to form a network. A node according to the invention might be a switch, or a crossing, or any other railway infrastructure that interconnects at least three track sections, creating therefore different possible routes for a guided vehicle 101, i.e. diverging routes. Said guided vehicle 101 might be any rail vehicle, like a train, or metro, or any other vehicle configured for moving on the tracks of said railway network 100. Said guided vehicles may therefore follow different routes at said nodes 111, 112, depending on an itinerary defined in a timetable. In particular, said timetable comprises, for reference positions R' u 131-133 of the railway network, with u=1,...3 in the example illustrated by Fig. 1, departure and / or arrival times, or passing times, for the guided vehicle with respect to the concerned reference position 131-133. Said reference positions R' u 131-133 are for instance stations, or depot, or any other relevant position within the railway network 100, notably a position wherein a guided vehicle may cross or pass another guided vehicle. In particular, each guided vehicle route or itinerary might be defined as a temporal succession of said reference positions 131-133.

[0018] A system 150 is configured for receiving, as input, said timetable as well as a map of the railway network 100, and for determining, from said input, temporal successive routes that are followed by the guided vehicles 101 at said nodes, wherein the system is configured for simultaneously monitoring and / or representing, notably in function of the time, said temporally successive routes at the nodes of the railway network 100. The system 150 comprises a processor 151, a memory and / or database 152, and a device 153, e.g. a screen or display, for visually representing said map of said railway network 100, wherein for each node, the different routes that are successively followed by guided vehicles at said node are simultaneously represented on said map, providing therefore not only a visual representation of a route followed by a first guided vehicle passing the node at a time T node , but also, at the same time, at least one another route, that is the route followed by a next guided vehicle passing said node at a time T' node > T node . This enables to provide, at an initial time T0 that is the time at which a "picture" of the railway network is taken (at said time T0, said picture shows all future routes (i.e. remaining partial or complete itinerary of a guided vehicle when considering times > T0) of the guided vehicles of the railway network), a view of the next itineraries or routes that will be followed by guided vehicles at the different nodes of the railway network. As it will be explained afterwards, the present invention enables to simultaneously represent, for a same node, several next routes in an understandable way for an operator by visually encoding a temporal succession of said next routes with respect to at least one of the MLS, preferentially all MLS, by notably encoding said temporal succession with respect to the intersection of said MLS, i.e. the node position, enabling an early detection of any temporal ordering of guided vehicles having to pass a same node.

[0019] This will be better understood with the help of Figure 2 together with the illustrations of Fig. 3-6, wherein Figure 2 shows a preferred embodiment of a method 200 according to the invention.

[0020] At step 201, the system 150 receives or acquires a timetable for the guided vehicles of the railway network. In particular, said timetable associates to different reference positions of the railway network, either said crossing time indicating at what time the guided vehicle (e.g. the front of the guided vehicle) crosses the reference position, or an arrival time and a departure time indicating the time at which the guided vehicle (e.g. its front) reaches the reference position, and the time at which it leaves (e.g. its front) said reference position.

[0021] At step 202, which can take place before, after, or simultaneously to step 201, the system 150 acquires or receives a map of said railway network 100. Said map enables the system 150 to determine the position of the different tracks, reference positions, node positions, etc., of the railway network 100 relatively to each other, and thus to determine the different routes followed by the guided vehicles according to said timetable. Such a map 300 is schematically illustrated at Fig. 3 and is known in the art in the field of railway. It comprises for instance MLS S 1 -S 6 321-326 that represent the track sections 121-126 (also simply called tracks) of the railway network 100, map node position N 1 311 that corresponds to the node 111 of the railway network 100 and another map node position N 2 312 that correspond to another node 112 of said railway network 100, each node N' v of the railway network being thus represented, on the map 300, by a corresponding map node position N v , with v=1,2 in the illustration of Figure 3. The map 300 may further comprise map reference positions R u 331-333, with u=1,...,3 in the example illustrated by Figure 3, wherein each map reference position R u corresponds to a respective reference position R' u 131-133 of the railway network 100 as shown in Fig. 1. At each node position N v 311, 312, at least three MLS S i are interconnected with each other for creating an intersection that represents the intersection of corresponding track sections 121-126 of the railway network at the node N' v . Preferentially, the map 300 is free of any right angle between MLS intersecting at node positions N v . For instance, if the map 300 has, as main direction for the representation of the MLS (i.e. most of the MPS are aligned with said main direction) a horizontal direction, then there is no vertical MLS.

