Gyandeep2019 PDF

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ÌyLY. ªçzÒ, EçF| Eçº LÌ LÌ F| §çºo ÌºN çº GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
ºzÂ ªæÞçÂ® MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
DIRECTOR
INDIAN RAILWAYS INSTITUTE OF
Ch. MOHAN, IRSSE SIGNAL ENGINEERING & TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TARNAKA ROAD, SECUNDERABAD-500017 (INDIA)
GYANDEEP
From Director's Desk
There have been connuous technological improvements both in Signalling &

Telecommunicaons to enhance the level of Safety, Reliability, Maintainability &
Punctuality to cope up with ever increasing Rail Traffic.
Successful adopon of these modern technologies require training on

Fundamental Principles, Technical Equipments, their installaon and maintenance
pracces, where IRISET as a Training & knowledge hub has been playing a pivotal role.
Sharing of best pracces in the field through Technical arcles will bring be er
understanding among Engineers. Thus 'Gyandeep' containing such arcles provides an
annual plaorm to S&T engineers to share ideas, experiences, challenges and
innovaons.
This issue of Gyandeep has arcles on futurisc technologies in signalling and

telecom. I am sure that these novel and thought provoking arcles will enable be er
Anniversary Issue understanding of current pracces, challenges faced and their soluons.
I convey my sincere thanks and gratude to all the authors who have contributed
Indian Railways Institute of arcles for this issue of 'Gyandeep‐2019' enlightening the S&T fraternity.
Signal Engineering and Telecommunications

November 2019 Date: 18.11.2019 (Ch. Mohan)
E-mail: pt@iriset.railnet.gov.in
utzÆN
§çºoy® ºzÂ uÌTÂ Fæ\yu®ºy Eç{º tîºÌæYçº
ÌæËsç (FuºÌzb), oçºçN ç ºçzg,
uÌNæ tºç¤çt - 500 017 (§çºo)
Ìn®ªzÄ \®oz
ÌyLY. ªçzÒ, EçF| Eçº LÌ LÌ F| §çºo ÌºN çº GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
ºzÂ ªæÞçÂ® MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
DIRECTOR
INDIAN RAILWAYS INSTITUTE OF
Ch. MOHAN, IRSSE SIGNAL ENGINEERING & TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TARNAKA ROAD, SECUNDERABAD-500017 (INDIA)
GYANDEEP
From Director's Desk
There have been connuous technological improvements both in Signalling &

Telecommunicaons to enhance the level of Safety, Reliability, Maintainability &
Punctuality to cope up with ever increasing Rail Traffic.
Successful adopon of these modern technologies require training on

Fundamental Principles, Technical Equipments, their installaon and maintenance
pracces, where IRISET as a Training & knowledge hub has been playing a pivotal role.
Sharing of best pracces in the field through Technical arcles will bring be er
understanding among Engineers. Thus 'Gyandeep' containing such arcles provides an
annual plaorm to S&T engineers to share ideas, experiences, challenges and
innovaons.
This issue of Gyandeep has arcles on futurisc technologies in signalling and

telecom. I am sure that these novel and thought provoking arcles will enable be er
Anniversary Issue understanding of current pracces, challenges faced and their soluons.
I convey my sincere thanks and gratude to all the authors who have contributed
Indian Railways Institute of arcles for this issue of 'Gyandeep‐2019' enlightening the S&T fraternity.
Signal Engineering and Telecommunications

November 2019 Date: 18.11.2019 (Ch. Mohan)
E-mail: pt@iriset.railnet.gov.in
Contents
Modernisation of Railway Signalling & Telecom by providing ETCS L-2 and LTE based
communication network 3
A K Sablania, Director Technical, RailTel Enterprise Limited
Location Referencing In ERTMS/ETCS 13

P Venkata Ramana, Dean(HAG),IRISET, Secunderabad
Earth leakage detection & risk mitigation 17

B. Sambi Reddy [Rtd. CSTE],Chief Engineer, Efftronics Systems PVT. LTD
Competence Management in S&T: IRSTELO 26

V.N.M. Rao, CSTE/Projects/MAS/S.Rly.
K.S.GNANESWARAN, ASTE/D&D/MAS/S.Rly.,
E-Office implementation in SC Division 36

M K Rao, CWM, S&T,MFT, S C Railway
Problems in Replacement of Working Data Loggers at Major RRI Yards - Casestudy of

Secunderabad RRI and Kazipet RRI 39
IP based Video Surveillance System (VSS) on Indian Railways 41

Dilip Kumar Singh (Executive Director/Telecom-I, RDSO, LKO)
Ankur Srivastava (Sr. Section Engineer/Design (Telecom), RDSO, LKO)
VoIP based Train Control communication System (TCCS) 47

N.K.Varma, Jt. Director Telecom, RDSO Lucknow
PSTN Backup Control Communication 52

Rajesh Sharan, SSTE/Tele/HQ/ECR/HJP
Ravi Prakash SSE/Tele/HJP
Commissioning of Electronic Interlocking at ERODE

(A Major yard in Southern Railway) 55
K Mani Venkata Kumar, professor(Signal), IRISET)
Detecting faulty Sleepers & Glued joints using Cable Route Locator 60
Ram Raj Meena, Sr DSTE (Coord.)/Kota,
Pramod Pathak, ADSTE (ML)/Kota
Glossary of Power Supply Terms 63

S Hari, Professor(Admn), IRISET
Digital/ mobile detox through Yoga & meditation. 68

B B K Murthy , Professor(Telecom), IRISET
Digital Infrastructure & Services : An overview of Indian Railways with case study of
ECoR 71
Mentoring Skills 78
Intermediate Block Signaling using MSDAC 81

R Viswanath Reddy, IRSSE, DSTE/Co-ord/BZA
Gyandeep 2019 1
Progress Measuring Tool for Monitoring Small/Medium Size Projects 88
Debabrata Samanta, Project Manager(S&T), RITES, Gurgoan
Manoj Arora, GGM (S&T), RITES, Gurgoan
Avoid Slowing Down of Train While Approaching the Station: Introduction of the Fifth
Aspect of Signal 95
Lokesh Vishnoi, Dy.CSTE/Tele,SEC Railway,
Future Railway Mobile Communications System 98

V.Balasubramaniam,Instructor(Telecom), IRISET)
IP Surveillance : An Overview 104

D Jayarajan, Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
IoT (Internet of Things) 108

J Vijay Kumar, Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
LTE for Railways (LTE-R) 111

Y V Prasad, Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) Technology 114

V Srinath, Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
Need of Coherence in Telecom Eco System on the Advent of 5G 119

Sanjoy Battacharjee, Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
The Relics of Semiconductor Age 121

Shiva Das Banerjee , Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
2 Gyandeep 2019
Modernisation of Railway Signalling & Telecom by
providing ETCS L-2 and LTE based communication
network
A K Sablania, Director Technical, RailTel Enterprise Limited
On the Trunk Routes of IR, there is a serious is- (FRS) 5.00 & System Requirement Speci-
sue of Line Capacity apart from the requirement of fications (SRS) 3.6.0 Baseline 3 Release 2
prevention of SPAD, Collisions and Derailment on ac- for achieving Interoperability of the ETCS
count of Over Speeding. This requires large scale Au- Level 2 system shall be adopted.
tomation & Deployment of Signalling & Train Con-
trol Systems. Therefore, a Pilot Project on Modern (b) Long Term Evolution (LTE) based com-
Train Control System Project has been sanctioned munication network shall be provided
on Indian Railways which includes Long Term Evo- and ETCS Level 2 system shall be de-
lution (LTE) based Mobile Train Radio Communica- signed to be work on LTE network for
tion System (MTRC) together with provision of Elec- exchange of data between Onboard and
tronic Interlocking wherever required on four pilot Trackside system. Functional Require-
lines as tabulated under: ment Specifications (FRS) 8.0.0 & System
Railtel Enterprises Limited has been selected as Requirement Specifications (SRS) 16.0.0
Executive Agency to take up the pilot project and to issued by EIRENE for LTE network shall
prepare the Detailed Estimates and also invite bids be adopted.
for the work. REL has prepared all 4 pilot lines De-
tailed Estimates which have been sanctioned by con-
(c) Mobile Train Radio Communication Sys-
cerned Zonal Railways except North Central Railway
tem shall be deployed using LTE backbone
which will also be sanctioned soon. Bids have been
for communication between Train Running
invited through IREPS system of Indian Railways,
staff, Drivers, Guards and Control Office.
Pre-bid conference has been done with prospective
bidders and Techno-commercial bids shall be opened
in June 2019. IREPS system facilitates Two Stage (d) ETCS Level 2 functionality requires that
Reverse Auction which shall be adopted for this work all the stations should have Electronic
after opening of Financial Bids. The Project shall be Interlocking which shall be commanded by
implemented in all 4 pilot lines simultaneously over ETCS system in order to control trains
a period of 30 months after award the work. in case of emergencies. Simultaneously,
they will be required to provide facility of
Automatic Route Setting, Long Route Set-
1 Salient Features of the ting, Stacking of Routes to deal with high
density traffic conditions and bunching of
Project: trains in abnormal situations.
(a) The Modern Train Control System shall be
provided on 4 sections on different Zonal (e) Operational Control Centre (OCC) shall
Railways and if it is successful then it have facility to monitor and remote op-
will be further proliferated over all Indian eration for smooth train operations. The
Railways. Hence the most important re- OCC shall facilitate to avail the benefits
quirement of the system is Interoperability. provided by ETCS Level 2 system through
In view of this, ETCS being an Open a direct communication from the RBC
Standard, Interoperable & Multi-vendor to the On-Board system and other field
support which is developed, maintained & components of signalling system of wayside
updated by UNISIG industrial consortium Stations. Integration of these systems
shall be adopted for Indian Railways. with other systems like Control Office
Functional Requirement Specifications Application (COA), Datalogger, Train
3
Modernisation of Railway Signalling & Telecom by providing ETCS L-2 and LTE based communication
network
Figure 1:
Figure 2:
Management System (TMS), Centralised running upto 220 Kmph. The OCC system
Traffic Control (CTC) shall provide com- shall be designed to be Modular, Robust,
plete control of the sections having an Scalable, Fault tolerant and based on Open
ETCS Level 2 system to support train architecture.
4 Gyandeep 2019
network
safety approval for the system. Independent Safety

(f) With the present system of Absolute Block Assessor (ISA) for safety assessment of the ETCS
System of working it is difficult to run Level 2 system, including Signalling equipment (if
trains at close intervals. Even if Intermedi- required) shall be done. The ISA will audit the
ate Block System is deployed, High density ETCS Level 2 system at all stages design, supply,
of trains cannot be achieved. ETCS Level installation and commissioning, to check compliance
2 System shall collect information from of the (to be implemented) ETCS Level 2 system
Track Vacancy detection system provided with Safety requirements and suggest corrective
in the Block Sections and based on vacancy actions.
information of track section ahead, it shall
provide Movement Authority to the trains The ETCS system realizes the two following
to run at very close intervals. main function:
1. Ensure the safe space separation among the

(g) All Level Crossing Gates falling in the trains working on the railway lines.
section shall be interlocked and provided
with suitable approach warning & ap- 2. Monitor the travel of the train, advising the
proach locking system. Interface with the driver if he pass a red (danger) signal or exceed
RBC shall be provided to ensure that all a speed restriction. In these cases, the system
LC Gates are closed & locked before any applied an automatic brake if the driver fails to
Movement Authority is transmitted to the respond to the warnings.
approaching trains.
2 Why ETCS L-2 based solu-
(h) The system shall also facilitate sending of
emergency messages and setting of speed
tion for MTCS?
restrictions from OCC. • Open Standard/Specifications (ERTMS)
(i) During installation and commissioning of • Multiple Vendors (UNISIG Consortium Mem-
the system, Training shall be provided to bers)
Railway personnel to enhance knowledge • Interoperable (TSI Certifications)
about ETCS system. AMC shall be done
by the OEM for 5 years after warranty pe- • Proven Technology, Validated & Certified by In-
riod of 1 year. ternational Agencies
A new OFC backbone shall be providedby RailTel • Independent Safety Assessment (ISA)
especially for signalling.
• Various systems/Sub-systems certified by Noti-
fied Bodies (NOBO)
Initially, Railway has planned to provide Onboard
system in 500 Locomotives of IR which is not suffi- • Well-developed eco system of equipment suppli-
cient to cover all the locos on IR. In this situation ers and support system already available
there shall be some trains fitted with Onboard
system while others are not. To deal with such Thus, an ETCS L-2 based signalling system
mixed traffic conditions, it shall be mandatory to only can provide effective solution on a large
modify Operating Rules. Indian Railway Network.
Compliance with European Standards EN/IEC, • ETCS Level 2 is a radio based train control sys-
RDSO/IRS specifications, CLW specifications for tem which is used as an overlay on an underlying
locomotives shall be mandatory. Safety Case, which signalling system. Fixed signals are not required.
will be a documented demonstration that the prod- • Movement authorities are generated trackside
uct complies with the specified safety requirements and are transmitted to the train via Euroradio.
conforming to EN50129 after Extensive Trials shall
be prepared. The Safety Case forms part of the • ETCS Level 2 provides a continuous speed super-
overall documentary evidence to be submitted to vision system, which also protects against over-
the relevant safety authority in order to obtain run of the authority.
Gyandeep 2019 5
network
• Train detection and train integrity supervision 4 ETCS is divided into 2 sub-
are performed by the trackside equipment of the
underlying signalling system (interlocking, track
systems: Trackside and On-
circuits etc.). board
• Level 2 is based on Euroradio for track to train 4.1 Trackside:
communication.
4.1.1 Euro-balise:
• Eurobalises used for location referencing.
• A passive device on the track, storing data.Does
• The trackside radio block centre which pro- not need an electric supply.
vides the information to the trains knows
each ETCS controlled train individually by the • It is the train antenna (BTM) that energizes it
ERTMS/ETCS identity of its leading ETCS on- when passing over it.
board equipment.
• Fixed or switchable, i.e. with the possibility of
changing information content related to the in-
3 ETCS - Baselines frastructure, such as speed limits, position refer-
ences, gradients, etc.
• It is a main version of System Requirement Spec-
ifications. • Compliant with UNISIG Subset 036 ver 3.1.0
(Dec 2015) Class A
• Interoperability is ensured by TSI Specifications.
• Device for intermittent transmission of data from
• Baseline 1 was issued in July 1998 by UNISIG track to train
Consortium.
• Highly reliable data transmission at train speeds
• Baseline 2 was issued in year 2004. SRS Subset- up to 350 km/h
026 was main part having 8 chapters. Class 1
SRS 2.2.2 was accepted by EC. • Uses RF signal (27.095 MHz 5 kHz) from BTM
to get activated
• Due to a large number of optional elements, a
revised SRS 2.3.0 was issued in March 2007. • Telegram length is 1023 bits with a Bit Error
Rate of 10-6
This was further updated based on the experi-
ences of Railways and SRS 2.3.0 D (Debugged)
• Location Accuracy is within 1 m
was issued in April 2008. This was final docu-
ment in Baseline 2 and implemented on a large
scale. 4.1.2 Radio Block Centre (RBC)
• Baseline 3 was proposed by ERA to include: • A device used at ETCS Level 2 acting as a cen-
tralised safety unit.
• a low-cost variant,
• The RBC is the heart of the ERTMS/ETCS level
• a new and superior model for braking curves, 2 trackside system.
• a cold movement optimization and • Using radio connection via GSM-R/LTE, re-
ceives train position information.
• Additional track description options.
• Sends movement authorisation and further infor-
• Baseline 3.3.0 was issued in November 2012 mation required by the train for its movement.
• This Baseline 3 series was accepted by EC in • Interacts with the interlocking to obtain
late May 2016. The SRS 3.6.0was published on signalling-related information, route status, etc.
15 June 2016. The B3R2 is marked as the stable
basis for subsequent ERTMS deployments in the • Also able to manage the transmission of selected
EU. RailTel has adopted Baseline 3 Release 2 trackside data and communicate with adjacent
(B3R2) SRS 3.6.0. RBCs.
6 Gyandeep 2019
network
Figure 3: Project Concept
Figure 4:
• It is the safe central trackside equipment of the area with which a LTE-R/GSM-R communica-
ERTMS/ETCS level 2 and is responsible for tion has been established.
the security of all trains running in the level 2
Gyandeep 2019 7
network
Figure 5: Working Diagram
Figure 6: Euro ballise
• In other words, the Radio Block Centre manages • Each RBC receives information from trains
the exchange of data required for safe train travel through position reports.
and separation, but only in its area of governance
responsibility (70 km). • The exchange of data between the RBC and
trains is done through the LTE-R/GSM-R com-
munication network.
• Each RBC sends movement authorities to trains
according to the information received from the • Each RBC calculates each train position and
Interlocking such as route occupancy, route records it in its own data base (this data base
state, etc. includes also the track layout). In this way, ev-
8 Gyandeep 2019
network
ery train in communication with the RBC shall 4.2.4 Juridical Recording Unit (JRU)
be supervised at any moment.
• Juridical Recorder Unit provides black box func-
tions.
4.1.3 Interlocking
• Stores the most important data and variables
• Interlocking is not an ETCS component, but from train journeys, allowing later analysis.
plays an important role in the signalling system.
4.2.5 Balise Transmission Module (BTM)
• Guarantees safety for train movements or routes
and ensures that the route for a specific train is • BTM is a module inside the ETCS on-board
maintained and that incompatible routes are not equipment for intermittent transmission between
simultaneously established. track and train
• Interface between the interlocking and ETCS • Processes signals received from the on-board an-
trackside subsystem is necessary in all ETCS. tenna and retrieves application data messages
from a balise.
4.2 On-board 4.2.6 Odometer (Distance Measurement

