A vehicle air-conditioning apparatus includes a refrigeration cycle that performs air-conditioning in a vehicle interior of a vehicle; a controller that includes a plurality of operation modes with different continuous operation times for a compressor, and that selects one operation mode from among the plurality of operation modes according to an air-conditioning load in the vehicle interior and executes the one operation mode, during travel operation of the vehicle; a storage unit; and a fault diagnosis unit. The fault diagnosis unit performs, during travel operation of the vehicle, fault diagnosis for the refrigeration cycle, after the high-load operation mode from among the plurality of operation modes, in which the continuous operation time is equal to or longer than a time that is set in advance is selected and executed by the controller at the timing stored in advance in the storage unit and while the refrigeration cycle is stable.

A method for operating a data transfer system includes connecting a first data transfer device to a first data line which is connected to a first data interface, connecting a second data transfer device to a second data line which is connected to a second data interface, and transferring data over the first data interface. In order to achieve reliable operation of the data transfer system, a transfer of data through the second data interface is prevented. A data transfer system and a rail vehicle set having a plurality of railcars and a data transfer system are also provided.

A method is provided for the automated driving of a rail vehicle on tracks equipped with different track-side vehicle protection devices. Information items necessary for the automated driving are transferred at least partially from different on-board or vehicle-side vehicle protection devices to an ATO device, and the rail vehicle is controlled by the ATO device according to the transferred information items. An ATO device, a rail vehicle and a railway-technical installation are also provided.

A method and a system for transmitting enforceable instructions in a positive train control (PTC) system includes receiving, by a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) calculator, at least one enforceable instruction from railroad systems. The CRC calculator calculates at least one enforceable instruction CRC based at least partly on the at least one enforceable instruction and transmits the at least one enforceable instruction CRC to a back office server of the PTC system and/or an on-board system of a locomotive. Methods for cyclic redundancy check (CRC) hazard mitigation in a positive train control (PTC) system and verifying enforceable instruction data on-board a train are also disclosed.

A method and an apparatus for a train control system are disclosed, and are based on virtualization of train control logic and the use of cloud computing resources. A train control system is configured into two main parts. The first part includes physical elements of the train control system, and the second part includes a virtual train control system that provides the computing resources for the required train control application platforms. The disclosed architecture can be used with various train control technologies, including communications based train control, cab-signaling and fixed block, wayside signal technology. Further, the disclosure describes methodologies to convert cab-signaling and manual operations into distance to go operation.

Systems and methods are provided for achieving vital ultra-wideband (UWB) based train control. Train-mounted units and wayside units that incorporate at least two separate and independent radios are used to obtain independent and separate ranging measurements in trains based on communications between the train-mounted units and wayside units. The communications includes communication of ultra-wideband (UWB) based signals.

A train network control system, method and device and a train. The system comprises at least two power units. The power units in the at least two power units carry out data interaction by means of a backbone Ethernet or a hinged train bus, respectively. According to the train network control system, method and device and the train provided by the embodiments of the present invention, the backbone Ethernet and the hinged train bus form a redundant network structure, so that the communication stability and reliability among the power units in the train are enhanced.

A monitoring system is provided that may include a sensor configured to detect at least one characteristic related to at least one axle of a first vehicle. The monitoring system may also include a controller having one or more processors in communication with the sensor. The one or more processors may be configured to restrict movement of the first vehicle based at least in part on the at least one characteristic related to the at least one vehicle axle, and vary movement of a second vehicle based at least in part on the at least one characteristic related to the at least one vehicle axle.

A method operates a safety-critical system, which system contains at least one first data device having approved, safety-relevant software and at least one reference data device having the same approved, safety-relevant software. In the method, after a type check of the system, the at least one first data device is equipped with at least one piece of non-safety-relevant additional software and the at least one reference data device is blocked from software modifications. Before safety-related data information is output, output information of the at least one first data device and of the at least one reference data device are checked for a match with regard to the safety-relevant software by a comparison device, and the safety-related data information is output in the case of a match.

A train safety assembly has an onboard apparatus of a first train safety system and a specific transmission device for transmission with a trackside part of a second train safety system. The onboard apparatus is started using a version of a first software and the specific transmission device is started using a version of a second software. The versions of the first and second software are checked for their compatibility. In order to be able to provide the train safety assembly for use on a track section, which is equipped with the trackside part of the second train safety system, and to put same into operation in a faster and more cost-efficient manner, if the started versions of the first and second software are incompatible, the transmission device is automatically restarted with another version of the second software, and the started first and second software are checked for their compatibility.