[0022] At step 203, the system 150 automatically determines, for each node position N v of the map 300 and from the timetable, the temporally successive X next paths that are followed by guided vehicles 101 that will successively pass the node N' v from an initial time T0. Said initial time T0 might be a current time (i.e. the time at which said determination takes place), or a future time, or a past time, or any time: it can be used for instance, by the system according to the invention, for testing a new timetable or for testing a change in a timetable, or for testing a past timetable, by running the method according to the invention, and enabling therefore to verify whether conflictual situations might happen at some nodes within a time frame starting at the initial time T0. Figure 4 presents an example, wherein the temporally successive 3 next paths are determined by the system 150 and represented on the map 300. Whatever the number X of said next paths is determined, each of said X paths is defined as a couple (S i ,S j ) of MLS. For example, for the node position N 1 311, the 3 temporally successive next paths are (S 3 ,S 4 ), (S 2 ,S 4 ), (S 2 ,S 1 ). For the node position N 2 , the 3 temporally successive next paths are (S 6 ,S 5 ), (S 4 ,S 5 ), (S 6 ,S 5 ). For each node position N v , a set or group G v of the temporally successive X next paths might be created by the system, with G v ={(S i ,S j )}, wherein within said group, the X paths might be preferentially ordered according to a guided vehicle passing time of the node (e.g. by increasing passing time with respect to T0) when following the considered path. Otherwise said, they are preferentially ordered according to a temporal order according to which the guided vehicles pass the node. We have for instance G 1 ={(S 3 ,S 4 ), (S 2 ,S 4 ),(S 2 ,S 1 )} and G 2 ={(S 6 ,S 5 ), (S 4 ,S 5 ),(S 6 ,S 5 )}. Preferentially, for each defined path, (S i ,S j )=(S j ,S i ), i.e. the direction of travel of the guided vehicle when passing the node is not relevant and not taken into account by the system according to the invention for the map representation purpose of the path.

[0023] At step 204, the system 150 automatically represents on the map 300, and for each node position N v , said X next paths that have been determined for the concerned node. Said X next paths are simultaneously represented on the map 300, as shown in Fig. 4, providing therefore a visual understanding of the temporal passing order of the guided vehicles at each node N' v of the railway network for an operator. Preferentially, said representation of the X next paths is continuously updated or periodically updated for different times, creating therefore a dynamic map 300 which continuously or periodically shows the next X paths for each node position of the map.

[0024] At step 205, the system 150 displays the map 300 comprising, for each node N v , said representation of the X temporally successive next paths that are followed by guided vehicles. Typically, the map 300 might be displayed by the system 150 on one or several screens.

[0025] A typical result of such representation is shown in Fig. 4, wherein for the node position N 1 , the first path that is followed by a guided vehicle passing the node N' 1 is the path (S 3 ,S 4 ) represented by a dash-dot line 402, then the path (S 2 ,S 4 ) represented by a dash-dash-dot-dot-dot line 404, and finally the path (S 2 ,S 1 ) represented by a dash-dash-dot line 405. For the node position N 2 , the first path followed by a guided vehicle passing the node N' 2 is (S 6 ,S 5 ) represented by a dashed line 401, followed by (S 4 ,S 5 ) represented by a dash-dot line 402, and finally followed by the path (S 6 ,S 5 ) represented by a dash-dot-dot line 403.