Unit)
4.2.1 Euro Vital Computer (EVC)
• Odometer is responsible for calculating the dis-
• Core of the ETCS on-board device tance run by the train
• Part of the Automatic Train Protection logic • Consists of redundant tachometry and radar,
able to calculate distance, speed and accelera-
• Unit with which all other train functions inter- tion.
act, such as the odometer or the RAN data re-
ception.
4.2.7 Other on board equipment
• Wheel Sensor Brake Interface Unit with its Iso-
4.2.2 Driver Machine Interface (DMI)
lation unit
• Interface between the driver and the ETCS. In
• Antenna & Modem for LTE Network
most cases LCD touch screen panel is provided
for control and indication functions • Doppler Radar for Slip/Slide control, if required
• LCD panel displays Current / permitted speed, • Power Supply Unit

Symbols, text messages, Movement Authority,
Audio & Visual warning, Speed Restrictions and
Track Ahead Free etc. 5 On Board System - Functions
• Allowing driver to enter the required input data • Reads Eurobalises and sends its position to the
to the systemby using soft keys. radio block centre.
• Receives a movement authority (MA) and the
• Allowing driver to visualize the output data. track data from RBC.
• As per CENELC Spec. ERA ERTMS 015560 • Receives data from DMI & Odometer.
• Activates system tests and language selection • Select Speeds permitted at each location ahead
i.e PSR & TSR.
• Provides means to Isolate On Board System
• Calculate a dynamic speed profile taking into ac-
count the train running/braking characteristics
4.2.3 Train Interface (TI) and the track data.
• The TI is the interface that allows the ETCS • Compare the actual train speed with the permit-
to exchange information and issue commands to ted speed and command of the brake application
the rolling stock. if necessary.
Gyandeep 2019 9
network
Figure 7:
• Monitor the actual train speed with release speed • Fail safe operation i.e. the system shall generate
when the train is approaching a Red Signal and Emergency Brake command in case of System
if the train passes the Red Signal, it shall ap- Failure.
ply Emergency Brakes to stop the train within
Signal Overlap
7 Selection of suitable tech-
6 On Board System - Require- nology for High Speed Mo-
ments bile Communication compat-
6.1 Data logging & Diagnostics re- ible with Modern Signalling
quirements Systems like ETCS L-2
• Data accessible through a PC/Laptop using
standard interface. 7.1 Features of GSM-R vital from
Railway perspective and therefore
• Memory sufficient to keep log of one week mini-
have to be part of new technology
mum
• User friendly data diagnostics features • Group, emergency calls
• Storage capacity to keep log of 60 • Functional, location based Addressing
6.2 Interoperability • Priority calls (Mandatory)

• On Board System of a manufacturer shall be
compatible and interoperable with Track side • Voice Broadcast calls
system (Balise/RBC/LTE) of another manufac-
turer and vice versa. • High availability
• EMI/EMC compliance as per EN50121 and EN

• Guaranteed QoS & Network Coverage parame-
50238
ters
• Adequate redundancy to achieve MTBSF of en-
tire system of more than 20,000 Hrs. • Extended voice services
10 Gyandeep 2019
network
7.2 IR taking quantum jump with • Sections to be awarded will be decided by RailTel
LTE considering least cost combination.
With IR deciding on LTE/4G (Release 14) forward • JV/Consortium is permitted for participation.
compatible with Release 15 & 16 and FRMCS im-
plementation with minimum change in hardware, it • LTE Band 700 MHz / 900 MHz due to availabil-
has leap frogged over Europe and other advanced ity of multiple vendors
countries on Mobile Railway Train Communication. • LTE network shall be built for 900 MHz band
Europe is planning on FRMCS from 2022 onwards. and migration to 700 MHz shall be done after
FRMCS is proposed to be technology agnostic based allotment of spectrum in 700 MHz band.
on 4G/5G. India joins a select band of three countries
China, Australia and Korea in carrying out LTE tri- • Maximum No. of trains considered per RBC will
als. be 60-70
• Location of RBC to be decided based on Geo-

7.3 Following applications/facilities graphical redundancy.
will fuel growth in data usage
• Location of EPC will be RailTel Data Cen-
on developing LTE technology in ter (Secunderabad) with full Back-up in RailTel
Indian Railways Data Center (Gurugram)
1. Mission Critical Passenger Safety Services & Ap- • Provision of interface for existing EI at wayside
plications through ETCS Level 2 or similar Rail- stations with RBC;
way Signalling system on IR.
• Interface of existing RRI/Major PIs with RBC
2. Video Surveillance (Live Feed) through CCTV
cameras in trains along with Video Analytics for • Initial Testing for 20Km in each section to test
Passenger Security. working of ETCS on LTE network.
3. Faster data network Communication for voice, • Incase ETCS does not work on LTE in all four
video and other related application. sections, GSM-R network may be adopted.
4. More network-enabled devices (IoT based Asset • Optimization of Track Circuiting with Multi Sec-
reliability Monitoring). tion Digital Axle Counter (MSDAC), Track cir-
cuit length-maximum 800m.
5. Train and way side Telemetry through Mobile
• Locos considered are WAP5, WAP7, WAG9,
communications.
WAG9H. MEMU and EMU are not considered.
8 Salient features of bids in- 9 Initial Trials

vited by RailTel
• Initial Trials shall be conducted within 8 months
• Tender is of Design Build Type.
• Section of 3 Stations (2 Block Sections) in each
• Signalling vendor to be in Lead role;LTE OEM contract package nominated for trials
(not vendor) as Sub-contractor. • 2 Locos to be fitted with on-board systems for
trials
• LTE OEM can support more than one Signalling
Vendor • On successful Trials, Full scale implementation
to be undertaken.
• Qualification Criteria: UNISIG Full Member as
signalling lead bidder, participation through In- • In case trials fail in a contract package, LTE sys-
dian subsidiary/ associate / sole authorized part- tem shall be replaced with successful LTE system
ner. of other contract package
• Not more than 2-sections to be awarded to a sin- • In case trial fails in all 4 contract packages, GSM-
gle bidder. R with GPRS shall be deployed
Gyandeep 2019 11
network
• During Initial trial phase of 8 months, the LTE around Rs. 1600 Crore. Work of provision of Elec-
capability and functionality shall be verified us- tronic Interlocking (EI) at 13 stations of Northern
ing simulated RBC & OBU. In the subsequent Railway is already in progress in association with M/s
6 months, the basic functionality of ETCS L- Siemens India Ltd. The bid for the work of Moderni-
2 i.e. SPAD Prevention, Speed Restriction En- sation of Signalling & Telecom on Indian Rail-
forcement etc. on a section having two block sec- ways comprising of provision of ETCS L-2 along with
tions and 3 stations using two locomotives shall LTE based communication system on 650 Kms in four
be tested.” sections of Indian Railways have already been invited
and are under evaluation. REL is also actively work-
ing on Predictive Maintenance of various Signalling
10 Bidding Progress gears, Electronic Train Station Register (ETSR), Au-
tomation of Signalling design etc.
• Bidding document uploaded on IREPS website
on 16-03-2019.
• Pre-Bid conference held on 16-04-2019.
• Queries were responded and further extensions
to the bid submission date were allowed at the
request of various bidders.
• Total 15 Corrigendum were issued on IREPS
website.
• Extended Bid submission date was up to 15-10-
2019. Techno-Commercial bids were opened on
15-10-2019. Four offers were received through
online submission on IREPS website. The same
are under evaluation.
Shri A.K. Sablania, an

IRSSE (Indian Railway Ser-
vice of Signal Engineering)
1982 Batch is presenting
working as Executive Direc-
tor (Data Network &
Marketing) in RailTel Corpo-
ration of India Ltd. He is also
having the charge of Direc-
tor (Technical) & CEO
in RailTel Enterprise Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary
of RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. Prior to his join-
ing of RCIL/REL, he has worked in various capacity
in Signaling and Telecom department in various Zonal
Railways In Project and O&M department of
Indian Railways with last posting as Chief Commu-
nication Engineer in North Central Railway at Alla-
habad. He has strong technical background having
done his graduation in Electronics & Communi-
cation Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering.
As Director & CEO/REL, he is responsible for
creation of first Signaling and ICT project Division
handling Indian Railways Signaling projects of Elec-
tronic Interlocking, ETCS Level-2 and LTE works of
12 Gyandeep 2019
Location Referencing In ERTMS/ETCS
P Venkata Ramana, Dean(HAG),IRISET, Secunderabad
In ETCS Application Levels II and III, the Radio On-board over-reading amount and under-reading
Block Center (RBC) generates the Movement Au- amount (odometer accuracy plus the error in detec-
thority (MA) and conveys it to the Onboard Unit tion of the balise group location reference) (ii) The
(OBU) of the train. The Movement Authority is the location accuracy of the LRBG.
distance upto which the train is authorised to move.
The last point of the Movement Authority is known The confidence interval increases in relation to
as the End of Authority (EOA). The Onboard Unit the distance travelled from the LRBG depending on
(OBU) determines the distance to End of Authority the accuracy of odometer equipment until it is reset
(EOA) and monitors the speed of the train continu- when another balise group becomes the LRBG.
ously.
Please refer to the figure 3.
1 Train Position: Confidence Interval is a function of Location
accuracy (Q LOCACC) and Odometer Error.
The Train Position is always determined longitudinal
along the route, even though the route might be set
through a complex track layout (Figure 1) When OBU has read the balise group 1, the Con-
fidence Interval is reset taking into account the loca-
Train Position is defined as the position of the tion accuracy of balise group 1, and on-board toler-
train front in relation to a Last Relevant Balise ances when determining the reference location of the
Group (LRBG). Train front is the front end of the balise group, the nominal distance to End of Author-
locomotive where the cab is active. LRBG is the last ity (EOA) is relocated by subtracting D LINK (1)
balise group train passed over, which is valid and from nominal distance (1), resulting in nominal dis-
linked (Figure 4). tance (2). Nominal distance (1) may be the distance
to EOA received in the Movement Authority(MA) or
Train Position comprises of three entities- the result of a previous relocation.
• Directional train position information in refer-

ence to the balise group orientation of the LRBG.
• Confidence interval 4 Train Front End:
• Estimated train front end position i.e., the esti-
mated distance between the LRBG and the front The train front end position is identified in the follow-
end of the train ing way (i) The estimated front end position (ii) The
maximum safe front end position, differing from the
estimated position by the under-reading amount in
2 Directional train position: the distance measured from the LRBG plus the loca-
tion accuracy of the LRBG. i.e. in relation to the ori-
Directional train position is determined by the entation of the train this position is in advance of the
position of the train front end (nominal or reverse estimated position (iii) The minimum safe front end
side of the LRBG), the train orientation and the position, differing from the estimated position by the
train running direction (Figure 2). over-reading amount in the distance measured from
the LRBG plus the location accuracy of the LRBG
i.e. in relation to the orientation of the train this
position is in rear of the estimated position.
3 Confidence Interval:
The rear end position is referenced in the same way.
The confidence interval to the train position refers to However min safe rear end is only safe if sent together
the distance to the LRBG and takes into account (i) with train integrity information.
13
Figure 1:
Figure 2:
Figure 3:
Figure 4:
14 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 5:
5 Explanation: location is not as critical as the SvL. The supervision

against the assumed location for the EOA therefore
OBU determines train speed and also its location. matches the train s estimated EOA location.
The same will be conveyed to Radio Block Cen-
ter(RBC). It conveys Train Position relative to Balise As an example,consider the following:
group. OBU ensures that train does not exceed
speed profile, which is determined from odometry • A train that passed a balise group in the last 100
and balise group location. m
Estimated Position of the train may not be Actual • The location of that balise group is known to an
Position of the train on the ground(Figure 5). accuracy of ±5m
• The trains odometry is accurate to ± (5 m +

