01514480

Component

The North American freight railroad industry is exploring possibilities of increasing the operational safety, security and reliability by deploying a real-time monitoring and control network onboard freight trains. Traditionally, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been deployed for such operations. However, typical WSN protocols like ZigBee cannot address the unique requirements of railroad scenarios, primarily due to limited communication range and data transmission capabilities. To address this problem, the authors have proposed and designed a network protocol that utilizes WiFi technology alongside ZigBee. The authors call it Hybrid Technology Networking (HTN). WiFi has much superior transmission capabilities, especially in communication range and data throughput, compared to ZigBee. Hence, it aids in countering the problems associated with ZigBee-only networks. The authors have designed a protocol that specifies the guidelines of how these two technologies work together to ensure a reliable and efficient data delivery network. The authors' protocol ensures complete adherence to both protocol standards, making system interoperability and large scale deployment a possibility. The authors have also designed hardware prototypes for HTN systems, and implemented their protocol. The physical hardware will be used to test the efficacy of HTN in real-world settings. Furthermore, the authors have also designed a simulator based on the OPNET framework that allows them to test the protocol and its features in different scenarios relevant to railroad operations. In this paper, the authors present a summary of their work with the development and implementation of HTN. The authors also present some simulation results to show the benefits of HTN.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABJ50 Information Systems and Technology. Alternate title: Hybrid Technology Networking: Complete Solution for Wireless Communications for Real-Time Monitoring of Cars on Freight Trains.

01503729

14-1779

English

11p

2014

Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; Photos; References; Tables

Computer network protocols; Freight trains; Interoperability; Monitoring; Real time information; Simulation; Wireless communication systems; Wireless sensor networks

WiFi services

Data and Information Technology; Freight Transportation; Railroads; I70: Traffic and Transport

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2014 Paper #14-1779

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 27 2014 2:38PM