Vital Upgrades for Coded Track Circuit System

Highlights

The client, a world-famous rail technology company, contacted PSA to enhance their Track Circuit System. MicroTrax is a microprocessor-based coded track circuit system (PCB) utilized for building and managing track circuits, and providing train detection within non-electrified territories. Being involved in the entire interlocking management system, the MicroTrax board provides vital inputs for the correct execution of interlocking applications.

Challenge

Client Challenge

Ensure safe and efficient track circuit management for seamless train detection.

Project Objective

Upgrade the coded track circuit system to ensure building of reliable wayside applications.

Solution

To have a comprehensive understanding of the system, PSA engineers went onsite for training and finalization of requirements.

Considering the proprietary nature of the MicroTrax Coded Track Circuit system, as well as its operation in both master and slave modes, our team upgraded the firmware of the system by performing the following activities:

Added support for an existing proprietary vital communication protocol to exchange data with vital CPU
Updates and modifications for proprietary operation system
Refactoring of the source code with respective comments to provide more convenient and fast future product updates.

Additionally, the PSA team updated and tuned the system software used to manage and monitor MicroTrax devices. As a result, the system became more reliable and user-friendly, which contributes to its more performative use.

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