Two types of errors may crop up in odometer - 5%) of distance travelled since balise group
Under-read or Over-read. For Safety related reasons,
train utilises worst case odometry error. To manage Note: the fixed ±5m tolerance is intended to cover
inaccuracies, OBU calculates a tolerance window the longitudinal uncertainty of the balise reader in
either side of estimated position of the train - detecting the balise reference location.
minimum safe front end and maximum safe end.
The calculated odometry error will be
OBU determines train location with respect to ±(5m+5m+5%of100m), i.e., ±15m. The worst
EOA and Supervised Location (SvL). SvL may be case under-reading odometry error will, therefore, be
an Overlap (OL), a Danger Point (DP) or an EOA 15 m. However, the actual odometry error could be
itself. OBU will estimate the distance to travel under-reading by only 2 m.
before reaching the EOA. Due to inaccuracies in
odometry, the estimated distance to the EOA will The figure 6 shows the relationship between the
not necessarily be the same as the actual distance actual locations and the assumed locations for both
to the EOA. In order to ensure that the train never the EOA and the SvL.
exceeds the actual SvL, OBU assumes worst case
under-reading odometry error, i.e., it supervises the It can be seen that:
train based on the maximum safe front end.
• In neither case does the assumed location of the
The assumed distance to the SvL, that is, the one EOA match the actual location of the EOA on
the train supervises to, is therefore on the approach the ground nor does the assumed location of the
to the actual SvL. On the other hand, the EOA SvL match the actual location of the SvL on the
is supervised assuming no odometry error, as this ground
Gyandeep 2019 15
Figure 6:
• The assumed SvL will never be beyond the ac- He is having 32 years ex-
tual SvL, even for a worst- case under-reading perience in Signalling. He
error; it uses the maximum safe front end of the executed several projects in
train SCR and ECoR involving EI
systems including CTC over
• For an under-reading error, the assumed EOA Networked EIs. He taught
will be beyond the actual EOA Signalling at IRISET as Se-
• For an over-reading error, the assumed EOA will nior Professor.
be on the approach to the actual EOA He served Atkins Rail as
Signalling Designer for UK Railways.
• The resultant effect is to bring the assumed EOA He presented several technical papers at IIT
and assumed SvL closer together by a value equal Kharagpur, IRSTE Workshops, IE forums, PCSTEs
to the calculated worst-case odometry error. Conferences and published papers on subjects ETCS,
EI, CTC, Heavy Haul, Lightning Protection, etc., He
References: is convener for the Committee on Standardisation
of S&T Drawings and Documentation, and published
1. ERTMS/ETCS System Requirement Specifi- Standards of S&T Drawings V2.0. He co-authored
cations (Subset-026-1 ISSUE : 3.4.0 dated Chapter on EI for SEM.
12/05/2014) He has established the society IRSTE Licensing Or-
2. GE/GN8605 ETCS System Description Issue ganisation at IRISET for regulation of S&T industry
One: February 2010 Railway Group Guidance in regard to design and installation of signalling sys-
Note tems, and presently serving as Vice-Chairman for the
organisation.
He visited the UK, France, Japan and Hongkong to
study modern and high speed signalling systems.
He is a Certified Internal Auditor, Workplace As-
The information / views expressed in this pa- sessor & Java Programmer.
per is of the authors and are based on their He is a recipient of Principals Medal of NAIR, GM
experience. Comments / observations may be Award for Development of MIS Applications; CSTE
sent to the author at dean@iriset.railnet.gov.in. and GM Awards for Best maintained division while
he was SrDSTE/SC.
P Venkata Ramana, Dean IRISET graduated from
NITW in ECE, served as Computer Systems Engi-
neer in Engineers India Limited, New Delhi before
joining Indian Railways as IRSSE 1985 batch Offi-
cer.
16 Gyandeep 2019
Earth leakage detection & risk mitigation
B. Sambi Reddy [Rtd. CSTE],Chief Engineer, Efftronics Systems PVT. LTD
1 Introduction • Intermediate termination of distant cable is done

at advanced starter location box.
• Usage of copper cable for transmission of failsafe
information through electrical supply for control- • Conductors of distant signal were earthed at the
ling of signalling elements and getting their sta- entry of location box due to damage of cable in-
tus is the current practice on IR. sulation. Tail cables of advanced starter were
also damaged at the same location.
• Copper medium is prone to electro-magnetic in-
fluences. Even though certain precautions are • This caused galvanic coupling of power supply
taken to mitigate the risks still a lot has to be in both the conductors and the green lamp of
done. advanced starter signal was lit without operation
of signal.
• This article discusses the methods to detect
earth leakage failures making use of ELD and Case 2 -Kazipet RRI-1998 as shown in fig. 3
data logger
• Tail cables carrying point detection supply were
damaged after packing with crowbars by track
2 Risks of Earth Faults - Case maintenance staff at Kazipet RRI on SCR. It
Studies causing earth fault on all the conductors.
Earth faults influences signalling system in two • Point was in normal when fault occurred. Sub-
ways - sequently, command for setting point to reverse
was generated in a route setting operation.
1. Makes the system vulnerable to external surges
reducing availability of the system • During operation commenced by unlocking of
point. As soon as the point machine was un-
2. Can cause unsafe side failures of signalling sys- locked, detection relay [NWKR] dropped. 24 V
tem Impact of lightning on signalling system DC supply was already available on the RWKR
with cables with earth fault tail cables RWKR picked up bypassing the de-
Impact of lightning on signalling system tection contacts of point machine and cut off
with cables with earth fault power to point machine.
• Striking of lightning a few kilometres away from • Point was in normal with unlocked point ma-
the location of earth fault on signalling cable can chine and reverse detection was available. Signal
introduce a surge into the power supply system was cleared to an unintended line.
through galvanic coupling as shown in figure 1.
• This can cause damage to power supply
system and all the signalling elements that
3 Insufficiency of design pre-
are connected to the power supply at that cautions Floating supply
time.
double cutting & cross pro-
tection
1. Railway signalling circuits are designed to work
on floating supply circuit to providegalvanic iso-
lation with other supplies with earth return.
2. Double cutting and cross protection are provided

Case 1 -Secunderabad RRI -1998 as shown in to prevent the interference of spurious supplies
fig. 9 in case of earth faults.
17
Figure 1: Galvanic coupling between lightning and earth fault introducing surge
Figure 2: Earth leakage causing lighting of unintended green lamp of advanced starter
3. Cross protection becomes ineffective if the short – if there is no system of detecting first
/ earth fault occurs say at a distance of 1 km earth fault and rectifying it before sec-
from cross-protection as the current drawn by ond fault occurrence
the short wont blow the fuse of interfering source.
– in case multiple faults occur with one
4. All the above safety features become ineffective incidence of interference
18 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 3: Out of correspondence of point due to earth fault of detection cable
Figure 4: Double cutting and cross protection
4 Leakage detection followed. One of the popular methods of testing is

shown below.
1. Simple method to measure leakage Leakage de- If the positive busbar or the conductors carrying
tection by periodical testingwas one of the processes positive supply has leakage lamp is lit when the bulb
Gyandeep 2019 19
Figure 5: Testing of leakage in negative conductor bulb connected to positive conductor and earth is lit
through path 1
is connected to negative busbar and earth. It is vice leakage values

versa, in case of fault in negative busbar conductor.
This method is crude as the lamp brightness is the DC Busbar individual values of V1&V2 and sum
only way to find severity of leakage which depends of V1&V2 [irrespective of polarity] represents mea-
on the personal assessment of the staff rather than sure of leakage
on data. iii. Attending leakage failure - severity of
2. System followed on British railways leakage - roles played by staff
[where online ELDs are not provided]
On IR, process for attending leakage fault is not a. Classification of severity of leakage & action to
elaborated. Process followed by British Railways is be taken
given below which may be of use to develop process
by IR. • The value of leakage for classification of sever-
i.Manual measurement of leakage ity of leakage is fixed irrespective of number of
functions fed or length of cable fed by the busbar.
(a) Two voltage measurements are made volt-
• The safety value for leakage can be common for
age of each conductor with respect to earth
all lengths of busbars. But it is desirable to
say V1 & V2 shown in the diagrams below.
keepthe values of reportable & acceptable ac-
(b) For DC busbar, measurements are made tions based on the length of cable / number of
directly. For AC busbar, measurement is functions fed by the busbar
made through an adopter shown below.
b. Responsibilities of various levels of main-
ii. Reportable acceptable safety ranges of tenance personnel
20 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 6:
Figure 7:
5 ELD Earth Leakage Detec- 2. ELD capacity is mentioned in terms of channels

each supply is monitored by one channel.ELD
tor to monitor and measure monitors leakage in 110 / 60 / 24 / 12 V DC &
earth leakage AC supplies.
ELD by continuously monitoring the leakage pro- 3. ELD provides audio-visual alarm as soon as it
vides alarm when it exceeds set limit. detects the leakage beyond set limits. Mainte-
1. ELDs as per RDSO spec 256 / 2002 can detect nance staff available at ELD has to take action
leakage from 2 K ohms to one Mega ohm to identify the fault and rectify.
Gyandeep 2019 21
Figure 8:
Figure 9: ELD detecting earth leakage
4. ELD has a potential free contact which operates 3. ELD cannot detect second leakage fault even af-
for the first leakage failure. Potential free contact ter first fault disappears unless ELD is reset.
is wired to data logger as digital input to send Real benefit of monitoring ELD by data logger
online SMS to maintenance staff. is not transferred to the user because of this lim-
itation.Some railways [WCR] conducted trials
on auto-reset type ELD successfully. ELD with
6 Limitations of present ELD auto-reset feature is being deployed on EDFC
project successfully.
1. ELD can only find leakage but cannot identify
the defective conductor 4. At present ELD is providing only potential free
contact as interface to data logger. There is need
2. ELD works on AC supply only it is difficult to to provide the actual value of leakage through a
ensure uninterrupted AC supply. Because of this port to data logger. From the value obtained, it
number of false warnings are generated when- is possible to decide whether it requires immedi-
ever power is interrupted to ELD. Option for ate action or not. It paves the way for predictive
working on 24 V DC to be provided maintenance.
22 Gyandeep 2019
Observation Action Role Responsibility

1 Less than reportable No action 1 Responsible Responsible for action &
range - no deterrioration - Person who implementation
- compared to previous perform the
measured value activity
2 Less than reportable Inform 2 Accountable- Has powers to say YES
range - trend is worsening supervisor Person who /NO for the action to be
significantly from previous is ultimately taken
results accountable
3 Less than reportable Inform 3 Consulted Helps in decision taking
range - but change is fast supervisor Persons for action [two-way com-
- compared to previous to be con- munication]
measured value sulted before
4 More than the maxi- Inform decision
mum acceptable value supervisor- 4 Informed Persons to be informed af-
within 24 Persons to ter a decision is taken or
hours be informed action is taken [one-way
5 More than the maxi- Taken action communication]
mum safety value
Table 2:
Table 1:
out the time of supply withdrawal from the cable

5. While the first limitation can be taken care of
and application of supply to the cable conductors.
by data logger; remaining can be addressed by
From ELD contacts it is possible to find out the fault
modifying the RDSO spec.
appearance and disappearance [in case of modified
6. The following diagram presents the events in case ELDs]. When both the events are linked, defective
of manual reset & auto reset of ELDs conductor can be declared on real time basis.
7 Usage of Data logger to iden-

tify defective conductor along 8 Identification of defective
with ELD conductor with ELD & data
1. Most of the insulation failures occur due to dam- logger field results
age of cable conductors connected to a signalling
element. Software solution through data logger to identify de-
fective conductor is provided on NCR with old ver-
2. Since a busbarpowers number of signalling ele- sion ELD [with manual reset] and on EDFC with
ments, unless the element is identified, it is dif- new version ELD [with auto reset].
ficult to rectify the fault.
The typical alarms generated during testing on
3. Data logger through the relays monitors the sta- Agra division with manual reset ELDare given be-
tus of signalling elements. It also monitors the low:
leakage fault occurrence. Alarm 1 & 3 are generated by simulating earth
4. By developing a suitable software, it is possible fault on 01 CTPR and 9 HECR conductors. Alarm 2
to precisely identify the signalling conductor reis generated when the fault was simulated on busbar.
sponsible for the leakage. The typical alarms generated during testing on
EDFC at New Tundlawith auto reset ELD are given
5. However, if leakage occurs in the common por- below:
tion of bus-bar, it cannot be identified
[observe fault message generation when sup-
From the state of change of TPR, NWKPR, ply is withdrawn from faulty conductor]
CHYR, NWR, HR & LXCR it is possible to find
Gyandeep 2019 23
Figure 10: ELD with manual reset fails to detect 2nd earth fault
9 Summing Up ii. Providing leakage value in soft form to

data logger
1. Earth Leakage of power supply leads to unsafe iii. Ability to work on 24 V DC
side failures of signalling system. Reduction of
MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) of earth faults 4. Railways must classify the earth leakage severity
reduces the chances of having unsafe failures. by the value of leakage and keep the process in
place for the rectification.
2. MTTR of leakage faults can be reduced by ap-
plying data analytics to the data captured by
data logger from ELD & station signalling and
identifying the faulty conductor instantaneously.
The information / views expressed in this pa-
3. There is need to relook at the Spec. of ELD
per is of the authors and are based on their
made 20 years back and modify it suitable to
experience. Comments / observations may be
present needs. Three modifications are sug-
sent to the author at sambireddy@efftronics.com
gested
i. Providing auto reset facility
24 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 11: Typical potential free contacts of relays and ELD for 24 V DC external supply
Station Fault Message

1 VRBD Earth leakage occurred on
24V EXT-S/Z supply at
11:27:28.
Check for fault in the con-
ductor of 01CTPR UP at
11:27:26
2 VRBD Earth Leakage Appeared
In 24V EXT-S/Z Supply Station Fault message
3 VRBD Earth leakage occurred 1 New Earth leakage occurred on
on110VSIG-S/Zsupply at Tundla 110 V DC Pointsupply(ELD)
13:16:08. at 13:49:16
Check for fault in the con- Check for fault in the con-
ductor of 9HECR UP at ductor of 231NWR UP at
13:16:06 13:49:15
2 New Earth leakage disappeared on
Table 3: Tundla 110 V DC Pointsupply(ELD)
at 13:49:22
Shri B. Sambi Reddy Check for fault in the con-
,IRSSE, Voluntarily re-tired ductor of 231NWR DN at
as CSTE / CN /ECOR in 13:49:21
2007. Work-ing as Chief
Engineer in EFFTRONICS Table 4:
Systems PVT. LTD. from
the last 10 years.
Gyandeep 2019 25
Competence Management in S&T: IRSTELO
V.N.M. Rao, CSTE/Projects/MAS/S.Rly.
K.S.GNANESWARAN, ASTE/D&D/MAS/S.Rly.,
1 Need of Competence Assess- 1.3 How Industry will benefit from Li-
ment and Role of IRSTELO censing System?
(a) Qualified personnel will handle the equip-
ment for installation.
1.1 Objective of Licensing
(b) Ensures health, safety and environment
(HSE) guidelines at worksite.
The objective of Licensing is to provide a means to
ensure any railway signalling and telecommunications (c) Follows guidelines, instructions and draw-
work which could compromise railway safety is only ings for proper installation.
undertaken by persons, who have demonstrated that (d) Ensures pre-commissioning & postcommis-
they possess the requisite knowledge, skills, and at- sioning checklists and certifies the installa-
titude. Licensing Scheme provides assurance about tion.
the competence of individuals to carry out technical
safety-critical or safety-related work on signalling & (e) Licence holder assists ’Verification Tester’
Telecommunications equipment and systems. It pro- and ’Functional Tester’ to check the func-
vides a cross industry accepted benchmark of com- tionality and integrity of the installation.
petence for personnel carrying out a range of activ-
ities from maintenance through design, installation,
testing, and project engineering and senior technical
2 Licensing Organisation
management.
The Institution of Railway Signalling & Telecom-
munication Engineers Licensing Organisation
(IRSTELO) is the Certification Body and its Licens-
ing Scheme shall be operating in accordance with
the Terms of Reference issued to it by the Institution
1.2 Scope of the IRSTELO Licensing
Advisory Council.
Scheme The Advisory Council is the governing body. The
composition of the Advisory Council shall broadly
Institution of Railway Signal & Telecommunication reflect the composition of the railway signalling and
Engineers Licensing Organisation (IRSTELO) is an telecommunications industry, and the organisations
independent registered society solely to operate Li- participating in the scheme, without a single interest
censing Scheme for Competence Management in Rail- predominating.
way S&T field. The Institution is a certification body, Advisory Council appoints the Chairman, Vice-
not an enforcement agency. It shall be applicable to Chairman and Members of the Executive Council.
all persons engaged in the Specification, Design, In- The Chairman of the Executive Council is the senior
stallation, Testing, Maintenance, or Management of executive of the Licensing Scheme and shall report
signalling, telecommunications and their subsystems, to the Advisory Council in its role as the Execu-
which could affect railway safety; and to persons in- tive Body for the Scheme. The Executive Council
volved with the training, supervision and manage- shall have the power to establish sub-committees and
ment of those people. The IRSTELO Licence may be working groups reporting to it, and to delegate to
issued to any person who can satisfy the performance them responsibility for overseeing particular aspects
criteria and knowledge requirementslaid down in the of the scheme management and development and to
IRSTELO Licensing Scheme Competence Standards. approve issue of licences.
The licensing assessment has no distinction between The Licensing Registrar shall be appointed by the
employed and self-employed persons; or the contrac- Executive Council to manage the day-to-day oper-
tual relationship under which they are working. ation of the licensing scheme, conducting technical
26
Figure 1: Licensing Organisation
examinations and to report to the Executive Coun- activity. These categories will be used to define the
cil. tasks for which a person has been assessed as compe-
Technical Advisor may be appointed by the Ex- tent and shall appear on the licence. A unique code
ecutive Council to provide guidance on engineering number shall be assigned to each category. Each Li-
matters. Internal Verifier may be appointed by the cence Category there shall be a Competence Standard
Executive Council to audit the licensing scheme and which shall include a Scope Statement that defines
processes. the range of work covered, and any prerequisites to
Workplace Assessors may be appointed by the Ex- the issue of a licence for the category. The Compe-
ecutive Council for initial assessment of Licensing Ap- tence Standards shall define the particular skills and
plicants. Competence Assessors may be appointed knowledge that are essential for the competent exe-
by the Executive Council for assessment of Licensing cution of the work covered by the category. It shall
Applicants on recommendation of Zonal Railways. also set out the performance criteria against which
All persons engaged in the management or opera- the performance of the candidates for licenses is to
tion of the licensing scheme shall have the qualifica- be assessed.
tions and competence necessary for the role they are
required to perform.
The standard of competence for each licence cate-