[0026] For achieving such a representation as illustrated in Fig. 4, the system 150 is configured for representing each path (S i ,S j ) as a succession of PLS comprising a main PLS S M,i parallel to S i (but disjoint from the latter), a main PLS S M',j parallel to S j (but disjoint from the latter), and one or several connection points for connecting S M,i to S M',j . This is better illustrated in Fig. 6, wherein three MLS, namely S 1 , S 2 , and S 3 intersect at a node position N 1 . For the node N' 1 , the system 150 has determined the three temporally successive next paths, which are given by the group G 1 ={(S 1 ,S 2 ),(S 1 ,S 3 ),(S 1 ,S 2 )}, wherein the paths are temporally ordered according to increasing guided vehicle passing time at the node N' 1 . Of course, this is optional. In particular, the system 150 is configured for automatically encoding the temporal succession of the paths on the map 300 (i) in a distance separating the concerned path from at least one MLS, and, (ii) at nodes and preferentially, in a distance separating the concerned path from the intersection of all MLS intersecting at the concerned node, i.e. in a distance separating the concerned path from the node position N v . Typically, this encoding is based on a distance separating the path from the MLS for parts where said path is parallel to the MLS (typically outside of a so-called node position surrounding area). Preferentially, within said area surrounding the node position, said encoding is based on a centripetal distance (i.e. measured in a direction toward the node position taken as a center) separating said path from the node position. This is schematically illustrated by the three concentric circles 610, 611, 612 of Fig. 6 that surround the node position N 1 and which temporally rule the succession of the paths for the node position N 1 . The largest circle 612 typically defines such a surrounding area, wherein outside of said surrounding area, said temporal succession is encoded by a distance separating the concerned path from the MLS to which it is parallel, said distance being measured perpendicularly to the MLS, while within the node position surrounding area, said encoding is preferentially based on a centripetal distance with respect to the node position. In particular, the system is then configured for constructing each path while satisfying guided vehicle temporal succession encoding rules that ensure that everywhere on the map where there might be an ambiguity with respect to the order of guided vehicles passing a node or moving on a track section, then the respective distances separating the concerned X next paths from at least one of the MLS encode the passing order of the guided vehicles.

[0027] For instance, the first path (S 1 ,S 2 ) comprises a main PLS S 1,1 parallel to S 1 , a main PLS S 1,2 parallel to S 2 , and one connection point, wherein, in Fig. 6, connection points are each schematically represented by a square. The second path (S 1 ,S 3 ) comprises a main PLS S 2,1 parallel to S 1 , a main PLS S 1,3 parallel to S 3 , and two connection points. The third path (S 1 ,S 2 ) comprises also a main PLS S 3,1 parallel to S 1 , a main PLS S 2,2 parallel to S 2 , and two connection points. The system 150 is configured for representing the main PLS that are parallel to a same MLS according to the closest the main PLS S M,k to the MLS S k , the temporally earliest with respect to the passing time of the guided vehicle. This means that for the MLS S 1 , the path comprising the main PLS S 1,1 is the temporally first to be followed by a guided vehicle, then the path comprising the main PLS S 2,1 , and finally the path comprising the PLS S 3,1 . The same applies mutatis mutandis to the other MLS S 2 , and S 3 . In particular, the PLS that are parallel to a same MLS are separated from each other by a distance D, which is preferentially the same everywhere on the map.

[0028] Then, the system 150 preferentially creates or defines, notably automatically, each connection point as an intersection between a first line and a second line, wherein the first line is parallel to one of the MLS connecting at the node position N v and the second line is parallel to another one of the MLS connecting at said node position N v . Preferentially, said creation or definition of the connection point is configured for satisfying said encoding of the temporal succession of the paths with respect to the centripetal distance separating the path, and thus, of the connection point from the node position. Preferentially, for a path (S i ,S j ), at least one among said first line and said second line is parallel to either S i or respectively S j , and, preferentially, is a line aligned with S i , or respectively S j . In other words, and preferentially, said first line comprises the main PLS S M,i and / or said second line comprises said main PLS S M',i . This is better illustrated in Fig. 6, wherein for the representation of the path (S 1 ,S 2 ), the connection point is defined at the intersection of a first line that corresponds to an extension of the main PLS S 1,1 towards the node position N 1 and of a second line that corresponds to an extension of the main PLS S 1,2 towards said node N 1 . Said visual encoding, for each node position N v , of the temporal succession of the paths followed by guided vehicles passing the node N' v enables an operator to have a direct understanding of the temporal succession of said paths at a single glance to the map.

