System Integration and Systems Engineering for Railways

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System Integration (and Systems Engineering for
Railways)

• Clive Roberts
• Lecturer in Railway Systems
• University of Birmingham

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Overview of Presentation

• Definitions
• Background
• The need for system integration in a liberalised
  railway industry
• The UK approach to system integration
• EC work on system integration (and
  standardisation)
• Work in the United States
• Conclusions and looking into the future

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What is Systems Integration?

• The consideration of how a set of components
  interact with one another during the entire life
  cycle of a system
• The progressive linking of system components to
  merge their function characteristics into a
  comprehensive interoperable system
• Analysis of how components, stakeholders and
  processes interact to achieve a defined function

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Background

• System integration doesnt happen by chance!
• All man made systems must consider system
  integration to some extent
• However, in a liberalised railway system
  integration is paramount
• System integration in complex systems such as the
  railway is difficult to undertake and takes time
• All system interfaces must be considered

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System Integration in the Railway Industry

• In the rail industry most problems span several
  engineering disciplines
• An understanding of the system as a whole is
  therefore needed
• Consideration must be given to the location of
  system and commercial interfaces
• In a liberalised railway it is important to be
  aware of the affects of making changes.
  Particularly when changes have an affect across a
  system interface

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• The need for system integration is not new,
  however, organisational changes and increased
  system complexity have increased the need

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System Interfaces
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What is Systems Engineering?

• Systems engineering is a branch of engineering
  concerned with the development of large and
  complex systems
• An interdisciplinary process to help ensure that
  a project is successful in terms of performance
  requirements, management, timescales, budget,
  maintenance, etc.

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Systems Engineering Design Process
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Scenarios and Viewpoints
Regulator
Railway System
Train Operating Company
Infrastructure Operator
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Stakeholders in the UKs Liberalised Railway

• Association of Train Operating Companies
• Department for Transport
• HM Railway Inspectorate
• Network Rail
• Office of Rail Regulation
• Passenger Transport Executives
• Rail Passenger Councils
• Rolling Stock Leasing Companies
• Train Operating Companies

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System Trade-offs
Journey Time
Capacity
System Performance
Safety
RAM
Life Cycle Cost
Comfort
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West Coast Line Business Needs
Reduced Journey Times
Increased Capacity
Lower Ownership Costs
Improved Punctuality
European Interoperability
Enhanced Safety
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WCML Interface Management

• Systems modelling to identify interfaces
• Establishment of Master Interface Register
• Agreement of stakeholders
• Interface Co-ordination Working Groups (ICWGs)
• Generation of interface agreements and Interface
  Control Documents
• Signed-off by stakeholders
• System tests to validate results
• Status reporting

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UK System Interface Committees

• To assist the railway industry to manage all
  aspects of the system interfaces
• Facilitated by the Railway Safety and Standards
  Board (http//www.rssb.co.uk/sysic.asp)
• Members from different stakeholder groups (TOCs,
  FOCs, Infrastructure Operators, ROSCOs,
  Suppliers)

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System Interface CommitteesAims and Objectives

• Identify the best systems solutions for
  Britains railway industry
• Determine the benefits to the railway industry as
  a whole
• Identify where the costs and benefits fall
• Present the preferred solutions to the railway
  industry
• Seek agreement on how these solutions could be
  implemented

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System Interface CommitteesFormation

• Vehicle/Track Network Rail
• Vehicle/Train Control First Group
• Vehicle/Communications - EWS
• Vehicle/Structures Network Rail
• Vehicle/Vehicle - ATOC
• Vehicle/Traction Supply Alstom
• (http//www.rssb.co.uk/sysic.asp)

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Vehicle / Infrastructure Interface
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Wheel / Rail Interface
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Wheel / Rail Interface
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TRAINS Project

• To investigate approaches for improving system
  integration in the railway industry
• Funded by the EPSRC System Integration Initiative
• University of Birmingham and Manchester
  Metropolitan University together with a steering
  group of 15 Industrial partners
• Completed January 2005

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TRAINS Project Outputs

• Database of models and simulations
• Process for making system models from existing
  subsystem models
• Initial work on conceptual modelling of complex
  systems
• Prototype decision support system based on
  compositional modelling

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TRAINS Project
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TRAINS Decision Support System
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InteGRail - EC FP6(Intelligent Integration of
Railway Systems)
The InteGRail project aims to create a holistic,
coherent information system, integrating the
major railway sub-systems, in order to achieve
higher levels of performance of the railway
system in terms of capacity, average speed and
punctuality, safety and the optimised usage of
resources.Building on results achieved by
previous projects, InteGRail will propose new
intelligent procedures and will contribute to the
definition of new standards, in accord with EC
directives and TSIs.
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InteGRail
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InteGRail
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Innotrack EC FP6

• An FP6 integrated project
• EU funding of around 10m over 3 years
• 33 partners including 8 infrastructure managers
• NR, SNCF, DB, OBB, PRORAIL, ADIF, BV, CD
• RRUK Universities include Southampton, MMU,
  Newcastle and Birmingham

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Innotrack EC FP6

• First European project with comprehensive
  cooperation between Infrastructure Managers and
  Industry regarding complete track construction
• Most innovative project to deliver new products,
  processes and methodologies in order to achieve
  the ERRAC objectives for system integration
• Significant LCC reductions and RAMS improvements
  in order to strengthen the competitiveness of
  railway sector in a persistent manner
• Reduction of time to market of innovative
  solutions European wide (market driven
  interoperability)

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Other European Projects

• ModTrain specification of subsystems and
  interfaces for a modular train architecture
• TrainCom integration of railway and
  information technology to link train and ground
  systems
• EuroMain specification of a complete railway
  maintenance system at a European level

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European Railway Technical Standards for
Interoperability (TSI)

• European Railway Agency (ERA)
• TSIs will be developed for
• Infrastructure
• Traction units and locomotives
• Energy
• Passenger carriages
• Telematics applications for passenger services
• Coming on line over the next couple of years

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Innotrack
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United States Studies

• IEEE Rail Transit Vehicle Interface Standards
  Committees (http//grouper.ieee.org/groups/railtra
  nsit/index.htm)
• Consideration of system integration of rolling
  stock subsystems through APTA Rolling Stock
  Equipment Technical Forum

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Conclusions and What Next?

• System integration is still a problem
• Further work needs to be undertake on modelling
  complex systems at different levels of
  abstraction
• In the UK we tend to focus on system interfaces
  once systems are in operation
• Standardisation is a good thing if the standards
  are right!
• Engineering, process and organisation integration
  must be considered

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