2.1 Competence Standards
gory shall be that of an experienced worker. Guid-
The field of railway signal and telecommunications ance for assessors and candidates, which may include
engineering shall be subdivided into a range of cat- evidence and assessment requirements, shall also be
egories each of which shall define a particular work provided as part of the Competence Standard.
Gyandeep 2019 27
2.2 Licensing categories measures in a traceable manner that can

be readily interpreted by others (verifiers
At present, the following Licensing categories are be-
or testers).
ing operated by IRSTELO: Three Licenses in Sig-
nalling namely, Scheme Designer, Logic Designer and (f) He produce designs that are sufficiently
Design Verifier and Three Licenses in Installation and and clearly detailed and follow the cor-
Testing of Signalling- namely Installer, Verification rect conventions together with supporting
Tester and Functional Tester. documents required to complete the al-
located design package within the agreed
2.2.1 Role of Scheme Designer timescales.
Scheme Designer’ Licencee is a qualified person who (g) He follows the correct procedures for the
will be responsible for producing Signal Interlocking application of configuration control to his
Plans, Front Plate Diagrams, Route Control Charts, designs.
Aspect Sequence Chart, Cable Route and Distribu- (h) He confirms that the design decisions are
tion Plans, Relay Disposition Charts, Detailing of Lo- recorded and in accordance with health and
cation boxes, Power Load Calculations, Power Supply safety legislation. Where the hazards can-
arrangements, Earthing & Bonding Plans, Equipo- not be entirely eliminated by design, he con-
tential Bonding, Surge Protection Plans, Bits As- firms that the appropriate authorities are
sessment, Track Bonding Diagrams, Track Detection informed so that they can be protected by
Arrangements - integrated design details for relevant other systems or managed through mainte-
parts of a new or altered signalling system or lay- nance or operational procedures.
out for which he has authority to work on from his
(i) He confirms the design is property regis-
employer confirming that it meets the requirements
tered and stored securely at the appropri-
given in the scope of works and that the operational,
ate location in accordance with organisa-
technical and safety principles have been met.
tional procedures with appropriate levels of
(a) ”Integrated” means that the designer is tak- integrity and confidentiality.
ing a holistic view (eg that a change to one
control may have an impact on others). 2.2.2 Role of ’Logic Designer’
(b) He may use of standard design constructs (a) He will be responsible for producing inte-
and configure them to the particular im- grated design details and supporting doc-
plementation within their defined bound- umentation using first principles for rele-
aries. He identifies and escalate where re- vant parts of a new or altered signalling
quirements cannot be met by the standard system for which he has authority to work
constructs that he has been authorised to on from his employer, confirming that it
use. He escalates these to the relevant au- meets the requirements given in the scope
thority for approval if a solution is required of works and that the operational, technical
which is outside the limits of his own au- and safety principles have been met.
thority.
(b) He will either be modifying established de-
(c) He will identify and promptly close out any sign constructs or developing new ones for
anomalies with the requirements and the the particular application.
specification.
(c) ”First principles” refers to the fact that the
(d) He confirms that the timeframe and re-
candidate is changing the fundamental op-
sources allocated to him are sufficient to
erating principles of the system and is re-
complete the tasks and. identify materials
quired to consider the full implications of
formats and conventions to be used.
their work.
(e) He confirms potential hazards are identified
(d) ”Integrated” means that the designer is tak-
and propose suitable control measures. He
ing a holistic view (eg that a change to one
identifies any reasonably foreseeable haz-
control may have an impact on others).
ards, at all phases of the life cycle associ-
ated with the design and report them along (e) He will identify and promptly close out any
with suggested control measures to the rele- anomalies with the requirements and the
vant authorities. He applies agreed control specification.
28 Gyandeep 2019
(f) He confirms that the timeframe and re- special engineering solutions, timing con-
sources allocated to him are sufficient to straints, etc. He decides which solutions
complete the tasks and identify materials that meet the technical requirements are
formats and conventions to be used. possible including identification and assess-
(g) He confirms potential hazards are identified ment of the expected benefits, weaknesses
and propose suitable control measures. He and implications of the options, including
identifies any reasonably foreseeable haz- requirements to document non-compliance
ards, at all phases of the life cycle associ- issues.
ated with the design and report them along (p) He ensures that all documentation you pre-
with suggested control measures to the rele- pare has the appropriate security marking
vant authorities. He applies agreed control and that he follows the controls the mark-
measures in a traceable manner that can ing requires.
be readily interpreted by others (verifiers • Configuration control of software and
or testers). data
(h) He produce designs that are sufficiently • Use of appropriate security software
and clearly detailed and follow the cor- • Protection of passwords and access
rect conventions together with supporting codes
documents required to complete the al- • No use of unauthorised memory sticks,
located design package within the agreed CD ROMS, USB drives, etc
timescales. • No connection of unauthorised per-
(i) He follows the correct procedures for the sonal computers/ electronic devices/
application of configuration control to his smart phones etc. to the system.
designs.
2.2.3 Role of Installer
(j) He confirms that the design decisions are
recorded and in accordance with health and (a) ’Installer’ Licencee is a qualified person who
safety legislation. Where the hazards can- can read and understand, interpret, guide
not be entirely eliminated by design, he con- and/ or execute the installation work, as
firms that the appropriate authorities are per approved guidelines, checklists, plans,
informed so that they can be protected by circuits and drawings.
other systems or managed through mainte- (b) He follows relevant technical information,
nance or operational procedures. standards, diagrams, instructions, specifi-
(k) He confirms the design is property regis- cations and schedules for the installation of
tered and stored securely at the appropri- signalling equipment. He will identify rele-
ate location in accordance with organisa- vant diagrams, correctly locate and identify
tional procedures with appropriate levels of the equipment, components and cables to
integrity and confidentiality. be worked on.
(l) He confirms design requirements for com- (c) He provides guidance in preparation of site
munication and cyber security have been for installation.
incorporated. (d) He ensures the prescribed pre-
commissioning and post-commissioning
(m) He confirms that appropriate account has
checklists for the system and certifies to
been taken of security requirements, regu-
that effect.
lations, standards and government agency
advice in the preparation and delivery of (e) He identifies all the necessary safety re-
your designs. quirements and take relevant action to en-
sure his own safety, that of others and when
(n) He ensures and confirms that required pro- working on the railway infrastructure, rail-
tocols for the use of software, hardware and way operations. The safety requirements
transferable hardware to ensure cyber and may include - relevant local safety certifi-
communication security have been included cates, the implementation of relevant doc-
in the design package. umentation, the implementation of a safe
(o) He justifies and records the reasons for non- system of work, the use of relevant personal
standard arrangement, unusual, complex or protective equipment.
Gyandeep 2019 29
(f) He Identifies and use the correct tools and required to maintain, and keep up to date, a log-
equipment for the installation and check book in support of the licence, containing details of
that they are in a safe and usable condition the training and competence assessments, details of
and calibrated. Examples of the types of works undertaken demonstrating that the skills con-
tools and equipment used in the installation tinue tobe used, and any endorsements resulting from
include: Power tools, Hand tools, Wire and complaints made against licence holder.
cable strippers, IDC tools (i.e. Krone tool), The logbook shall be reviewed as part of the assess-
Crimping tools, Multimeters, Gauges. ment for the issue, extension or renewal, of a licence;
(g) He draws, secures and terminates wires and and the Executive Council may also require licence
cables correctly. Examples of terminations holders to provide their log books for review at any
include: Crimping, IDC, Mechanical, Sol- other time.
dering, use of plug couplers and pre-formed All logbook entries shall be dated and be certified
terminations. by the employer, client or other person in a position
to verify the accuracy of the entries. Where the cer-
(h) He installs, positions and labels location tifier is licensed under this scheme, then the licence
cases, housings, racks, equipment, compo- number shall be quoted.
nents and cables in accordance with the As a minimum the log book for Licence
specifications and standards. He will carry Holdersshall contain thefollowing mandated
out all installation activities within the lim- sections:
its of his authority and responsibility.
(i) He assists ’Functional Tester’ or ’Verifica- • Logbook annual review form - or evidence that
tion Tester’ to complete the installation in- annual reviews have taken place
tegrity checks and documentation in accor-
• Obligations of Licence Holders and Log Book Re-
dance with appropriate standards.
quirements
(j) He undertakes an inspection to ensure that
your installation work is complete and all • Licence Details
components are free from damage.
• Record of Complaints
(k) He checks that your work complies with the
specification and that all necessary connec- • Training Record
tions to the equipment are complete.
• Work Experience
2.2.4 Other licensee roles

3 Procedure for Getting Li-
A ’Functional Tester’ Licensee is expected
to verify & test signalling installation cence
which may include Factory Acceptance
The following steps are involved in getting
Test (FAT) and Site Acceptance Test
licence:-
(SAT).
B ’Verification Tester’ Licensee is ex- (a) Licence Applicant (LA), person who
pected to verify & test site installation is seeking Licence, will apply online
as per design Cable Insulations (https://irstelicensing.org.in) for a partic-
C Design Verifier’ Licensee is expected to ular Licence Category. He may indicate
verify all plans and circuits prepared by Mentor under whom he will work.
Scheme and Logic Design Licensees. (b) Licensing Registrar (LR) of Licensing Or-
ganization will acknowledge Licence Appli-
2.3 Log Book cant and advice to commence the work.
A log book is used to record details of training, qual- (c) Licence Applicant records the evidences af-
ifications and work experience. Licence holders are ter completing the work under mentorship
required to maintain their log book and assessors will in the Logbook provided to him.
want to see it to provide evidence during the assess- (d) Licence Applicant, if a novice in Railway
ment process. Log books will be supplied to Licence Signalling, may need to clear the requisite
applicant by the IRSTELO. Licence holder shall be Exam.
30 Gyandeep 2019
(e) Licensing Registrar assigns Workplace As- 3.2 Renewal of Licenses/Licence Cat-
sessor (WPA) for carrying out the assess- egories
ment of License Applicant.
Licence holders who are applying to renew licence
(f) Licence Applicant fills up the Competence categories shall be required to demonstrate that they
Assessment Check list (CAC) of relevant continue to meet the requirements specified in the
category of licensing scheme. Competence Standards for the requested licence cat-
egories. Assessment for renewal of a licence or licence
(g) Workplace Assessor assesses the Licence
category shall be against the current version of the
Applicant, examines the evidences of the
Competence Standard and shall take account of any
work and; inform his assessment and rec-
significant changes in systems and working practices
ommendations in writing to Licensing Reg-
since the previous assessment.
istrar.
Licence holders are responsible for ensuring that
(h) Licensing Registrar sends the recommenda- their licenses are renewed before the expiry date. Re-
tions and the evidences of the work to Com- newed licence categories are valid for further ten years
petence Assessor (CA). from the date of reissue subject to a satisfactory in-
termediate surveillance assessment.
(i) Competence Assessor verifies the assess-
ment and the recommendation of Work-
place Assessor. If required, he examines 3.3 Assessment
further the Licence Applicant. Competence
Assessment for a new licence or category is a two-
Assessor sends his recommends to Licensing
stage process consisting of a workplace assessment
Registrar.
undertaken by a Workplace Assessor, followed by a
(j) Licensing Registrar puts up the recom- second assessment undertaken by a Competence As-
mendations of WPA and CA to Executive sessor and conducted independently from the work-
Council (EC). place assessment.
Workplace Assessors shall be occupationally com-
(k) Executive Council examines the recommen- petent and consistently work to the Assessor stan-
dations and the assessment of the Licence dard; or such other standard as the Executive Coun-
Applicant and may approve or reject. cil shall decide to accept. Competence Assessor shall
(l) Licensing Registrar conveys the decision of be experienced in the occupational area, and consis-
IRSTELO to the Licensing Applicant. tently work to Assessor standard; or such other stan-
dard as the Executive Council shall decide to accept.
Assessors shall not have been involved with the for-
mal training of the candidate, intended to deliver the
3.1 Validity competencies required for the licence being sought,
The licence application shall be for one licence cate- in the two years prior to the assessment; and shall
gory. Licence holders may apply to have extra cate- be sufficiently independent from the candidate to be
gories added to their licences at any time. The appli- able to assess the candidate’s competence impartially.
cant will be awarded the licence for the new category
on successful completion of the required competence 3.4 Competence Assessment Check-
assessments. The validity of each licence category list
is ten years, subject to a satisfactory intermediate
surveillance assessment against the current version For each licence category a Competence Assessment
of the Competence Standard. The surveillance as- Checklist (CAC) shall document the criteria for each
sessment shall take place between four and five years element of competence within the Competence Stan-
from the date of issue of the licence category. Fail- dard for that licence category. Each element of com-
ure to satisfactorily complete the surveillance within petence shall be defined by a combination of perfor-
five years shall result in the licence category becom- mance criteria, range statements, and details of the
ing invalid. A licence category may be revalidated by assessment and knowledge requirements. The candi-
satisfactorily completing a surveillance assessment af- date shall complete the Personal Statement for each
ter the five year point, but the resulting validity will of the performance criteria, setting out how they be-
still only run to the date, ten years from the date of lieve that they meet its requirements. Both the Work-
issue. place Assessor and the Competence Assessor shall
Gyandeep 2019 31
Figure 2: Licensing Organisation
record the evidence that they have assessed on the Where the result of either the workplace or compe-
CAC. Positive statements of the achievement of the tence assessment is that the candidate is not yet com-
performance criteria, rather than exception report- petent, the Assessor shall record details of the per-
ing, are required. formance criteria that the candidate failed to satisfy.
The Workplace Assessor shall also indicate the Irrespective of the result of the relevant assessment,
methods of assessment used during the assessment the candidate shall be invited to record their obser-
of each performance criteria. vations on the Feedback form and shall be required
to sign it. A copy of the completed documentation
shall be given to the candidate.
3.5 Assessment Documentation The Competence Assessment Checklists and As-
The assessment documentation shall record the assessment Control Forms published on the Licensing
sessors’ report of the assessment. The Workplace As- Scheme web-site shall be used for all assessments.
sessor and the Competence Assessor shall each record
the result and a summary of their respective assess- 3.6 Workplace Assessment
ments; and make a recommendation as to the com-
petence of the candidate. The Workplace Assessor 3.6.1 Methods of Assessment
shall confirm that the candidate’s logbook has been The Workplace Assessor shall select the following
reviewed and also indicate which assessment meth- methods of gathering evidence that are most appro-
ods were used during the workplace assessment. The priate for the particular candidate and licence cate-
Competence Assessor shall also confirm that the can- gory; and may use a combination of methods of as-
didate’s logbook is up to date, whether any Endorse- sessment to collect evidence for each performance cri-
ments are recorded and, where Endorsements are teria.
recorded, that any remedial actions have been car-
ried out. (a) Examination of products/documentation
32 Gyandeep 2019
(b) Professional discussions/questions not assist the candidate in the collection or presenta-
(c) Review of Applicants statement tion of the evidence.
All performance evidence collected during assess-
(d) Observation and ment and all supporting evidence shall be recorded
(e) Witness testimony and collated. Spontaneously occurring evidence such
as dealing with exceptional conditions, the candi-
Workplace observation of the candidate undertak- date’s aptitude and attitude whilst undertaking li-
ing typical tasks is the preferred method of assess- censable work, and the implementation of health and
ment where appropriate and practicable. safety procedures has particular value. Where check-
Where safety requirements limit the opportunity lists are used as an aid to assessing evidence, care
for workplace observation, other methods of assess- must be taken to ensure that they are properly con-
ment of competence, such as simulation supported structed.
by questioning, shall be used. The Workplace Assessor must be satisfied that the
Where a simulated assessment takes place away aptitude and the attitude of the licence holder is con-
from the workplace the assessment shall take place sistent with undertaking licensable work. The perfor-
in a safe environment that replicates the conditions mance criteria in the relevant Competence Standard
to be found in the workplace as closely as practica- relating to the licensee ’working within the limits of
ble. No equipment or assistance shall be provided own competence, responsibility and authority’ shall
to the candidate that would not be available in the be the basis of the assessment for this requirement.
workplace. The conditions under which the simulated
assessment took place shall be recorded.
Assessment of Evidence
3.6.2 The Assessment Process Each combination of performance and supporting

