Dependability analysis of the data communication system in train control system

Communication based train control (CBTC) system is based on mobile communication and overcomes fixed blocks in order to increase track utilization and train safety. The data communication system (DCS) between trains and wayside equipment is a crucial factor for the safe and efficient operation of CBTC system. The dependability under various transmission conditions needs to be modeled and evaluated. In this paper, a stochastic reward net (SRN) model for DCS based IEEE 802.11 standard was developed, which captures all relevant failure and failure recovery behavior system aspects in a concise way. We compared the reliability, availability for DCS with and without access point (AP) and antenna redundant configuration. We also quantitatively evaluated and compared the frame loss probability for three DCS configurations with different train velocities and train numbers in one radio cell. Fixed-point iteration was adopted to simplify the analysis. Numerical results showed the significant improvement of the reliability, availability and the frame loss probability index for the full redundant configuration. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 60634010, 60736047) and the Doctoral Program Foundation of Institutions of High Education of China (Grant No. 20070004005)