[0029] Preferentially, the system 150 is configured for performing said encoding only for node positions N v for which there are more than one MLS that are part of several paths among all possible paths that can be realized at the node N' v . This if for instance the case for the node position N 1 of Fig. 4, wherein the set of all possible paths is given by S paths ={(S 2 ,S 4 ),(S 2 ,S 1 ) (S 3 ,S 4 ) (S 3 ,S 1 )} and comprises thus more than one MLS, e.g. S 1 and S 2 , that are part of several paths. This is not the case for the node position N 2 , wherein only S 5 is part of several paths among all possible paths that can be realized at the node N' 5 . This means that the temporal succession of the paths with respect to S 6 and S 4 is ruled or constraint by the temporal succession of the paths with respect to S 5 , and therefore, a temporal encoding is not mandatory (i.e. for this node position, there is no ambiguity in the temporal order of the X next paths), but of course, such temporal encoding might be used for providing a clearer view of the succession of the paths.

[0030] For the node N 1 of Fig. 4, the temporal encoding is required and automatically applied by the system (e.g. by applying said guided vehicle temporal succession encoding rules) for distinguishing for instance whether the path (S 1 ,S 2 ) temporally takes place before or after the path (S 4 ,S 3 ). Preferentially, rules may require aligning at least one connection point of each of the three paths surrounding the node position N 1 on a temporal encoding line 410 passing by the node position N 1 for encoding said temporal succession. Said alignment on such a temporal encoding line 410 preferentially applies to each node, as shown also in Fig 6. Said rules according to the invention might be stored in a memory of the system 150.

[0031] Preferentially, each main PLS S M,k comprises an extremity extending (parallel to S k ) in direction of the node position N v and ending at a predefined distance (defined for instance by a boundary of said area surrounding the node position N v ) from said node position N v with an ending point C M,k (defined for instance as the intersection of S M,k with said boundary). This is illustrated in Fig. 6, wherein, instead of the largest circle 612, another area A (see the dotted line) surrounding the node position N 1 is automatically defined by the system, resulting in the different ending points C 1,1 , C 2,1 , C 3,1 , C 1,2 , C 2,2 , C 3,2 C 1,3 , C 2,3 , C 3,3 . The system 150 is then configured for automatically creating a path (S i ,S j ) on the map 300 by connecting the ending point C M,i to the ending point C M',j via the one or several connection points.

[0032] In particular, for each node position N v , if the number of MLS intersecting at said node position N v is P and P is even, then P / 2 couples of MLS have their MLS aligned with one another (i.e. for each couple, the MLS forming said couple are aligned with each other), otherwise, if P is odd, then (P-1) / 2 couples of MLS have their MLS aligned with one another (i.e. if there is an even number of MLS intersecting at the node position N v , then each MLS is aligned with another MLS (creating therefore P / 2 intersecting lines); If there is an odd number of MLS intersecting at the node position N v , then among the (P-1) MLS, each is aligned with another MLS at said node position N v ).