evidence shall be judged using the following criteria:
The workplace assessment process typically consists Is it authentic? It is essential that evidence from
of the following four stages. There may be iterations prior achievements and product evidence is the
and overlap between the stages. The Assessor shall candidate’s own work or clearly demonstrates the
provide the candidate with feedback about progress candidate’s contribution.
at all relevant stages in the process.
Is it valid? The evidence must be relevant to
Planning the Assessment the licence category being assessed, and satisfy the
The Workplace Assessor and candidate should pre- evidence requirements for the performance criteria
pare an assessment plan. The plan should arrange set out in the Competence Standard. The evidence
for the collection of the most effective combinations of should show that the required outcome was achieved
evidence that can be provided by the candidate. The (product evidence), and that the processes used to
assessment plan should aim to gather evidence for a achieve the outcome were valid (process evidence).
whole Competence Standard rather than an individ-
ual performance criterion. This permits each piece of The decision as to whether the evidence pro-
evidence to be considered against each performance vided by the candidate has demonstrated com-
criteria to which it is relevant and enables a more ac- petence shall be based on the following crite-
curate assessment of the candidate’s competence in ria:
the licence category to be made. Is the evidence consistent? Is there anything in the
Assessors shall ensure that any special needs the evidence to cast doubt on its authenticity or validity?
candidate has can be met; and, where the candidate’s
first language is not English, assessors must ensure, Is the evidence current? Irrespective of the actual
in theinterests of safety, that the candidate can com- age of the evidence, is it still valid evidence of the
municate adequately whilst engaged on safety critical candidates competence at the time of the assessment?
tasks.
Is the evidence sufficient? Does the combination
of performance and supporting evidence meet all
Collection or Collation of Evidence
the evidence requirements and cover the full range
The Workplace Assessor may give guidance to the of all the performance criteria? Does the evidence
candidate as to the type and range of evidence re- show that the candidate can consistently achieve
quired to satisfy the Competence Standard; but shall the required standards under workplace conditions,
Gyandeep 2019 33
rather than providing a one-off demonstration? 3.9 Complaints

People doing work may make errors, so there is a
facility to record any significant complaints about
3.7 Competence Assessment workmanship in the log book. If a complaint has
3.7.1 The Assessment Process been made, the results of any subsequent investiga-
tions and/or remedial actions taken are also recorded.
The competence assessment shall take the form of a This enables the licence holder to demonstrate how
review of the record of the candidate’s Workplace As- a competent level of performance has been regained
sessment, judging the adequacy of the type and suf- so that it can be reviewed in subsequent assessments.
ficiency of the total evidence presented by the can- In more serious cases, a recommendation to revoke
didate, and the candidate’s logbook, followed by a a licence may be made to the IRSTLO. A licence is
formal interview. only revoked after an independent review of the cir-
cumstances and there is also an appeals process.
3.7.2 Documentation and Preparation
The following documents shall be submitted online to 4 Technical Examination For
the Competence Assessor as part of the application
for competence assessment: The License Applicants
• The record of workplace assessment on an The IRSTELO will conduct the requisite technical
IRSTELO approved form examination for the License Applicants to assess the
• The candidate’s Logbook knowledge of the License Applicant before award of
• The written examination results or the License under Licensing Scheme. Syllabus for the ex-
work experience certificate amination covers Railway subjects like General Rules,
• The completed Licence Application Form Signal Engineering Manual dealing with the require-
• A copy of the WPA Qualifications and Ap- ments of signaling design and documentation cum in-
provals Form stallation testing of track detection systems, RRI &
EI, Requirement of signaling in RE area; Schedule of
• Supporting evidence referenced in the work-
dimensions, Rules for opening of Railways, Personal
place assessment.
safety, safety of workers working under licensee. Li-
The documentation required for the assessment cense applicant required to demonstrate his compe-
should be available to the Competence Assessor at tency and skills in understanding the above subjects.
least a week before the date agreed for the formal
interview of the candidate.
In preparation for the competence assessment in- 5 Role of Zonal Railways:
terview, the Competence Assessor shall review the
candidate’s workplace assessment (to confirm that Railway Board have issued the policy enforcing the
the workplace assessment was adequate in scope, use of personnel having licenses in the area of sig-
quality, and quantity), the candidate’s logbook (to naling design, installation and testing to improve
ensure that the candidate has been regularly em- the safety and quality of signaling works. Necessary
ployed on licensable work), and the candidate’s changes in contract conditions to be done accordingly
record of Endorsements. by Zonal Railways for the work involving signaling de-
The Competence Assessor shall check that there is sign, installation and testing. As per the recommen-
documentary evidence of the Workplace Assessor’s dations of 85th Signal Standards Committee (SSC)
qualification, experience and approval. meeting held on 22nd / 23rd Feb 2018 it is decided
that from 1st Jan 2019 onwards licensing from IRSE
or IRSTELO shall be mandatory to be engaged by
the contractor/OEM and after 1st July 2019, the con-
3.8 Revoke/ suspension of licence
tractor shall be asked to engage License Holders in
The Executive Council may revoke or suspend the design installation & testing categories having license
licence of any person found carrying out work in an of IRSTELO only. Further, RVNL has been allowed,
unsafe manner, or producing work below the requisite on trial basis, to use Logic and Interface circuits as
standard, or who has failed to meet the obligations approved by IRSE/IRSTELO license holders upto
placed on licence holders; or who is found not to have 50 routes while keeping approval of SIP and TOC
maintained the requisite competence. with Railways for doubling and electrification work
34 Gyandeep 2019
in Daund-Gulbarga section. Further, RDSO had ad- for Signalling Scheme Designer, Signalling Principles
vised all OEMs of EI t strictly engage IRSTELO li- Designer and Signalling Design Verifier. He was in-
cense holders for production and checking of their EI strumental in successful commissioning of important
design and commissioning of equipment. Now the Global projects such as Rugby and Nuneaton (RuN)
onus is on zonal railways in persuading OEMs and SSI Project with Centralized Traffic Control, Taiwan
contractors to engage IRSTELO license only in the High Speed Railway (THSR) project and Hillmorton
area of Signal & Telecommunication field so as to New Junction Project while on deputation. He is cur-
achieve Quality, Safety and Maintainability. rently working as CSTE/Projects/Chennai/Southern
Railway, looking after TPWS, TMS, Other modern
signaling and telecom projects in SR. He is an Execu-
6 Conclusion: tive Council Member for IRSTELO which is respon-
sible to operate Licensing Scheme for Competence as-
Through the IRSTELO, Licensing methodol- sessment in S&T of Indian Railways.
ogy/scheme ensures competence management in
Railway S&T field which is very vital for ensuring
quality and safety.
No. of awareness programmes and workshops
have been organized by EC in several locations Shri.K.S.GNANESWARAN,
in order to educate about licensing scheme among AMIE(EEE), working as
the contractors and OEMs. No. of training pro- Assistant Signal & Telecom-
grammes/workshops have been arranged at IRISET munication Engineer (Design
for WPA and CAs to effectively assess the licence & Drawing) in Chennai,
applicants. It is also decided to nominate a mentor Southern Railway. He pos-
within the OEM premises to educate the designers sesses more than 20 years of
engaged with them. The entire process of issuing li- rich experience in Railway
censes have been automized and IRSTELO is geared Signaling field. He is instru-
up to issue licenses within reasonable time frame. mental in preparation of Typical and templates for
At present more than 150 applications have been re- standardization of various design and drawings. His
ceived by IRSTELO for seeking licence under various expertise lies in independent verification of Technical
categories. Now, the onus lies with ECM as to how System Application Approvals and Safety system
quickly award the licenses for benefitting Indian Rail- approval by CRS/PCSTE for commissioning of
ways. various modern signaling systems like EI, MSDAC,
Automatic signaling systems etc. Currently, he is
Competence Assessor for IRSTELO which is respon-
sible to operate Licensing Scheme for Competence
assessment in S&T of Indian Railways
Shri. V.N.M. Rao is
an IRSSE 1996 Batch offi-
cer joined Indian Railways References
in 1998 after completing his
Masters Degree from IIT, 1. IRSTELO - Role Descriptions,Ver 1.1, May 2018
Roorkee. He has more
2. IRSTELO Licensing Procedures, Ver 2.0, June
than 20 Years of experi-
2018
ence in Railway Signalling
& Telecommunication field. 3. IRSTELO Licensing Standard Ver 2.0 , June
He handled various modern signalling projects like 2018
TPWS, EI, AFTC, MSDAC in Southern Railway
as Dy. CSTE/Projects, Chennai. He has success- 4. IRSTELO Testing Standard Ver 1.0, January
fully commissioned TPWS projects (ETCS Level-1) 2019
of M/s Ansaldo make and M/s Thales make sys-
5. IRSTELO - Assessment Plan Ver 1.0, March
tems in Chennai area of Southern Railway proving
2019
the interoperability between the vendors. He has
four years Signalling Design experience in UK Sig- 6. https://irstelicensing.org.in/
nalling while working for UK Railways under M/s
Atkins, Sharjah. He possessed IRSE license (UK)
Gyandeep 2019 35
E-Office implementation in SC Division
E-office is an official website designed by National 1. BUD(Basic User Data)

informatics centre for effective, efficient and trans-
parent mode of intergovernment and intragovern- 2. EMD(Employee Master Data)
ment transactions and processes. In short it can 3. FNS(File naming system)
be described as all the physical and bulk files are
transformed in to electronic/digital files in E-office
platform thereby reducing the delay in file move- 2 Process of scanning:
ments from one office to other and maintaining trans-
parency. One team lead by Shri. M.Murali (Ex JE/T/BD/SC)
E-office has been implemented in phased manner along with stores staff and wirelss office staff started
in all 16 zonal railways by Railtel corporation led by scanning all the physical files segregating the files sec-
Shri Ramesh Babu(GM/Marketing/Railtel). As per tion wise like tenders, inspections, works, contracts
the guidelines given by railway board E-office has to etc. within 15 days of time all the physical files
be implemented in 2 divisions per each zone. But in 406 nos(86853 pages) were successfully scanned
SCR as per our Ex-GM sir Shri Vinod Kumar Ya- and converted in to PDF format with latest tech-
dav (CRB) it has been implemented in all 6 divi- nology of searchable PDF .All around 16GB of
sions of SCR. Guntur division is the first division to converted PDF files made ready for browse and di-
implement E-office , sooner Secunderabad divi- ariasing.
sion caught the pace and implemented within Process of FNS: File Naming System is done
a record time of 8 hours by adding the branch department wise by duely consulting the coordinators
officers initially on 07.05.19. of each department regularly. With in 15 days of time
complete FNS is mapped to all the departments in E-
office platform.
1 The journey started on
22.01.19: 3 Process of EMD (mapping
DRM/SC division has choosen Sr.DSTE/SC as nodal employees in e-office plat-
officer for this prestigious project to get implemented form):
in SC division. All the communication and Initial
data collection of other departments has been done One team lead by Shri D.Rajkumar
using watsapp group created by Sr.DSTE/SC with (SSE/T/NW/SC) and Smt V.Vaishnavi(
DRM,ADRMs and all the branch officers. With the JE/T/NW/SC) collected EMD of all the em-
first official meeting it was decided to nominate one ployees of 19 departments making a total of 1013
active person from each department to coordinate employess from their respective department coordi-
with the S&T team for further process. nators. At each and every level all the issues were
As per Sr.DSTE/SC (Shri. M.Koteswara Rao) in- sorted out organizing meetings at coordinator level
structions teams were divided with enthusiastic vol- and BOs level at DRM conference hall. On 07.05.19
unteers from S&T staff. 2 teams were made consist- with in a record time of 8 hours total of 53 Bos
ing of 6 members. including DRM/SC and ADRMs were mapped in
Team-I : for scanning all the physical existing files e-office with their existing NIC mail ids declaring
and turning them in Searchable PDF format and sav- the official launch of E-office in SC division
ing the digitized files with in local memory like HDD successfully by sending an note for approval from
and local systems. Sr.DSTE/SC to DRM/SC.
Team-II: for collecting the data of all the depart- Training and progress report Sessions: To
ments staff in the prescribed formats distributed by expedite the process of E-office every week DRM/SC
Railtel. 3 types of formats in excel sheets were dis- took special session in Monday coordination meeting
tributed for collection of staff details and file names. with all branch officers and used to verify the progress
36
of e-office implementation and same was appraised to 4 Some Glimpses of E-office

