Railway Diagnostic Event Logging and Synchronization
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Solution Overview
Problem
In railway shared resource systems, diagnostic events generated by local application devices (LADs) with smaller non-volatile memory are not reliably transferred to central intelligence devices (CIDs) with larger memory, risking loss of information during communication.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a superior system requesting and acknowledging diagnostic events from a subsystem, ensuring correct data transfer by retrying until acknowledgement is received, and optionally sending events as subsets to facilitate efficient communication, with error detection and countermeasures for corrupted memory.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If diagnostic events are transferred from LAD memory to CID memory, then diagnostic information completeness is improved, but data transfer reliability deteriorates due to potential loss during communication
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by first determining the number of stored events in the LAD before initiating the transfer process. The CID requests the count of stored events, and based on this information, the system prepares the transfer by establishing proper buffering and acknowledgment mechanisms in advance, ensuring that no events are lost during communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback through an acknowledgment mechanism where the CID sends acknowledgments back to the LAD to confirm successful reception of event data. The LAD continues transmitting events until it receives confirmation that the CID has successfully stored all events, ensuring reliable data transfer despite communication uncertainties.
2Productivity
If all stored events are transferred at once, then data synchronization speed is improved, but communication efficiency deteriorates due to potential retransmissions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the event transfer process into manageable portions. Instead of transferring all events in a single bulk operation, the system transfers events in sequences with acknowledgment points, allowing the communication to be resumed from the point of interruption if failures occur, thus improving overall efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial action by transferring events in controlled batches rather than attempting to transfer all events at once. The CID requests events in sequences and acknowledges receipt of each batch, allowing the system to balance between synchronization speed and communication reliability by not over-transmitting in single operations.
3Reliability
If retry mechanism is implemented for failed transfers, then data transfer reliability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service through an automated retry mechanism where the LAD automatically retransmits events if acknowledgments are not received. The system monitors its own transfer status and initiates retries without external intervention, managing complexity through self-monitoring and automatic recovery procedures.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for logging diagnostic related events in a system for railway application is provided. The method includes the steps: requesting of sending of an amount of stored events from a second system (LAD) to a first system (CID); sending of the amount of stored events from the second system to the first system; requesting of sending of stored events from the second system to the first system; sending of the stored events as sent events to the first system; in case of correctly receiving the sent events as received events, storing received events in the memory of the first system and acknowledging receipt of the received events to the second system; in case of not correctly receiving the sent events, multiply resending the same stored events to the first system by the second system until the sent events are correctly received and acknowledged to the second system.