[0033] Preferentially, the system 150 uses a reference grid 500 of equidistant points 501, or of equidistant lines that are parallel to each other, for representing all MLS of the map, and preferentially, for the construction of all PLS of the map 300. The alignment of said points 501 forms lines that are parallel and that form the lines of the grid. Said reference grid 500 is preferentially a two-dimensional (2D) Cartesian grid. Such a reference grid 500 is illustrated in Fig. 5 and is used by the system 150 for creating the representation of the temporal succession of paths is illustrated in Fig. 6, wherein for each node position N v , one or several versions 510, 520, 530 of said reference grid 500 are shown. Each of said versions 510, 520, 530 is an identical copy of the reference grid 500, but with an orientation automatically selected by the system and configured for aligning the equidistant points (resp. lines) parallel with one of the MLS intersecting at the node position so that each MLS intersecting at the node position be parallel to points (resp. lines) of at least one of said reference grid versions 510, 520, 530. For enabling a better distinction between the different reference grid versions 510, 520, 530 of Fig. 6, the points of each reference grid version have been represented with a different shape, namely a square for the reference grid version 510 that is aligned with the MLS S 1 , a triangle for the reference grid version 530 that is aligned with the MLS S 3 , and a disk for the reference grid version 520 aligned with the MLS S 2 . As illustrated by Fig. 6, each of said reference grid versions comprises one of its points coinciding with the node position N v , namely N 1 in Fig. 6, and is aligned with (i.e. has its points (resp. lines) aligned with or parallel to) at least one of the MLS intersecting at the node N v . Each MLS S i extends thus parallel to the points (resp. lines) of one of said versions of the reference grid. In other words, for each node position N v , the system 150 is configured for making a point of the reference grid 500 coinciding with the node position N v , then for rotating the reference grid 500 around the node position N v (that is taken as rotation center) in order to create a respective reference grid version for each of the MLS intersecting at said node position N v , so that each MLS intersecting at said node position N v be parallel to the points (resp. lines) of at least one of said reference grid versions.

[0034] Preferentially, the system 150 is configured for automatically constructing or creating each path of the map. In particular, it automatically creates, for each MLS S i , X main PLS S M,i that are each parallel to S i , disjoint, located on a same side of S i , and preferentially each aligned with a series of points (resp. lines) of the reference grid version whose points (resp. lines) are parallel to S i . Then, for each of the X paths (S i ,S j ) determined for the node position N v , the system automatically connects the corresponding main PLS S M,i extremity that extends towards the node position N v to the main PLS S M',j extremity that extends toward said node position N v . For this purpose, connection points are automatically created that satisfy the guided vehicle temporal succession encoding rules, and line segments passing by said connection points and connecting the respective extremities of S M,i and S M',j are traced for creating a continuous path made of line segments from S M,i to S M',j . The respective other extremities of said main PLS S M,i and S M',j , i.e. the extremity that extends away from the node position N v , is then connected to the extremity of another PLS depending on the complete path that is defined for the guided vehicle at said initial time T0. Indeed, said complete path at the initial time T0 is the itinerary that is followed by a guided vehicle, indicating all next positions (e.g. node positions, reference positions) that will be passed by the guided vehicle, and might be defined as a succession of paths (S i ,S j ), e.g. "itinerary = (S 2 ,S 4 )-(S 4 ,S 1 )-(S 1 ,S 8 )-(S 8 ,S 14 )", wherein each path shall satisfy said guided vehicle temporal succession encoding rules. For a same itinerary, as soon as one of its paths is not part of the X next paths that have been determined by the system, then the itinerary stops and is not further shown on the map 300. It preferentially stops at the intersection of two lines, each one of a different grid. By this way, the system 150 is thus capable of automatically constructing guided vehicle paths on said map by connecting, between them, the different main PLS that are part of the paths of a same itinerary, so as to create a continuous route representing said itinerary. As explained, each main PLS S M,i is in particular aligned with the points (resp. lines) of the reference grid version that is aligned with S i , comprising for instance one or several of said reference grid version points. Preferentially, the distance between the equidistant points (resp. lines) of the reference grid is D. Preferentially, with respect to a node position N v , the first line is a line passing through the points of one of said reference grid versions (resp. is a line of one of said reference grid versions) used for said node position N v and the second line is a line passing through the points of another one of said reference grid versions (resp. is a line of another one of said reference grid versions) used for said node position N v . This enables notably the system 150 to encode coordinates of each connection point in a coordinate system based on the reference grid versions used for a node positions N v , wherein the coordinate system unit is D, wherein the node position N v represents, for each grid version, an origin of the coordinate system. Thanks to such coordinate system, the position of each connection point is uniquely determined by the system 150 from the reference grid versions used at the node position N v . Preferentially, each connection point has a first coordinate that represents its distance, measured perpendicularly and in number of distance D (D being taken as the unit of the coordinate system), to one of the MLS intersecting at the node position N v (called the first coordinate MLS), and a second coordinate that represents its distance, measured perpendicularly and in number of distance D, to another one of the MLS intersecting at the node position N v (called the second coordinate MLS), wherein the first coordinate MLS is not aligned with the second coordinate MLS. We considered here that two reference grid versions are used for the coordinate system centered at each node position N v , reference grid versions that are aligned with one another being merged together, as it would be the case with the reference grid version 510 and 530 of Fig. 6. For instance, the coordinates of the connection points that are part of the path (S 1 , S 3 ) of Fig. 6 are, from the left to the right, (-2,-2), and (-1,-2). According to the present invention, the coordinates of a connection point represent therefore two distances, the first coordinate is the distance separating the connection point from one of the MLS and calculated with respect to the reference grid version parallel to said MLS, and a second coordinate that is the distance separating said connection point from another MLS and calculated with respect to the reference grid version parallel to said another MLS. This enables the system to encode the position of each connection point and to use it for representing each of the X paths.