DGM/G/SCR on regular basis. S&T staff under the
guidance of SR.DSTE/SC worked Day and night in-
journey:
cluding Sundays (Rest) with great compassion and
zeal to complete the project. S&T department of SC
division gained great appreciation from Board level
for taking up the challenge and completing the pres-
tigious project successfully. Training sessions were
organized at BO level, stenos, CH.OS , technical staff
level to clear all sort of issues arised. Around 2GB
of video tutorials were distributed in all 3 languages
(Hindi, English, Telugu) in the form of DVDs to all
BOs to circulate further to staff.
Railtel Team and GM/Railtel/Marketing shri
Ramesh Babu has extended his support and used to Figure 1: 1. Training programme on e-office
clear all the issues araised through wats app group with all department coordinators and staff given by
and video conferences GM/Marketting/Railtel shri Ramesh Babu through
video conference
Some key indicators of the
project:
• Planning and executing the whole project is done
by S&T department alone without any chance of
confusion and delay.
• Scanning of all physical files and converting them

in PDF is done by In-House team thereby saving
the expenditure.
Figure 2: 2. Training programme given by Smt
• Only with the local scanners which were already
V.Vaishnavi JE/T/NW/SC at Diesel Loco shed/KZJ
present in the office only 3 additional two sided
scanners were procured to complete the scanning
process.
• Sc division being the largest division of SCR

mapped 1013 employess in E-office platform and
also provided 941 nos of Digital signature tokens
duley collecting the application forms from the
staff.
• A 3-Day mela was conducted in Hawa-Mahal of

Sanchalan bhavan for attesting the DSC appli-
cation forms of all the departments staff pro- Figure 3: 3. Training given by Shri M.Koteswara Rao
viding a time slot for each department. This (Ex-Sr.DSTE/SC) for all S&T office staff
has reduced delay in attesting the forms by con-
cerned BOs of each department. Smt. Swarajya Thus a humongous project E-Office has been
Laxmi(Ex-DSTE/T/SC) has been nominated for successfully implemented over SC division with all
attesting DSC applications of all departments Team effort and Team work of S&T department.
staff.
TEAM TOGETHER EVERYONE
• Training sessions were provided thoroughly to all ACHIVES MORE
the staff from BOs , Stenos, CH.OS and technical
staff in DRM conference hall and Hawa-Mahal
through video conference.
Gyandeep 2019 37
Figure 4: Official launch of E-office on May-7th 2019

by DRM/SC Shri Anand Bhatia

experience. Comments / observations may
be sent to the author at kotesh.m@gmail.com
Shri. Shri. M. Koteswara

Rao,is an IRSSE of 1998
batch. He worked in NF
Rly for 10 years and also
worked as Professor(Signal)
for 8 years. He worked as Sr.
DSTE/SC div for 2 years 9
months.Presently he is work-
ing as CWM,S&T, MFT, S C
Railway. He has received various awards from various
levels apart from his contribution towards innovation.
38 Gyandeep 2019
Problems in Replacement of Working Data Loggers at
Major RRI Yards - Casestudy of Secunderabad RRI
and Kazipet RRI
At Secunderabad (SC)/RRI and

Kazipet(KZJ)/RRI HBL make Data loggers (Spec-
IRS:S-99/2001) of volatile memory with 4096 inputs
were installed in the year 2010. The firm had stopped
its production, there by the firm has expressed its
inability to take up AMC also, since the components
used in it are obsolete. It doesnt have individual
ports to connect other vital applications like Control
Office Application (COA) etc. COA at SC/RRI
used to fail most of the time. With frequent failures
of COA at SC/RRI it was decided to replace the
obsolete data logger with new specification equip-
ment. At SC/RRI, total 530 routes were there and it
was connected to COA system, hence it is required
to replace with less down time. The SC/RRI is of
Siemens wiring and doesnt have spare contacts for
new wiring, replacement should be carried out with
existing wiring only. No expertise is also available to Figure 1: SC
make changes to Siemens wiring. And at KZJ/RRI
total 524 routes were there with complex circuitry
with Q-style relays. These two RRIs were using old
specification data logger and no one dared to change
the data logger due to complexity of wiring.
At SC/RRI, we have replaced the old specifica-
tion data logger of HBL Make with 4096 digital in-
puts and 32 analog inputs which was connected to
the COA system, with new specification data logger
(Spec-IRS:S-99/2006) of Sirveen Make, without dis-
turbing existing relay wiring, with a down time of 150
minutes only by adopting the following methods and
excellent team work by S&T staff. The same method
was adopted at KZJ/RRI also to replace the HBL
Data logger with Sirveen Data logger. Now provision
of COA at KZJ/RRI has become very simple at later
stage.
Figure 1, figure 2, and figure 3 are the existing HBL
wiring of Digital inputs at Secunderabad RRI. This Figure 2: SC
wiring was modified with a setup without disturbing
the existing one. The changes made are explained ing wiring connections on which the wires are
below. routed.
The set up arranged is as follows and made
it to be compatible with the existing one. 2. These wires are properly connected to the digital
input card of the data logger to its corresponding
1. Designed a PCB which is suitable to the exist- place.
39
Problems in Replacement of Working Data Loggers at Major RRI Yards - Casestudy of Secunderabad RRI
and Kazipet RRI
4. Each PCB had 128 input connections similar to

the existing one.
5. Then validated the connections from termination
box to data logger input termination card. 55
inch monitor was used for this purpose.
6. Arranged this setup without disturbing and re-

moving the existing setup.
7. After the setup is ready, we removed the 32 pin
D-sub connectors of the HBL input termination
cards and given those connections to the corre-
sponding 32 pin D-Sub connectors on newly de-
signed PCB.
8. Then configured the data logger with the data
base collected from HBL.
Figure 3: SC

experience. Comments / observations may
be sent to the author at kotesh.m@gmail.com
Shri. M. Koteswara Rao,is

an IRSSE of 1998 batch.
He worked in NF Rly for
10 years and also worked
as Professor(Signal) for 8
years. He worked as Sr.
DSTE/SC div for 2 years 9
months.Presently he is work-
ing as CWM,S&T, MFT, S C
Railway. He has received various awards from various
levels apart from his contribution towards innovation.
Figure 4: SC
Figure 5: SC
3. The arrangement of this setup is as shown in the

figure 4 & figure 5.
40 Gyandeep 2019
IP based Video Surveillance System (VSS) on Indian
Railways
Dilip Kumar Singh (Executive Director/Telecom-I, RDSO, LKO)
Ankur Srivastava (Sr. Section Engineer/Design (Telecom), RDSO, LKO)
Abstract mesh wired or wireless links. Though almost all video

cameras fit this definition, the term is most often ap-
IP Based Video Surveillance System are to be pro- plied to those used for surveillance in areas that may
vided at Main entrance/exit, Platforms, Waiting hall, need monitoring such as railway stations and other
Reservation counter, Parking area, Railway yards, railway establishments where security is needed.
Foot over bridges etc. of Railway stations and oth-
CCTV relies on strategic placement of cameras,
ers Railway establishments. The Video Surveillance
and observation of the camera’s input on monitors
System is based on non-proprietary open architec-
somewhere. Because the cameras communicate with
ture where the Video Management Software, Video
monitors and/or video recorders across private cable
Recording Software, Video Analytics Software and
runs or wireless communication links, they gain the
Face Recognition Software can work and integrate
designation ”closed-circuit” to indicate that access to
with any make of IT hardware like Server, Storage,
their content is limited by design only to those able
Workstation, Network Video Recorder and Switches,
to see it.
etc. This article is an attempt to present the schemes
that can be used on Indian Railways adopting IP The earliest video surveillance systems involved
based Video Surveillance System that are simple and constant monitoring because there was no way to
can be scaled in future. record and store information. The development of
reel-to-reel media enabled the recording of surveil-
lance footage. These systems required magnetic tapes
1 Introduction to be changed manually, which was a time consuming,
expensive and unreliable process, with the operator
IP based Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV), also having to manually thread the tape from the tape
known as Video Surveillance System (VSS), is the reel through the recorder onto an empty take-up reel.
use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific Due to these shortcomings, video surveillance was not
place, on a limited set of monitors. A CCTV sys- widespread. VCR technology became available in the
tem links a camera to a video monitor using a direct 1970s, making it easier to record and erase informa-
transmission system. tion, and the use of video surveillance became more
CCTV is finding increasing use in law-enforcement, common.
for everything from traffic observation, railway sta-
tions to observation of high-crime areas or neigh- During the 1990s, digital multiplexing was devel-
borhoods. In railway stations and platforms surveil- oped, allowing several cameras to record at once, as
lance of the public using CCTV is common in many well as time lapse and motion-only recording. This
areas around the world. A closed-circuit TV has saved time and money which then led to an increase
4 parts: CCTV camera, lens, monitor, and cables. in the use of CCTV. Recently CCTV technology has
Signals from CCTV cameras are sent to monitors been enhanced with a shift toward IP and cloud-
via wired network cables or wireless communication based products and systems, and other technological
links, which makes them closed circuit. CCTV sys- developments.
tems even allow you to zoom in and track movement. Older CCTV systems used small, low-resolution
A Closed-circuit television (CCTV) has now be- black and white monitors with no interactive capa-
come a mainstream in surveillance and security pur- bilities. Modern CCTV displays can be color, high-
poses around the world. VSS is a system in which sig- resolution displays and can include the ability to
nals are not publicly distributed but are monitored. zoom in on an image or track something (or someone)
It differs from broadcast television in that the sig- among their features. Talk CCTV allows an overseer
nal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ to speak to people within range of the camera’s asso-
point to point (P2P), point to multipoint (P2MP), or ciated speakers.
41
IP based Video Surveillance System (VSS) on Indian Railways
Figure 1: Network camera-based video surveillance architecture
2 Application Software, Video Recording Software, Graphical User

Interface Client Software, Video Analytics Software
CCTV cameras are installed on railway stations and Face Recognition Software (FRS) etc. for surveil-
across the country specifically targeting public ar- lance of different locations at Stations and other es-
eas. CCTV has become common in railway estab- tablishments of Railways from Centralized location.
lishments, banks and stores to discourage theft, by In IP based Video Surveillance System, the Cam-
recording evidence of criminal activity. eras are be provided at different locations in a man-
Many cities and motorway networks have extensive ner that the output is available as Ethernet and con-
traffic-monitoring systems, using closed-circuit televi- nected to the Servers/NVRs and to integrate the
sion to detect congestion and notice accidents. surveillance system using the existing LAN/WAN in-
frastructure on Optical Fibre network of Railways.
2.1 CCTV is commonly used for a va- The system is able to work on both wired as well as
riety of purposes, including: wireless network. The wireless network is envisaged
for extreme areas like, yards, foot over bridges and
• Maintaining perimeter security in medium- to other areas at the station where cable is difficult to
high-secure areas and installations. lay and maintain.
• Railway Platforms
• Traffic monitoring
2.3 Networking CCTV cameras
A growing branch in CCTV is internet protocol cam-
• Traffic monitoring
eras (IP cameras). IP cameras use the Internet Proto-
• Traffic monitoring col (IP) used by most Local Area Networks (LANs) to
transmit video across data networks in digital form.
• Building and grounds security IP can optionally be transmitted across the public in-
ternet, allowing users to view their cameras through
• Obtaining a visual record of activities in situa-
any internet connection available through a computer
tions where it is necessary to maintain proper se-
or a phone, this is considered remote access.
curity or access controls (for example: in banks,
in railway platforms or airports, etc.).
2.4 Wireless security cameras
2.2 IP based Video Surveillance Sys-
Wireless security cameras are closed - circuit televi-
tem components: sion (CCTV) cameras that transmit a video and au-
IP based Video Surveillance System for Stations and dio signal to a wireless receiver through a radio band.
Cluster of Stations consisting of Full HD and Ultra Many wireless security cameras require at least one
HD IP Cameras, Digital Keyboard, Large Format cable or wire for power; ”wireless” refers to the trans-
Display Monitor, PC Workstation, Servers, Network mission of video/audio.
Video Recorders, External Storage Device, Ethernet Wireless cameras can be mounted / installed in lo-
Switches, Wireless Transmitter/Receiver Unit, Cop- cations previously unavailable to standard wired cam-
per to Fiber Media Convertor, Video Management eras. In addition to the ease of use and convenience of
42 Gyandeep 2019
access, wireless security camera allows users to lever- • Power over Ethernet (PoE), a feature unavailable
age broadband wireless internet to provide seamless in analog video systems, simplifies installation of
video streaming over-internet. network cameras / video encoders, reduces in-
stallation and maintenance costs, and improves
reliability in IP video surveillance systems. PoE
2.5 Retention, storage and preserva-
enables IP network devices to receive power from
tion a PoE-enabled switch or mid-span through the
There is a cost in the retention of the images pro- same standard cable that transmits IP data.
duced by CCTV systems. The amount and quality
of data stored on storage media is subject to compres- • In industrial plants, CCTV equipment may be
sion ratios, images stored per second, image size and used to observe parts of a process from a central
it is affected by the retention period of the videos or control room, for example when the environment
images. Video recorders store images in a variety of is not suitable for humans. CCTV systems may
proprietary file formats. Recordings may be retained operate continuously or only as required to mon-
for a preset amount of time and then automatically itor a particular event, etc.
archived, overwritten or deleted, the period being de-
termined by the organization that generated them. • Utilizing digital video recorders (DVRs) / net-
work video recorders (NVRs), provides recording
for possibly many years, with a variety of qual-
3 Advantages ity and performance options and extra features
(such as motion detection and email alerts).
• Flexible video access options, from restricted to More recently, decentralized IP cameras, per-
authorized to public. haps equipped with megapixel sensors, support
recording directly to network-attached storage
• Supports either local or remote access. devices, or internal flash for completely stand-
• Cameras installation is easily. alone operation.
• Eliminates the need for expensive coaxial cabling

of analog cameras. 4 Tentative Implementation
• Viewing footage requires only a computer and a Schemes of IP based Video
web browser or dedicated software. Surveillance System
• Shares a unified communications network with
data, voice, and wireless traffic, reducing opera- 4.1 Station only / Standalone archi-
tions and maintenance costs. tecture:
• One key advantage of using IP networks for The proposed implementation scheme of Video
surveillance is their ability to protect the in- Surveillance System is meant for such Stations where
tegrity and availability of recorded surveillance Video Management, Video Recording, Video Analyt-
video and images. IP networks integrate many ics and Face Recognition Software for the Cameras of
features that prevent data loss, back up mission- a Station are provided in the Station.
critical data, and recover quickly from outages. The Cameras of Station Platforms are connected
A network management system can monitor all to Field Ethernet Switch. The Field Ethernet Switch
networked devices including cameras, switches, stream Video data to a suitable location at Station
access points, and storage devices and automat- such as CCTV Control Room through Aggregation
ically generate alerts or notifications if issues are Switch.
detected. For example, if an IP camera goes of- CCTV Control Room may be connected to MPLS/
fline, a network management system can imme- IP network through the Core Switch. Video Man-
diately alert administrators, who can then, from agement and Video Recording are deployed on
wherever they are, reassign another camera to Servers/Network Video Recorders. For Viewing and
cover that area. If a storage unit is unavail- Monitoring of Cameras, requisite numbers of PC
able, the back-up storage or edge storage on cam- Workstations and Large format display monitors pro-
eras can automatically take over and no recorded vided at Station CCTV Control Room. Required
data is lost. Storage is provided on External Storage
Gyandeep 2019 43
Figure 2:
Devices/Servers/Network Video Recorders. Video are deployed on Servers/Network Video Recorders at

