A master thesis from Aalborg University
Analysis And Enhancement of Safety-Critical Communication for Railway Systems
Author(s)
Term
10. term
Publication year
2008
Submitted on
2008-08-04
Pages
72 pages
Abstract
Wireless communication rising in popularity due to the ease of use and the low cost of installing such equipment. However, safety-critical applications are holding back due to the risk introduced by the uncontrollable nature of wireless connections. This report analyzes the prospect of using wireless communication based on 802.11 off the shelf technology to support communication between the train computer and the control panel operated by the driver. First the target application with existing solutions is described. The basics of 802.11 communication is then described, then the risks associated with a simple implementation are analyzed and necessary defenses are described, these defenses are then analyzed to evaluate the safety and availability of such a system. In the analysis, both analytical and numerical methods are employed to assess the performance of the system. The models show a high frequency of occurrence of long delays of packets, and it is thus concluded that 802.11 under the assumptions of the report, is not a viable solution for on-board communication in the train environment.
Keywords
wireless ; 802.11 ; 802.11b ; safedmi ; safety ; train ; availability ; simulation ; dcf
Documents
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