[0035] Preferentially, at each node position N v and among all MLS intersecting at said node position N v , two MLS are aligned with each other, preferentially horizontally on the map, and called hereafter "the couple of straight MLS" (they represent typically the straight tracks in a railroad switch), and at least one other MLS makes a non-zero angle with said couple of straight MLS, and is called hereafter the "diverging" MLS (it represents typically the diverging track in said railroad switch). In particular, the system according to the invention preferentially uses a construction rule, wherein a reference axis, preferentially vertical on said map, is assigned by the system 150 to each node position N v , passing through the node position N v , and wherein none of the MLS is parallel to the reference axis. In particular, an orientation of said reference axis might be defined by an operator for visually encoding possible paths at each node position N v , wherein a guided vehicle can only move from a MLS to another MLS if they are located on either side of the reference axis. This means that a guided vehicle moving in direction of the node N' v on a track section represented by one of said MLS (called the "MLS A") intersecting at the node position N v cannot, after having reached the node N' v , continue its moving directly on another track section that is represented by another one of said MLS intersecting at the node position N v that is on the same side of the reference axis as the MLS A. The application, by the system, of said construction rule for monitoring the routing of guided vehicles at the different node positions of the map provides a direct visual understanding for an operator about the possible paths at a node position N v .

[0036] Preferentially, at each node position N v , there is at least one couple of straight MLS (i.e. that are aligned with each other), wherein said reference axis and said couple of straight MLS define, for said node position N v , four quadrants in the map, said four quadrants separating said area surrounding the node position N v in four parts. This enables a simple and clear representation of the map of the railway network together with the temporally successive X next paths at each node position.

[0037] As explained earlier, the system 150 is preferentially configured for connecting, based on the timetable, the X paths determined for a node position to the X paths determined for another node position, in order to create, on the map, a continuous path for one or several guided vehicles, wherein, for a given guided vehicle, its itinerary or route is continuous as long as the successive paths forming said itinerary are within the X next paths determined by the system. A result is illustrated in Fig. 7. In particular, for each node position, X main PLS S M,i are parallel to each MLS S i intersecting at said node position, but only the ending point C M,i that are part of one of the temporally successive X next paths are connected to a connection point, the other being free of any connection as shown for the main PLS S 3,2 , S 2,3 , and S 3,3 in Fig. 6, or as illustrated by the dotted lines 406 in Figure 4, or as represented in Fig. 7 for each itinerary that terminates in an area surrounding a node position. This means that the itinerary or continuous path of a guided vehicle might stop within the surrounding area of a given node position, because at said node position, its path is not anymore part of the X next paths determined by the system. By dynamically updating the map 300 for representing a new set of the temporally successive X next paths with respect to a time T1 > T0, part of said ending points that were free of connection will become connected to a respective other ending point, defining therefore new paths for the node positions, and changing the itineraries displayed on the map.