Analytics and Face Recognition Software are de- RPF/GRP Thana/Posts, where the Video streams
ployed on Servers at the Station CCTV Control are aggregated. For Viewing and Monitoring of
Room or any other location. Theres a provision for Cameras, requisite numbers of PC Workstations and
Viewing and Monitoring of Camera streams at Di- Large format display monitors be provided at RPF
visional HQ/ any other centralized location or other / GRP Thana/Posts. Required Storage is to be pro-
Clients connected to MPLS/ IP network as per re- vided at RPF / GRP Thana / Posts on External
quirement. Storage Devices/Servers/Network Video Recorders.
Video Analytics and Face Recognition Software de-
ployed on Servers. Theres a provision for Viewing and
4.2 RPF/GRP Thana/Post Clustered Monitoring of Camera streams at Divisional HQ/ any
based architecture: other centralized location or other Clients connected
to MPLS/ IP network.
The proposed implementation scheme of Video
Surveillance System is meant for Cluster of Sta- For centralized management of such multiple Clus-
tions where Video Streams of Cameras of Sta- ters, Video Management Server and Server for Face
tions are aggregated to a nearest suitable location Image database may be deployed with N:1 redun-
such as RPF/GRP Thana/Posts for Video Manage- dancy at Datacenters i.e. Divisional/Zonal HQ or
ment (Viewing and Monitoring) and Video Record- any other centralized location. Face Image Database
ing. Video Analytics and Face Recognition Soft- Server at Datacenter shall be in sync with each in-
ware are deployed at Divisional HQ or RPF/GRP dividual RPF/GRP Thana/Posts local FRS Servers
Thana/Posts or any other location. The Cameras as and when any subject or alarm is generated /
of Station Platforms are connected to Field Ether- updated. Synchronization done at least once daily.
net Switch. Field Ethernet Switch streams Video The System have a storage solution at Datacenters
data to RPF/GRP Thana/Posts through Aggre- for keeping flagged/marked video data by RPF/GRP
gation Switch. RPF/GRP Thana/Posts are con- personnel for longer retention, FRS and Video Ana-
nected to MPLS/ IP network through the Core lytic alerts across all stations for 30 days, Audit trail
Switch. Video Management and Video Recording logs, application data etc. as per solution require-
44 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 3:
ment. In case Video Management and Video Recording

Software is required for operation of Video Analyt-
ics and Face Recognition Software at Cloud, same
4.3 Cloud based architecture: is to be provided at Cloud. There will be a provi-
sion for Viewing and Monitoring of Camera streams
The proposed implementation scheme of Video at Divisional HQ/ any other centralized location or
Surveillance System is meant for Cluster of Sta- other Clients connected to MPLS/ IP network. All
tions where Video Streams of Cameras of Sta- Video data and alarms generated by Video Analyt-
tions are aggregated to a nearest suitable location ics and Face Recognition Software at the Cloud is
such as RPF/GRP Thana/Posts for Video Manage- to be available at RPF/GRP Thana/Posts and Di-
ment (Viewing and Monitoring) and Video Record- visional HQ/ any other centralized location or any
ing. Video Analytics and Face Recognition Soft- other clients through Cloud. In case of any failure or
ware is deployed at the Cloud. Video Data is interruption of MPLS/IP network, the Camera au-
to be stored at RPF/GRP Thana/Posts on Ex- tomatically start recording on Edge Storage Memory
ternal Storage Devices/ Servers/ Network Video Card at resolution and frames per second as required
Recorders and at Cloud. The Cameras of Sta- and when the network recovers, the Video data auto-
tion Platforms are connected to Field Ethernet matically be transferred to the External Storage De-
Switch. Field Ethernet Switch streams Video data vice/Server/NVR installed at respective Stations or
to RPF/GRP Thana/Posts through Aggregation RPF/GRP Thana/Post without any impact on the
Switch. The RPF/GRP Thana/Posts are connected system operations.
to the MPLS/ IP network and the Cloud through
the Core Switch. The Video Management and Video Continuous Video Monitoring/ Live Viewing for
Recording are deployed on Servers/Network Video all the Cameras through PC Workstations and Large
Recorders at RPF/GRP Thana/Posts, where the Format Display Monitors with Full HD and 4K UHD
Video streams are aggregated. For Viewing and Mon- resolution display support. One such Monitor dis-
itoring of Cameras, requisite numbers of PC Work- plays 16 Cameras on a single unit. For simultaneous
stations and Large format display monitors are to be viewing of more cameras, more monitors can be pro-
provided at RPF/GRP Thana/Post. vided. One 32/64/128 Channel Server/NVR support
Gyandeep 2019 45
Figure 4:
Playback of recorded video for minimum 16 Channels

simultaneously at Full HD or higher.
5 Conclusion
The above will be the complete solution for monitor-
ing and safety the passengers and establishment of
Indian Railway. However, the system is also depen-
Ankur Srivastava is a
dent on the alertness of our RPF personnel monitor-
B.Tech. (Electronics &
ing the feeds in the control room and the ones taking
Communication) - 2005,
action on the ground. Its performance also depends
from MMEC (under Kuruk-
on the upkeep and maintenance of the system.
shetra University). He has
11+ years of experience in
Indian Railways. He has
3+ years of experience in
The information / views expressed in this pa- open line at UMB Division.
per is of the authors and are based on their Currently he is working as
experience. Comments / observations may be Sr. Section Engineer/Design (Telecom), RDSO,
sent to the author at ps1@iriset.railnet.gov.in. Lucknow. He has worked for 7+ years in Research
Designs & Standards Organisation at Lucknow
Dilip Kumar Singh is a BE (Electronics & Commu- (worked in the areas of Datacom Equipments,
nication) - 1990, from IIT Roorkee. He is currently Integrated Security System and IP based Video
working as Executive Director/Telecom-I in RDSO Surveillance System).
at Lucknow. He has 28 years of experience in Indian
Railways. He has worked in various fields of Signal
and Telecommunication over Indian Railways.
46 Gyandeep 2019
VoIP based Train Control communication System
(TCCS)
N.K.Varma, Jt. Director Telecom, RDSO Lucknow
Abstract HQ Control telephone: The telephone at con-

trol office with each of the controller is called HQ
Train Control Communication System (TCCS) is a control telephone.
vital voice communication system for control of train Controller: Each control circuit is manned in con-
operations over a division. The present system is trol office by their respective controller/ official like
an analog communication system being run on cop- section traffic controller, traction power controller
per cable or on OFC using PD Mux/ SDH platform. etc. Controllers communicate with a group of way
VoIP based TCCS does not merely involve change stations in his jurisdiction using TCCS.
in underlying technology but it also brings in addi- Way stations: For the purpose of train control
tional features which are possible with VoIP technol- communication system, generally the way side rail-
ogy. Being IP based system; the issue of security is way stations are referred as way stations.
also addressed in the proposed system. Since it is vi- Way station Control Phone: The telephone at
tal system, provisions for operations and maintenance way stations is called Way station control telephone.
and reliability are also built in. Separate way station control telephone is provided
for different control circuits.
Train control communication system
1 Introduction (TCCS): It is a communication system to enable
communication between the HQ control telephone
Voice communication between Traffic controller at provided at control office and way station control
control office and Station masters at way station is telephones provided at various way stations. It pro-
very important communication requirement. This vides functionalities of an omnibus communication
voice communication system not only affects oper- circuit.
ational efficiency but can affect safety of train opera- Emergency Control Circuit: Emergency con-
tion also. The existing train Control communication trol circuit is omnibus circuit working on the un-
system (TCCS), due to historical and technical rea- derground copper cable. The underground cable is
sons, is omnibus circuit in nature. Being omnibus, tapped at intervals of about 1 KM and terminated
it provides excellent conference communication fea- on 6-pin socket. The emergency controller can be
ture between various users. Over the years, though contacted by plugging a portable control telephone
the transmission medium has become digital (using into any of these sockets provided in that section.
PDMux/ SDH and OFC platform), the end points
continue to remain analog thereby keeping users ex-
perienced largely unchanged. 3 Specific features of Train
VoIP based TCCS is a major step forward because
it not only enables the use of standard, modern and Control Communication Sys-
widely proven Internet Protocol (IP) technology as a tem (TCCS):
platform, but the same time it also provides feature
rich communication system and better user interface Certain requirements of TCCS system are unique.
to the controller thereby enhancing their efficiency. These are listed below.
• Omnibus nature of circuit: The existing system

2 Definition of key terms: is logically an omnibus circuit. It enables con-
ference connection between multiple way station
Control Office: Control office/s exist in each of the telephones and controllers telephone as soon as
Division for Controlling and regulating train traffic handset of any of the way station telephone is
over a section consisting of several Railway stations. lifted.
47
VoIP based Train Control communication System (TCCS)
• Emergency control circuit: Emergency control • VoIP based system shall provide many features
circuit is another omnibus circuit which is unique which are common in modern telephony. Some
in the sense that it does not employ any sig- the useful features may be caller ID, call logs etc.
naling and need to be integrated in the present
form with the VoIP based solution while con- • Being IP based network, it shall use common
tinuing the use of existing emergency portable network infrastructure for voice, video and data.
telephones.
• VoIP systems being world wide accepted tech-
nology, further improvement in the system shall
4 Existing System: benefit the TCCS also.
• Existing system consists of analog telephones us-

ing ether analog transmission on copper cable or 6 Architecture of Proposed
digital transmission on OFC. System:
• Way station telephones are always connected to
• It is a combination of centralized and distributed
the controllers conference circuit. DTMF sig-
architecture. The telephones shall normally reg-
naling is used to draw attention of way side sta-
ister with the centralized server for feature rich
tion. Similarly emergency communication socket
communication meeting the needs of TCCS and
points are also always connected to the emer-
providing conferencing (to emulate omnibus fea-
gency controllers conference circuit.
ture).
• Existing system consists of analog telephones us-
• In case of non-availability of centralized server,
ing ether analog transmission on copper cable or
the telephones shall register with Voice gateways
digital transmission on OFC.
provided at each way station to provide basic
telephony features.
• Way station telephones are always connected to
the controllers conference circuit. DTMF sig-
• The central server block shall provide call con-
naling is used to draw attention of way side sta-
trol, conferencing, network management, voice
tion. Similarly emergency communication socket
recording features. It shall be provided with 100
points are also always connected to the emer-
% redundancy. The redundant system could be
gency controllers conference circuit.
deployed at geographically different location to
provide Disaster recovery option.
5 Why VoIP based TCCS: • Voice gateways are provided at every station to
provide analog control telephone and to inter-
• The present system is analog system. It pro- face with the legacy emergency communication
vide basic requirement of communication. It has system.
got no additional feature. Being analog system,
providing even a very small additional feature
requires changes in hardware.
7 The components of TCCS
• The present system is Railway specific as this system:
type of system does not have any requirement
outside Railway. This limits market driven im- • Server block: To provide call control, conferenc-
provement. ing, Network management, voice recording, NTP
and enhanced features to section controllers con-
• This system is being run on analog circuits or sole.
on TDM based circuits. These technologies are
likely to be phased out and replaced with packet • The controllers console: To provide feature rich
based communication systems (IP based sys- user interface to make conference calls to various
tem). way station control telephones.
• Being IP based system; the VoIP based system • Various types of voice gateways: To provide con-
shall be based on open international standards. nectivity with legacy systems
48 Gyandeep 2019
• SMS gateway: To enable sending of SMS • ASM shall get incoming call alert from the sec-
alerts generated by Network management sys- tion controller even if he is talking to some other
tem, voice logger and controllers. subscriber or when the phone handset is not re-
placed properly on the cradle.
• IP telephones/ equipments to station masters
• Features like caller ID, call log, missed calls etc.
• IP telephones to other way station users. shall be provided.
The schematic arrangement of TCCS is shown in • Shortcut dialing buttons for dialing various con-
figure 1 trollers including section controller shall be pro-
vided.
8 Features of VoIP based • Selective calling facility is provided
TCCS:
9 Reliability features:
Some of the important features of VoIP based TCCS
are listed below. To ensure reliability and availability of the system,
the following features are provided.
8.1 Features for users: • Redundancy is provided for important commu-
8.1.1 Features for section controller: Some of nication servers including voice record servers.
the important features are listed below.
• Dual Ethernet ports are provided in servers and
• Section controller to be provided with Console. consoles to provide redundant connections with
the LAN.
• Console shall have touch screen panel.
• Way station gateways are provided with re-
• Controller shall be able to dial a particular way mote survivability which enables working of tele-
station just by one touch on the name of the phones at way stations even when the communi-
station. cation link to the server provided at centralized
location is broken.
• Names of all the current participants of the con-
ference shall be listed on the console. • Ensuring good quality calls from ASM and emer-
gency control even in case of WAN bandwidth
• Status of various station like busy, free and not constraint by limiting number of simultaneous
reachable shall be displayed on the console. originating calls from way station depending
upon the bandwidth of WAN link.
• Modern telephony features like Caller ID, Call
log, call record etc. shall be available. • NMS is provided for fault and performance mon-
itoring.
• It shall be possible to send SMS notifications.
• SMS alerts shall be issued to the nominated per-
• Dialing to a predefined group of way stations
son in case of event or fault alarm. Voice logger
shall be possible.
system shall also give alerts in the form of SMS
for notifying events.
8.1.2 Features for Station Masters:
Some of the important features are listed below. 10 Security features:
• Common single equipment for all controls shall Various provisions are made to ensure secure com-
be provided for both incoming and out going munication and management based on industry stan-
calls. dards. Some of these are
• Distinct call ring shall be provided for incoming • Server hardening including inbuilt protection
calls from section controller to alert the ASM against DoS attack and intrusion.
even when he is not looking at the telephone
screen. • Port based authentication as per IEEE 802.1x
Gyandeep 2019 49
Figure 1: Schematic Arrangement for VoIP based train control communication system (TCCS)
• Support for TLS/SSL and SSH for provisioning by one vendor in a given section and interop-
and access. erability between the systems of two vendors is
defined.
• Separate VLAN for TCCS system with the stip-
ulation that PC connected to second Ethernet • There shall be uniform distribution of time for all
port of the IP telephones shall not be on the elements (servers and end points) from a single
voice VLAN for TCCS. source through NTP.
• The communication server shall allow commu-
• Provision for voice logging device has been made
nication only with trusted hosts like IP phones,
which will provide additional features while
gateways, NMS stations etc. based on ACL.
searching for specific recording. In addition to
• Change of configuration only from authorized de- this, interface is provided to do the recording on
vices or networks. the existing voice logger. Emergency commu-
nication gateways are provided at every station
to provide necessary interface for interconnecting
11 Other important features: existing socket based emergency communication
system with the proposed VoIP based system re-
• The solution is based on industry standard com- taining existing emergency portable telephones.
munication protocols SIP and H.323. However
vendor specific extensions are expected and per- • Easy replacement of IP phones wherein the con-
mitted to meet the requirements of TCCS which figuration details are stored at centralized loca-
cannot be met by these standards. Therefore the tion and uploaded when these devices are re-
complete system shall be required to be provided placed.
50 Gyandeep 2019
• The end point shall provide QoS markings at

layer 2 and layer 3 to minimize delays in LAN
and WAN.
• Voice logger shall notify events like records stor-
age capacity, recording activated or not, switch
over to back-up server etc. in the form of SMS
or email.
• Support for wideband codec is provided on con-
trollers console and ASMs IP phone to provide
good quality voice if sufficient WAN bandwidth
is available.
• Features like Voice activity detection, comfort-
noise generation, Echo cancellation, error con-
cealment, adaptive Jitter Compensation are pro-
vided for acceptable voice quality and efficient
utilization of bandwidth.
12 Conclusion
The proposed VoIP based train control communica-
tion system is not merely a replacement of the exist-
ing system but it is also provides for many features
of modern telephony. These additional features are
very useful for both the user and maintainer of the
system. Being IP based application; the proposed
system is capable of running on existing IP infras-
tructure. Alternatively if any infrastructure is cre-
ated for VoIP based TCCS, then the same shall be
available for use by other IP based voice/data/video
applications which will come up in future.

