Software-Based Majority Voting for Railway Data Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing railway management systems face challenges in ensuring data reliability due to the risk of hardware failures in majority voting systems, which can lead to critical security flaws and incidents, particularly in secure communication networks where the probability of undetectable errors must be minimized according to standards like EN 50 128.
Innovation Solution
A method that eliminates the need for dedicated hardware in majority voting by having each processing module calculate an intermediate security code from input data, transmitting it to a calculation unit, which then selects an output datum and generates a security code, allowing for software-based consensus and verification, ensuring data reliability without dedicated hardware.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If dedicated hardware means are used for majority voting, then data reliability is improved, but device complexity and hardware failure risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical hardware-based majority voting system with a software-based calculation system. The calculation unit executes software routines to perform majority voting on intermediate data from multiple processing modules, eliminating the need for dedicated hardware voting mechanisms while maintaining data reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates redundant copies of data processing paths through multiple independent processing modules (at least two modules), each calculating intermediate data from the same input data. This redundancy enables software-based majority voting without requiring additional hardware voting components.
2Reliability
If hardware layers are added for security, then data reliability is improved, but the risk of hardware failure leading to security flaws increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes hardware-based security mechanisms with software-based security verification. The calculation unit performs majority voting and consistency checks through software routines, eliminating vulnerable hardware layers while maintaining security reliability through computational verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the calculation unit receives intermediate data from multiple processing modules, verifies consistency through majority voting, and can detect erroneous data. This feedback loop provides continuous security verification without relying on hardware failure resistance.
3Reliability
If multiple processing modules are used, then data reliability is improved, but calculation and coordination complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the voting and selection functions into a single calculation unit that handles multiple processing modules. This consolidation simplifies coordination by centralizing the complexity of managing multiple modules within one unified software-based calculation and verification system.
Data Source
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AI summary
This method of data reliability in a computer (6), the computer (6) being suitable for providing an output data (Ds) from an input data (De), and comprising at least two data processing modules (12A, 12B), and a calculation unit (14) connected to each processing module (12A, 12B), includes a calculation step, by each processing module (12A, 12B), of an intermediate data (DIA, DIB) from the input data (De).The process includes the following steps: - the calculation, by each processing module (12A, 12B), of an intermediate security code (CSIA, CSIB) from the corresponding intermediate data (DIA, DIB), - the transmission to the calculation unit (14), by each processing module (12A, 12B), of the intermediate security code (CSIA, CSIB) and the intermediate data (DIA, DIB), - the calculation, by the calculation unit (14), of a security code (CS) from the intermediate security codes (CSIA, CSIB), - the selection, by the calculation unit (14), of an intermediate data from among the intermediate data (DIA, DIB) received, the output data (Ds) of the computer (6) including the selected intermediate data, and - the transmission to a receiving device (8), by the calculation unit (14), of the security code (CS) and the output data (Ds).