[0038] Preferentially, the system 150 is further configured for automatically identifying or detecting a connection problem when constructing the representation of the temporally successive X next paths for each node position and for automatically alerting, e.g. an operator, about a potential conflictual situation at the node position for which said connection problem has been detected. Typically, the system 150 may visually represent, on said map 300, a position of said conflictual situation by highlighting one or several main PLS for which a connection failed, or making them flashing for instance. This enables an operator to rapidly locate on the map 300 a problem with respect to the temporal succession of paths at a node position. In other words, the system is configured for automatically identifying, during the construction of said map, any node for which the construction of the X next paths fails, i.e. typically node positions for which a connection of connection points for creating one of said X next path breaks said guided vehicle temporal succession encoding rules. Preferentially, the system is configured for automatically highlighting, in the timetable, a time (e.g. departure and / or arrival time) and at least one guided vehicle that are at the origin of said breaking of the guided vehicle temporal succession encoding rules.

[0039] Preferentially, for each map 300 received as input, the system 150 is configured for assigning to each node position of the map 300 a type of node among predefined types of nodes stored in a database or memory of the system 150. For each type of nodes, it preferentially stores all combinations of X temporally successive paths, and for each combination, an associated representation of said X temporally successive paths. This enables the system to determine a single time all said combinations and associated representations for each type of node, and then to use said already determined representations for any new map and / or timetable received as input, making the system 150 very efficient for outputting a map comprising temporally successive X next paths. Indeed, from the timetable and the map received as input, the system 150 will search in its database, for each node position, the X next path representation that matches the temporal succession of X next paths determined from the timetable received as input and the node type corresponding to said node position.

[0040] To conclude, the present invention proposes a new system and method for monitoring a routing of guided vehicles at a node of a railway that enable to automatically and efficiently represent, on a map of said railway network, the temporally successive X next paths that are followed by guided vehicles at each node of the railway network. This highly improves the monitoring of guided vehicle traffic on a railway network.

Claims

1. Method (200) for simultaneously monitoring temporally successive routes followed by guided vehicles (101) at a node of a railway network (100), wherein each node N'v (111,112) comprises a railway infrastructure connecting different track sections (121-126) for creating, at said node N'v (111, 112), diverging routes for the guided vehicles (101) passing the node N'v (111, 112) of the railway network (100), said method (200) comprising: - acquiring (201) a timetable for said guided vehicles (101), said timetable comprising departure and / or arrival times of the guided vehicles (101) at reference positions R'u (131-133) of said railway network (100) and enabling to determine, for each guided vehicle (101), a corresponding route on said railway network (100), and a passing time at each node N'v (111-112) comprised within said route; - acquiring (202) a map (300) of said railway network (100), said map (300) comprising map line segments Si (321-326) - called hereafter "MLS" - representing the track sections (121-126) of the railway network (100) and map node positions Nv (311, 312) corresponding each to a respective node N'v (111, 112) of the railway network (100), wherein at each node position Nv (311, 312), at least three MLS are interconnected to represent an intersection of corresponding track sections (121-126) of the railway network (100); - for each node position Nv (311, 312), automatically determining (203), from the timetable and with respect to an initial time T0, the temporally successive X next paths (401-406) that are followed by guided vehicles (101) that will successively pass the node N'v (111, 112), wherein each of said X next paths is defined as a couple of MLS (321-326) connecting at the node position Nv (311,312); - automatically representing (204) said X next paths (401-406) simultaneously on the map (300) for at least one node position Nv, wherein a temporal succession of said X next paths at said node position Nv is encoded in a distance separating the considered next path from at least one of said MLS; - displaying (205) the map comprising said X next paths.

2. The method (200) according to claim 1, wherein each of said X next paths is defined as a couple (Si,Sj) of MLS Si, Sj, and the X next paths (401-406) are each represented as a succession of path line segments - hereafter PLS -, said succession of PLS comprising, for each of said X next paths (401-406), a main PLS SM,i parallel to Si, a main PLS SM',j parallel to Sj, and one or several connection points for connecting SM,i to SM',j, with M,M' ∈ {1,...,X}, and i,j are positive integers used for identifying the MLS interconnecting at the node position Nv, wherein if the group formed by said X next paths comprises a same MLS, called for convenience Sk, that appears in several paths of said group, then its corresponding main PLS SM,k are represented according to the closest the main PLS SM,k to the MLS Sk, the temporally earliest with respect to the temporal succession of said X next paths at the node N'v.

