RTI Specifies a Safe Computing Platform for Future Rail Operations with European Railway Operators and Industry
August 11, 2022
News
With digitalization, many new technologies will enter the railway system that place high safety requirements on IT environments. As part of the sector initiative, Real-Time Innovations (RTI) has collaborated with a group of European rail operators and industry companies to move this initiative forward.
“RTI has written the reference implementation annex for the SCP Messaging API based on the Object Management Group® (OMG®) Data Distribution Service (DDS™) specification to bring this powerful data-centric approach to rail system communications,” said Mark Hary, Market Development Director, Commercial Markets, RTI. “RTI Connext® is pioneering safety-certified, data-centric communications based on the DDS standard across the transportation sector - automotive, aviation, marine and rail - and this work immediately benefits next-generation railway implementations. The overall document is a collaborative effort to create a body of work that will guide the rail industry forward with safety at the forefront, and we are pleased to be part of a diverse group that produces this guidance.”
With the introduction of enhanced Control Command and Signaling (CCS) approaches, and technologies such as advanced sensing and artificial intelligence into the rail system, it is necessary to design the appropriate IT platforms for future rail operation. In this context, the railway initiatives Reference CCS Architecture (RCA) and Open CCS Onboard Reference Architecture (OCORA) started working on a Safe Computing Platform concept in 2020, which is expected to provide the basis for safety-relevant railway applications for both onboard and trackside deployments. A key design paradigm is the introduction of a standardized method for separating applications from the computing platform. This decouples domains with very distinct lifecycles and leverages latest advances in the IT sector, while still leaving room for vendor differentiation on the detailed computing platform implementation.
Railways and industry players including RTI, DB Netz AG, duagon AG, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, SBB, Siemens Mobility GmbH, SNCF Voyageurs, SNCF Réseau, SYSGO GmbH, Thales, and Wind River have jointly developed a first version of the specification of the possible API between railway applications and the Safe Computing Platform, and published this in OCORA Release 2.
The published work includes a general definition of the concepts, key design paradigms for safe communication and computation, and implementation guidelines. Further, an analysis was conducted as to how functions defined in the POSIX standard could be reused for the desired API. Several open points were identified during this process that will require further specification work in the context of Europe’s Rail program. Overall, the published work provides a solid basis for further specification and prototyping of possible Safe Computing Platform implementations.
For more information, visit: https://www.rti.com/news/rti-specifies-safe-computing-platform-for-future-rail-operations
Tiera Oliver is the assistant managing editor at Embedded Computing Design. She is responsible for web content editing, product news, and story development. She also manages, edits, and develops content for ECD podcasts, including Embedded Insiders.
She utilizes her expertise in journalism and content management to oversee editorial content, coordinate with editors, and ensure high-quality output across web, print, and multimedia platforms. She manages diverse projects, assists in the production of digital magazines, and hosts company podcasts by conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders to deliver engaging and insightful discussions.
Tiera attended Northern Arizona University, where she received her bachelor's in journalism and political science. She was also a news reporter for the student-led newspaper, The Lumberjack.
