IIS - Integrated Passenger Information System Railway

 IIS - Integrated Passenger Information System Railway

INTEGRATED PASSENGER INFORMATION SYSTEM

(Train Indication, Coach Guidance and PC Based Announcement System)

The systems which provide train related informations to the passengers are known as Passenger Information Systems .

for example public address systems on the railway platforms, Interactive voice response systems (IVRS), CCTVs, Display boards, call centers, Internet etc. The Integrated Passenger Information System (IPIS) provides a single control system and data entry system for different types display boards available on entire railway station.

technical requirements of PC based announcement system for announcing train information to passengers, electronic display boards & coach guidance display boards for displaying train information to passengers with the feature of networking and operation from a centralized place according to specification number RDSO/SPN/TC/61/2012.

IPIS working 

 A simple figure showing IPIS working is shown below.

IPIS System Description 

The Integrated Passenger Information System consists of following:

1. Two control consoles in redundant mode loaded with software
2. Data Communication Hub (MDCH & PDCH)
3. Display boards of different sizes (AGDB, SLDB, MLDB & CGDB)
4. CCTV

PC based Announcement system

A simple connection diagram of an IPIS system is shown below:

Control Console Unit (CCU)

 This system has the provision of fully redundant console unit In case of failure of the first control console unit; the second control console unit become operative. There is continuous data synchronization between these two operator consoles through a LAN link.

 The main and standby Control Console Units comprises standard PCs of reputed brand having minimum configuration as mentioned below:

i. Pentium – IV or equivalent processor (2 GHz or higher).

ii. 512 MB SD RAM.

iii. 80 GB HDD.

iv. CD ROM.

v. 19” Color LCD Monitor.

vi. Two VGA adaptors. One for the monitor and second with video output to

provide display on CCTV automatically.

vii. 101 Key board.

viii. Optical USB mouse.

ix. One parallel port.

x. Multi port serial card (At least four serial communication ports)

xi. UPS with minimum 1 hour battery backup.

xii. Windows XP or higher version

 xiii. Ethernet card

 xiv. Sound card with speakers and microphones.

 Change over of video & audio signals from one control console unit to another is through a manual switch for redundancy. This switch have two input ports for video signals coming from two control console units and one output port that goes to the CCTV network. 

It also have two audio ports coming from two control console units and one output port that goes to the audio announcement network.

 The control system is so designed as to work public announcement system and the farthest indicator satisfactorily.

 Control Console Unit provides PC based voice announcement.

 All control systems are housed in a standard cabinet made of CRCA sheet of minimum 18 SWG thickness. The cabinet is rust free & with proper earthing arrangement.

 Keyboards & Monitors are placed inside the cabinet at appropriate height for easy and comfortable operation.

 ON/OFF button for switching on & off the control console units is provided separately. Pressing this button system becomes switch on with auto running of software. Again pressing this button it closes program without corrupting data and switch off the system.

 The audio output for announcement from control console unit is interfaced with the existing public address system.

 Suitable hardware & software are provided in the system for taking data & required information from automatic train information system like train charting server, NTES, CDAS etc. for displaying train information on various types of display boards, coach guidance systems and for making announcement, if specified by the purchaser (optional)

Data Communication HUB (DCH) 

 Main Data Communication HUB (MDCH) 

 The Main Data Communication Hub routes the signals coming from the either of the two console units to the destinations namely platform hubs, Arrival/ Departure Train Information Display Boards and Coach Guidance Display Boards.

 Main Data Co
mmunication HUB have minimum 2 serial ports for display information coming from the two console units and at least 16 serial output ports for driving various types of display boards or platform HUBs.

 The MDCH is operated by 230 Volts AC mains and have LED indications for monitoring the communication health of the display boards and Platform Data Communication Hubs. The LED glows red when link is failed and green when link is OK.

 The serial port connection to the coach guidance display boards along a line is daisy chained and in case of a failure (like power down) of a unit, the extension of communication link is not be affected. Also in case of removal of any coach display board for repair, the input and output connectors is mate-able to extend the communication link.

 The main Hub is able to integrate any display board or platform HUB and get its response. With this, communication health (connectivity) of each display unit or platform HUB is available in the control center and one can quickly diagnose the problem in case of faults.

 Each output port of the MDCH is able to drive either one multiline display board or At-a-glance display board or single line display board or platform Hub or preferably 4 numbers of coach guidance display boards..

 In case of failure of any port of MDCH, the spare port can be used immediately and the system starts functioning with minimum down time.

 Platform Data Communication Hub (PDCH)

 The Platform Data communication Hub (PDCH) routes the data coming from the MDCH to the various type display boards including coach guidance boards.

 PDCH have provision of two serial ports for interfacing to Main data communication HUB (one port as a spare) and at least 16 serial output ports for driving various types of display boards.

 The PDCH should be preferably installed on each platform at the halfway length of the platform, to drive the various display boards.

 Both MDCH and PDCH are interchangeable

Display Boards

Trains information display system is one of the most useful passenger amenities at railway stations. It helps the passengers to know all information about trains such as arrival/departure timings, present status, platform numbers of arriving/leaving, formation of train etc.

 Train Arrival/Departure Display Boards (TADDB)

These display boards can be further classified in following three types

i) Multi Line Display Board (MLDB)

ii) At a Glance Display Board (AGDB)

iii) Single Line Display Board (SLDB)

Multi Line Display Board (MLDB) 

These can be either single face or double face display boards and are provided at the main entrance points of railway stations and some times on important platforms. Display size can be minimum 2 lines to maximum 10 lines. It provides information of arriving and departing of all the trains in following format: 

Close Circuit Television (CCTV) Display

 

 The CCTV monitors display the train information similar to that displayed by a LED display board.

 Each control console unit is having video output.

 The input to the CCTV will be selected by manual redundancy switch.

 The CCTV monitors are either LCD or LED monitor.

A photograph of close circuit television monitor showing train informations is given below: 

 Power Supply

 Power supply: 230V AC 50Hz single phase with over voltage, under voltage & short circuit protection.

 Working range voltage: 160V-270V AC ( Tolerance + 10 V) . Power supply units will be operated at 50% load of maximum working capacity.

 PVC insulated flexible 3 core x 2.5 sq mm multi strand power cables provided for each of the display boards confirm to specification no. IS:694:1990.or confirmed to 1995 or latest.

 Class-C protection is provided for Main and At a Glance display board. CGDB, SLDB/MLDB. MDCH & PDCH