3. The method (200) according to claim 2, wherein each connection point is located on an intersection between a first line and a second line, wherein the first line is parallel to one of the MLS connecting at the node position Nv and the second line is parallel to another one of the MLS connecting at said node position Nv.

4. The method (200) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein, if among the MLS connecting at the node position Nv there are more than one MLS that are part of several paths among all possible paths that can be implemented at the node N'v, then, for said node N'v, and for each of the X next paths of the group, the position on said map of said one or several connection points of the PLS representing the concerned next path is configured for encoding, with respect to the position of the other one or several connection points of the PLS representing the other one(s) of said X next paths at the node position Nv, said temporal succession of guided vehicles passing the node N'v by temporally ordering the path line segments of each of said X next paths according to the path line segment the closest to the node position Nv, the temporally earliest.

5. The method (200) according to claim 4, wherein said encoding is obtained by aligning at least one connection point of each of the X next paths on a temporal encoding line (410) passing through the node position Nv and disjoint from any of the MLS intersecting at the node position Nv.

6. The method (200) according to one of the claims 1-5, comprising using a reference grid (500) of equidistant points (501) or lines for representing said X next paths on the map, wherein for each node position Nv, one or several versions (510, 520, 530) of said reference grid are used, wherein each of said versions is an identical copy of the reference grid, but oriented for having its points, resp. lines, being aligned with one of the MLS intersecting at the node position so that each MLS intersecting at the node position be parallel to points, resp. lines, of at least one of said reference grid versions (510, 520, 530), wherein each of said X paths is constructed by connecting points of said grid versions, resp. points that are each on a line of at least one of said grid versions.

7. The method (200) according to one of the claims 1-6, comprising storing in a database, types of nodes, and for each type of node, further storing all combinations of X temporally successive paths that can be successively followed by a guided vehicle at a node of said type, and, for each of said combination, storing a representation of said X next paths.

8. The method (200) according to claim 7, wherein "automatically representing said X next paths" comprises automatically determining a type of node corresponding to the node position Nv, automatically selecting, among the stored combinations, the combination matching the determined X next paths, and using the representation associated to the matching combination for representing said X next paths on the map (300).

9. The method (200) according to one of the claims 7 or 8, comprising storing in said database, and for each type of node, all possible paths that can be implemented at a node of said type, wherein each type of node is defined in function of said railway infrastructure equipping the concerned node, the method further comprising assigning to each node position Nv of the map (300) a type of node in function of the railway infrastructure equipping the node Nv.

10. The method (200) according to claim 9, wherein said all combinations of X temporally successive paths is automatically determined, for each type of node and based on said all possible paths defined for the concerned type of nodes, and is then automatically stored in the database.

11. The method (200) according to one of the claims 1-10, comprising repeating said determination of the temporally successive X next paths (401-406) with respect to other times for creating a dynamic representation of the map (300) in function of the time, wherein said map (300) is updated with successive representations of the X next paths.

12. The method (200) according to one of the claims 1-11, comprising automatically detecting a conflictual situation at a node by identifying a connection problem between one of said X next paths defined for the node position Nv and at least another path defined for another node position, and / or between different PLS at a node position, and for visually representing said conflictual situation.

13. System (150) for simultaneously monitoring temporally successive routes followed by guided vehicles (101) at a node of a railway network (100), wherein each node N'v (111,112) of the railway network comprises a railway infrastructure connecting different track sections (121-126) for creating, at said node N'v (111, 112), diverging routes for the guided vehicles (101) passing the node N'v (111, 112) of the railway network (100), said system (150) comprising a processor (151), a memory and / or database (152), and a device (153) for visually representing a map (300) of said railway network (100), said system (150) being configured for performing the steps of the method according to one of the claims 1-12.

14. The system (150) according to claim 13, wherein said memory comprises guided vehicle temporal succession encoding rules used by the system (150) for a construction of said X next paths that is configured for encoding a temporal succession of said X next paths in a distance separating the path from at least one of said MLS.

Images