Communication system and method of a vehicle consist

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9862392-B2
Application number	US-201514881445-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 13, 2015
Priority date	Feb 9, 2015
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

A communication system and method receive, at an energy management system disposed onboard a vehicle system formed from a lead vehicle and one or more remote vehicles, trip data that represents one or more characteristics of an upcoming trip of the vehicle system along a route. A selected portion of the trip data is communicated from the energy management system to a distributed power system also disposed onboard the vehicle system. The selected portion includes identifying information and one or more orientations of the one or more remote vehicles. Using the distributed power system, communication links between the lead vehicle and the one or more remote vehicles are established using the identifying information and the one or more orientations.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, at an energy management system comprising one or more processors disposed onboard a vehicle system formed from a lead vehicle and one or more remote vehicles, trip data that represents one or more characteristics of an upcoming trip of the vehicle system along a route;
communicating a selected portion of the trip data from the energy management system to a control unit comprising one or more processors disposed onboard the lead vehicle of the vehicle system, the selected portion including vehicle identifiers associated with the one or more remote vehicles and one or more orientations of the one or more remote vehicles;
establishing, using the control unit, communication links between the lead vehicle and the one or more remote vehicles using the vehicle identifiers and the one or more orientations; and
remotely controlling movement of the one or more remote vehicles by the lead vehicle during the tin via the communication links.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating, by the energy management system, a trip plan for the upcoming trip of the vehicle system using the trip data, the trip plan designating operational settings of the lead and remote vehicles.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein remotely controlling the movement of the one or more remote vehicles during the trip includes controlling the one or more remote vehicles to move according to the operational settings designated by the trip plan by wirelessly communicating control signals from the lead vehicle to the one or more remote vehicles via the communication links.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the trip plan designates the operational settings of the lead and remote vehicles as a function of one or more of time or distance along the route in order to reduce one or more of fuel consumed or emissions generated by the lead and remote vehicles relative to the lead and remote vehicles completing the upcoming trip using different operational settings than the operational settings designated by the trip plan.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein establishing the communication links is completed prior to generating the trip plan.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the trip plan is generated without using the one or more orientations of the one or more remote vehicles.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication links are established by communicating, using a communication unit comprising a transceiver disposed onboard the lead vehicle, a wireless linking message to the one or more remote vehicles, the wireless linking message addressed to the vehicle identifiers associated with the one or more remote vehicles of the vehicle system, the communication links established responsive to receipt of the wireless linking message at the one or more remote vehicles.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trip data includes an origin location of the trip, a destination location of the trip, the vehicle identifiers associated with the one or more remote vehicles, the one or more orientations of the one or more remote vehicles, order information of the one or more remote vehicles, and one or more speed restrictions of the route.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating the selected portion of the trip data and establishing the communication links occurs automatically without operator intervention.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trip data is wirelessly received at the energy management system from a location disposed off-board the vehicle system.

11. A system comprising:
an energy management system comprising one or more processors configured to be disposed onboard a vehicle system formed from a lead vehicle and one or more remote vehicles, the energy management system receives trip data that represents one or more characteristics of an upcoming trip of the vehicle system along a route; and
a control unit comprising one or more processors configured to be disposed onboard the lead vehicle of the vehicle system and to establish communication links between the lead vehicle and the one or more remote vehicles, wherein the energy management system communicates a selected portion of the trip data to the control unit, the selected portion including vehicle identifiers associated with the one or more remote vehicles and one or more orientations of the one or more remote vehicles, wherein the control unit establishes the communication links using the vehicle identifiers and the one or more orientations, wherein the control unit remotely controls movement of the one or more remote vehicles during the trip via the communication links.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the energy management system is configured to generate a trip plan for the upcoming trip of the vehicle system using the trip data, the trip plan designating operational settings of the lead and remote vehicles.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the control unit remotely controls the movement of the one or more remote vehicles during the trip such that the one or more remote vehicles move according to the operational settings designated by the trip plan by wirelessly communicating control signals from the lead vehicle to the one or more remote vehicles via the communication links.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the trip plan designates the operational settings of the lead and remote vehicles as a function of one or more of time or distance along the route in order to reduce one or more of fuel consumed or emissions generated by the lead and remote vehicles relative to the lead and remote vehicles completing the upcoming trip using different operational settings than the operational settings designated by the trip plan.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the energy management system is configured to communicate the selected portion of the trip data to the control unit and the control unit is configured to establish the communication links automatically without operator intervention.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the energy management system is configured to wirelessly receive the trip data from a location disposed off-board the vehicle system.

17. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a communication unit comprising a transceiver disposed onboard the lead vehicle and operatively connected to the control unit, the control unit controlling the communication device to communicate a wireless linking message that is addressed to the vehicle identifiers associated with the one or more remote vehicles of the vehicle system, wherein the communication links are established responsive to receipt of the wireless linking message at the one or more remote vehicles.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the communication unit onboard the lead vehicle is configured to receive a linking confirmation message from the one or more remote vehicles of the vehicle system responsive to the wireless linking message being received at the one or more remote vehicles.

19. A system comprising:
a control unit comprising one or more processors disposed onboard a lead vehicle of a vehicle consist formed from the lead vehicle and at least a first remote vehicle, the control unit determines a vehicle identifier for the first remote vehicle; and
a communication unit comprising a transceiver disposed onboard the lead vehicle, the communication unit wirelessly communicates a linking message addressed to the vehicle identifier from the lead vehicle to the first remote vehicle, the communication unit establishes a communication link between the lead vehicle and the first

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Schoenly Scott Alan
• Kellner Steven Andrew
• Foy Robert James
• Peltz David Michael
• Smith Eugene
• Corry James Glen
• Nazareth Joseph Mario
• Schroeck Brian William

Classifications

• B61C17/12 Primary

  Control gear; Arrangements for controlling locomotives from remote points in the train or when operating in multiple units (control from points outside the train B61L3/00; fluid-actuated telemotors, servomotors F15B; control devices in general G05) · CPC title

• B61L15/0072

  On-board train data handling · CPC title

• H04W72/20

  Control channels or signalling for resource management · CPC title

• B61L15/0018

  Communication with or on the vehicle or train · CPC title

• B61L3/006

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic