System for securing communication between central controller and signaling devices in traffic signaling networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12246765-B2
Application number	US-202017593441-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 18, 2020
Priority date	Mar 18, 2019
Publication date	Mar 11, 2025
Grant date	Mar 11, 2025

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a system for securing communication between Central Controller and signaling devices including actuator devices and signaling sensors used in railway and road traffic signaling networks. Conventional signaling systems use unsecured metal cables to communicate between the Central Controller and the signaling devices, making them vulnerable to unauthorized intrusion and mischief. In the present disclosure, two uniquely addressable communication modules, one (SCM 1 ) securely housed with the Central Controller and another (SCM 2 ) securely housed in an assembly also containing the signaling device and the related power switches are used to establish a transparent but standard secure digital communication protocol between them to authenticate and validate mutual communication, making them secure and safe from intrusion and undesirable manipulation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for securing communication between a Central Controller and a plurality of signaling devices in railway or road traffic signaling networks, the Central Controller comprising a relay rack or an object controller, which comprises at least one input relay and at least one output relay associated with each of the plurality of signaling devices, the system comprising a first secure communication module (SCM 1 ) having a unique address identifier, operatively coupled to the relay rack or the object controller, and together housed in a secure control facility; at least one second secure communication module (SCM 2 ) each having a unique address identifier, wherein each of the at least one SCM 2 is integrated with a corresponding signaling device and housed together to form a corresponding secure signaling device assembly; a physical communication link configured to establish a communication between the SCM 1 and each of the at least one SCM 2 ; and a digital communication protocol, implemented between the SCM 1 and the at least one SCM 2 via the physical communication link, wherein the SCM 1 and the at least one SCM 2 establish a secure communication link between the relay rack or the object controller on one side and the plurality of signaling devices on other side and the digital communication protocol is configured to communicate relay status control commands or status information from the one side to the other side, wherein a secure transmission is performed by way of authentication using the unique address identifier of the SCM 1 and the at least one SCM 2 as per the digital communication protocol, and the secure communication link comprising the SCM 1 and the at least one SCM 2 is transparent to the Central Controller on the one side and the plurality of signaling devices on the other side.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the SCM 1 comprises a first digital input-output card (I 01 ) configured to: acquire relay ON/OFF status from spare contacts of associated output relays for one or more of the plurality of signaling devices, when triggered by a change of voltage of the relay contacts or by reading the status continuously, based on a field configuration, and transmit to an associated SCM 2 with the unique address identifier of the SCM 1 and the associated SCM 2 ; and send relay ON/OFF status acquired by an associated SCM 2 , into an associated input relay of the relay rack or the object controller: based on the encrypted message and the unique address identifier of the at least one SCM 2 ; and based on a connected or disconnected status of the physical communication link between the SCM 1 and the associated SCM 2 ; and a first processing unit P 1 configured to: encrypt the control commands and send to the associated at least one SCM 2 or receive and decrypt the encrypted received messages corresponding to the relay ON/OFF status by implementing the digital communication protocol and using the unique address identifiers of the SCM 1 and the associated at least one SCM 2 ; convert the relay ON/OFF status, acquired by the first digital input-output card (I 01 ), into a compatible form for sending through the physical communication link with the unique address identifier of the SCM 1 and the associated at least one SCM 2 ; detect the connected or disconnected status of the physical communication link between the SCM 1 and the associated at least one SCM 2 ; verify the authenticity of the message from the associated SCM 2 of the corresponding signaling device received through the physical communication link and the validity of the message for the input relays in the relay rack or the object controller corresponding to the associated SCM 2 ; and perform one of generating a relay ON/OFF status compatible with an associated relay to provide safe working of the railway or road traffic signaling networks, if the authentication fails or the input is invalid (ii) converting the message received from the associated SCM 2 into relay ON/OFF status compatible for the intended relay, to be sent by the first digital input-output card I 01 into the designated input relays in the relay rack or the object controller, if the verification of the authenticity and the validation is successful.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein each of the at least one SCM 2 comprises: a second digital input-output card 102 configured to: acquire a status of the corresponding signaling device, when triggered by a change of voltage of the corresponding signaling device relay contacts or by reading the status continuously, based on a field configuration; if the corresponding signaling device is an actuator device, then send to the corresponding signaling device, the control commands received from the SCM 1 to set the desired status of the associated actuator device; and acquire integrity status of the actuator device or signaling sensor assembly of the corresponding signaling device, if available; and ii. a second processing unit P 2 configured to: encrypt and send the status of the corresponding signaling device to the SCM 1 or receive and decrypt messages received from the SCM 1 by implementing the digital communication protocol and using the unique address identifiers of the SCM 1 and the associated SCM 2 ; convert the status of the corresponding signaling device acquired by the second digital input-output card I 02 , into a compatible form for sending through the physical communication link with the unique address identifiers of the SCM 1 and the associated SCM 2 ; verify (i) the authenticity of the control command received from the SCM 1 through the physical communication link (ii) the validity of the control command for the associated actuator device, and (iii) acquired integrity status of the actuator device or signaling sensor assembly of the corresponding signaling device; perform one of (i) generating a message indicating failure of the verification to implement safe working of the railway or road traffic signaling networks, if the authentication fails or (ii) if the verification is successful and the corresponding signaling device is device, convert the control command received from the SCM 1 into relay ON/OFF status compatible for the intended relay to be sent by the second digital input-output card I 02 , to set the desired status of the corresponding actuator device; and o enable the SCM 1 to detect the connected or disconnected status of the physical communication link between the SCM 1 and the associated SCM 2 .

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the digital communication protocol is either Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (TCP/HTTPS), secure MODBUS, or Ethernet for Control Automation Technology (EtherCAT).

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the physical communication link is a metal cable or an Ethernet communication cable.

6. A system of claim 1 , wherein the SCM 1 and the relay rack or the object controller are powered by a common power source.

7. A system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one SCM 2 and the associated signaling device are powered by a common power source.

Assignees

• Tata Consultancy Services Ltd

Inventors

• Sengupta Siddhartha
• Patalay Sandeep

Classifications

• H04L69/40

  for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection (management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06) · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• B61L27/70 Primary

  Details of trackside communication · CPC title

• B61L19/06

  Interlocking devices having electrical operation · CPC title

• B61L1/18

  Railway track circuits (rail joints E01B11/00, e.g. insulated rail joints E01B11/54) · CPC title