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| Summary / Description | Abstract: ' The invention relates to a decision procedure in combinational logic which requires a computing time of n for determining the congestion of a railway track system. The railway track system supports n trains, each with a route length of m itineraries. Prior to setting a requested route segment for a given train, a query is performed to check train positions and whether the given train is allowed to travel on the track sectors to be used for the requested route segment, without causing a possibility that the track system may become congested. ....' |
| Type of Prior Art | Issued Patents - US |
| Country | United States of America |
| Patent/Application # | 20030025043 |
| Kind Code | United States (US) - United STATES Patent - A |
| Patentee Name | Fierz, Werner; Bertelli, Cristina; |
| Relevant Pages, Columns, or Lines | [0010]-[0017], [0018]-[0022] |
| URL | http://www.freepatentsonline.co... |
| Filing Date | August 26, 2002 |
| Additional Information | |
| Notes | |
Excerpt [0010]-[0017]: It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a congestion prevention system and method, ....which provides a method which detects, with a smaller degree of computational expenditure, possible congestion, i.e., overfilling, before route segments are securely set up in terms of signaling equipment...... a congestion prevention method for preventing an overfilling of the track system. The novel method comprises the following steps: defining train positions of trains on the track system with a train identifier and a track sector; and prior to setting a requested route segment for a given train, querying the route level to determine, by checking train positions, whether the given train is allowed to travel on the track sectors to be used for the requested route segment, without the track system becoming congested. The method according to the invention has the following advantages, inter alia: In the track system which is to be protected against overfilling, the automatic setting up of route segments is permitted only if the track system is not overfilled as a result, i.e. all the trains can reach their programmed destination. ... [0018]-[0022]: In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the step of checking a train position comprises the following substeps, to be performed in the route level: a) storing a first dependency according to which a new train position cannot be reached until the train has reached a track sector that directly precedes the route, the first dependency being defined as a compulsory sequence of two train positions; b) checking, for a variation of two trains, whether a reference location of a first train prevents the route of a second train being traveled on resulting in a second dependency, and storing the second dependency; c1) generating, for all the trains, new dependencies by applying a transitivity from the stored dependencies, and storing the new dependencies; and c2) checking the new dependencies whether a compulsory sequence according to which the first train must travel to a first track sector before the second train can travel to a second track sector. In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, steps c1) and c2) are repeatedly executed for all trains until no further new dependencies can be generated or until no train can reach a destination predefined by its route. |
A method of scheduling the movement of trains, each over a selected route, by predicting the occurrence of congestion due to the planned movement of the trains over a selected route comprising:
(a) identifying factors which contribute to congestion (200);
(b) assigning a metric for each factor (210);
(c) evaluating the metrics associated with a selected route (220);
(d) if the evaluate metrics exceed a predetermined threshold (230), scheduling one or more trains scheduled for the selected route to alternate routes (240).
| Relevance | See the Excerpt, [0018]-[0022] describes checking dependencies which are equivalent to 'identifying factors which contribute to congestion'. |
A method of scheduling the movement of trains, each over a selected route, by predicting the occurrence of congestion due to the planned movement of the trains over a selected route comprising:
(a) identifying factors which contribute to congestion (200);
(b) assigning a metric for each factor (210);
(c) evaluating the metrics associated with a first planned movement of plural trains over a selected route (220);
(d) evaluating the metric associated with a second planned movement over a selected route (220);
(e) selecting the planned movement having the lowest metric for scheduling the movement of trains over the selected route.
| Relevance | See Claim 1. |
United States