sent to the author at ps1@iriset.railnet.gov.in.
Shri N.K.Varma, Jt. Di-

rector Telecom, RDSO Luc-
know
Gyandeep 2019 51
PSTN Backup Control Communication
Rajesh Sharan, SSTE/Tele/HQ/ECR/HJP
Ravi Prakash SSE/Tele/HJP
Abstract like GSM/VoLTE. This article presents a scheme to

achieve backup control communication using VoLTE
Control communication is the most important com- gateways.
munication when it comes to train running. Tra-
ditionally, omnibus communication using overhead
alignment was used for this communication. In 2 Equipment for the System
the next technological advancement, overhead lines
were replaced by Copper cables and these were used Following equipment are required for this system.
for control communication. In the next generation, 1. SIP server at Divisional Headquarter.
OFC cables were laid and the control communication
shifted from copper cables to PDMux driven through 2. 02 nos.VoLTE Gateway with FXS port in each.
SDH equipment. Currently, we use this method of
control communication. 3. VoLTE Gateway 08 ports at Divisional Head-
The backup for the control communication was quarter.
radio patching since the days of analog microwave 4. 01 Analog Phones at each station.
that also continued in the era of digital microwave.
Even today, when OFC is used as the media for con- 5. IP phones(open license) at Divisional Headquar-
trol communication, patching is done through 64kbps ter .
channel hired from BSNL or Railways protection link
on E1. 6. 01 Ringer at each station.
This article discusses a scheme to work the control 7. SIM cards (CUG) as per requirement.
backup using LTE technology and SIP server. It also
documents the trials done in ECR and the learning 8. 230 stable AC power supply.
derived from this trial.
3 Set up at Divisional HQ
1 Introduction
At Divisional Control office, one SIP server with con-
In Indian Railway, Control communication has been ference facility should be installed. Asterisk VoIP
provided between Divisional control office and all way software was used in ECR. 08 ports VoLTE GSM
stations in the Divisional jurisdiction for the con- gateway should be installed and connected to Rail-
trol over train operations. For this purpose Section net/Network and SIP trunking to be done between
controller is provided with an independent speech SIP server and VoLTE gateway. On the same network
channel connecting the concerned way side loca- two IP phone should be registered on SIP server and
tions. Mostly OF cablesare used for providing control provided to Section Controller. One IP phone will
communication through PDMux System. Control be used as Dialer and other IP phone will be put in
communication is vital for running passenger/goods conference mode always for voice communication. As
trains and for monitoring and regulating all train per practice, Section controller may dial the required
movements for the purpose of efficient utilization of station by pressing the one touch button on the Di-
line capacity and for maintaining punctuality of train aler IP phone or by dialing the short code. When the
movements.Therefore, 100 % availability of Control section controller Dial the way station, the call will
communication at way station is the foremost prior- be initiated at SIP server and routed through the
ity of S&T department. Backup using radio patching VoLTE GSM gateway using one of the SIM. At the
was provided earlier. Nowadays, control patching is way station call will land at the VoLTE gateway hav-
provided using hired BSNL channel at strategic loca- ing ringer at his FXSport. The Station Master at the
tions. In this era of mobile communication, it is natu- way station will pick the Analog phone which is con-
ral to think of backup control using mobile technology nected to other VoLTE gateway FXS port whenever
52
the ringer rings. As Station Master pick the phone,

call will be initiated through VoLTE GSM gateway
to SIP server via VoLTE GSM gateway at HQ con-
trol office and become the part of the IP conference
phone of the Section controller and voice communi-
cation starts between them.
Figure 2: Networking scenario at Way side stations
predefined numbers. The allowed numbers can be di-

aled or received. This functionality is being used to
restrict any unofficial number, which can make that
emergency line busy. Only defined hotline can talk
to each other.
Figure 1: Networking scenario at Divisional HQ
5 Trials
4 Setup at Way side station The above system was tried in Koderma Barkakhana
section of Dhanbad division of East Central Railway.
At the way side station, two nos. of one port VoLTE In the trial the two wayside stations Padma (PDMA)
gateway having one FXS port at each gateway will and Katkamasandi (KKAS) were taken. In the trial,
be installed. Two VoLTE SIM (CUG) is deployed for the SIP server was installed at ECR HQ Hajipur and
the same in each VoLTE gateway. With one VoLTE the 08 port VoLTE gateway was installed at Dhan-
gateway ringer is attached and with other gateway bad Divisional headquarter with Divisional static IP.
one analog phone is connected.When Station Master The SIP trunking was done between SIP server at
at way side station will pick the receiver of Analog Hajipur and VoLTE gateway at Dhanbad on existing
phone then a pre-defined number will be dialed from Railnet network. IP phones were installed to CIC
the SIM Available in the VoLTE GSM gateway to board section controller on Railnet with static IP,
the Board number of the Central Location VoLTE one for dialing the way side station and one for audio
GSM gateway. Once the call hit on board number conferencing.
then the Divisional SIP server will put that call in At Padma (PDMA) and Katkamasandi (KKAS)
a conference room where section controller is already stations, 02 VoLTE gateway were installed and pow-
available. The call flow for other stations will be fol- ered using local power supply. The VoLTE gateways
lowed in similar manner. were programmed to dial a fixed PSTN number, on
Station will also receive a ring on VoLTE gateway picking the analog phone. Thus, it became part of
with ringer, whenever the Section controller will try conference at Divisional control office.
to contact the station. Station Master will then lift
the receiver of analog phone and will join the confer-
ence. 6 Trial Result
In this system, there is the provision in VoLTE
gateway to limit the incoming and outgoing num- Initially during trial the VoLTE gateway at Dhanbad
ber at the station equipment and at the Central con- Divisional was found to hang frequently. On exami-
trol equipment for the safety and security purpose of nation it was found that due to IP conflict, at division
the communication arrangement. To avoid unwanted the SIP trunk between SIP srever at HJP and the
calls to our calling number, devices being used have VoLTE gateway used to get disturbed. After resolv-
functionality to bind number (caller-id). The calls ing the IP issue, the VoLTE gateway worked without
dialed or received can have restriction to use only problem. Sometime voice at Section Controller end
Gyandeep 2019 53
chattered and echoed. This may be due to the fact Sri Ravi Prakash is a Mas-
that voice packet was sent over Railnet from division
ter of Science with Informa-
to Hajipur without QoS. This is being further exam- tion technology as the spe-
ined. In a few instances, VoLTE gateway at Padam cialization. He has expe-
and Katkamasandiwas found hanged. After exami- rience of 19 years in In-
nation, it was found that it was due to unstable AC dian Railways. He is expe-
power supply. After providing stable power supply rienced in the field of Mi-
the VoLTE gateway worked satisfactorily. crowave, Quad, OFC in-
stallation, Wireless System,
CCTV and Data network of Indian Railways. He
7 Conclusion& Way Ahead has commissioned Exchanges at ECR. He was instru-
mental in implementation of 182 over ECR He is also
From the trials the following conclusions can be
experience in radio planning to protect control and
drawn.
other E1s required for enhancing the control com-
1. (i) The scheme for backup control system over munication uptime. He also holds good knowledge
PSTN using VoLTE gateway is technically feasi- of TDM and Asterisk VoIP exchange. Presently he
ble. is working as SSE/Tele at headquarter Hajipur/East
Central Railway.
2. Stable power supply (may be using UPS) at way
station is required to power the VoLTE gateway.
3. If Railnet is used to transmit voice packet, it
should be done using proper QoS or else the voice
gets disturbed with chattering and echoes.
Once the system stabilizes, it can be used in ART
for communication with the section controller from
the block section. These can be suitably packaged
with a battery bank for this purpose. It is also noted
that PSTN cannot be used for emergency communi-
cation.
Sri Rajesh Sharan is a

B.E (Electronics and Com-
munication) from Bangalore
University. He has 20 years
of experience in Indian Rail-
ways. He has worked in area
of MTRC, OFC, Wireless
communication. He has
worked as ASTE/Project
and ASTE/Tele/HQ/HJP
where he was instrumental in commissioning of
MTRC at 45 stations in 425 kms DHN-MGS in
ECR. Besides this, he was also commissioned OFC
in 800 kms (approx) over ECR. He is recipient of
GMs award and PCSTEs award. Currently, he is
working as SSTE/Tele/HQ/HJP and is looking after
all telecom requirement of ECR HQ and monitoring
of Telecom works in divisions as well including Wi-Fi
being implemented in ECR.
54 Gyandeep 2019
(A Major yard in Southern Railway)
K Mani Venkata Kumar, professor(Signal), IRISET)
Erode (ED) is a major junction in Salem Di- 1. Non blanking of signals achieved. normally ma-
vision of Southern Railway. When I joined as jor yards are not provided with non-blanking fa-
Dy.CSTE/Projects/Trichy, there were two works of cility due to conventional power supply. new EI
Erode station entrusted to me for execution. They has been installed with one centralized IPS and
are two IPS at either end of goomty. so the yard
became non-blanking.
1. Removal of Scissors crossover on Salem(SA) end
of yard
2. Direct reception of 7 & 8 line
2. many batteries are removed as 4 internal banks
Initially it was proposed to combine both the works and one point bank and 4 external banks at cen-
and execute in one go. But the detailed estimate tralized location and two point banks and ex-
for 7 & 8 lines were not sanctioned due to projected ternal banks at either end goomties are removed
cost is less and detailed cost was more. As a result, with a provision of IPS. lot of maintenance effort
Scissors crossover removal work also getting delayed. has been saved.
There was a pressure from associate Engineering de-
partment to expedite the scissors crossover removal
as it is no longer safe to have them in the yard. More-
3. The OHE has provided 3 AT supply from UP AT
over, none of the components of Scissors crossover like
only as the load was very high with conventional
sleeper, fittings are being manufactured anymore. So
supply. Consequent to EI, the requirement of
final call was taken to take up the works separately.
load has been reduced. so now it was proposed
Accordingly the Scissors removal work was taken
to provide both UP and Down AT supply to Sig-
up and the new relay room was made. The signalling
nalling installation. this may have tremendous
work was awarded to provide Kyosan make Electronic
effect on reliability on signalling.
Interlocking in place of RRI as the no of alteration are
more and we cannot do alterations at major yards.
Now the system configuration has to be decided.
Having known that there will be one more work need 4. The EI reliability is so high, now indoor failure
to be taken up at this station. So the configuration is report till date ( 28.10.2019) from the date of
is arrived considering the scope of both works. The commissioning.
envisaged benefits from above decision are
1. Easy execution of direct reception of 7 & 8 work 5. As the configuration was decided keeping the
2. Augmentation of system hardware not needed scope of both the works in consideration, no aug-
mentation of system was needed except provision
3. The additional input/output spares are catered of one EP5 subrack. this had reduced the indoor
for next phase also works in turn block period greatly.
4. No much NI/Pre NI is needed
The work of scissors crossover removal is completed above configuration made very easy commissioning
on 09.02.2017. of Road 7 &8 direct reception. the scope limited to
out door cable laying and termination. Electronic In-
terlocking Factory Acceptance Test(FAT) & Site Ac-
Additional benefits derived on commissioning Elec- ceptance Test(SAT). Finally the work commissioned
tronic Interlocking in 21.08.2019.
55
Figure 1:
56 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 2:
Gyandeep 2019 57
Figure 3:
58 Gyandeep 2019

sent to the author at manivenkatkumar@gmail.com
K Mani Venkata Kumar

is an IRSSE officer of 2001
batch He graduated from
JNTU, Kakinada in Elec-
tronics and Communication
Engineering in the year 2002.
He started his career in Rail-
ways in Chennai Division as
ADSTE/Sullurupeta in the
year 2004. He worked in var-
ious capacities in Open line in Southern Railway. He
also worked as Project head for Reconstruction of
Northern lines Signalling in Northern Province of
Sri Lanka from 2012-2015. He is currently working
as Professor(Signalling) at IRISET.
Gyandeep 2019 59
Detecting faulty Sleepers & Glued joints using Cable
Route Locator
Ram Raj Meena, Sr DSTE (Coord.)/Kota,
Pramod Pathak, ADSTE (ML)/Kota
Abstract
DC Track Circuit is one of the simplest and most ver-
satile technique employed for detecting the presence
of train vehicle. Being a vital circuit, the DC Track
Circuit is designed to fail on safe side; however, the
failure of DC Track Circuit leads to introduction of
manual working in train operation requiring physical
visual verification for detecting the presence of vehi-
cle, which may lead to an unsafe situation. Moreover,
the failure of DC Track Circuit leads to undesirable
train detentions on Signaling account. For Signal En-
gineers, it is of prime importance to ensure availabil-
ity of functional DC Track Circuits at all times, so
that the train operation are smooth and safe. Rails,
Glued Joints and Sleepers are the fundamental civil
Engineering assets on which the DC Track Circuits
functions. Therefore quick diagnosis of cause of fail-
ure, on the account of these assets is very important
Figure 1: Signal Generator Unit of Cable Route Lo-
to restore the functioning of DC Track Circuits. Of-
cator
ten, it is very challenging to attend failure of DC
Track circuits on this account, as the faults in Glued
Joints and Sleepers are very difficult to get identified
and sometimes these faults are of intermittent nature
also. Currently, primitive trial and error method is
employed for identifying fault in these assets, in which
a bunch of few Sleepers are sequentially isolated to
assess any improvement in voltage at the relay end of
DC Track Circuit. This method is very time consum-
ing and highly cumbersome as this require continu-
ous support from associate Engineering department.
Further, with ever increasing traffic this inefficient
technique may not be feasible in future.
1 Why Detecting a faulty

Sleeper or Glued joint is
a tough nut to crack?
Figure 2: Signal Receiver Unit of Cable Route Loca-
Maximum numbers of Sleepers with different type of tor
track relays in DC Track Circuit is 582 (using QTA2
relay with length of 350mtr)and 1250(using QBAT
relay with length of 750mtr) and on average there This huge number of Sleepers and Glued Joints are
are 8 number of Glued Joints in a Track Circuit. connected in parallel between +ve rail and ve rail, the
60
Detecting faulty Sleepers & Glued joints using Cable Route Locator
Electrical equivalent circuit of DC Track Circuited 4 Solution:-

portion is as depicted below
The current methods requiring testing of each indi- Detection of the leakage in the applied signal on the
vidual Sleeper and Glued Joint and the sheer number course of its transmission on Rails via faulty Sleepers
of Sleepers and Glued Joint as discussed above cou- or faulty Glued Joint is the basic premise employed
pled with intermittent nature of fault make failure, a by this method.
daunting task to overcome. A 33 KHz signal is applied at TF end with the
Signal Generator. Leakage in this 33Khz signal is de-
tected using Signal Receiver through faulty Sleeper
2 Discussion on some other or faulty Glued joint etc. This leakage pinpoints the
cause of failure of DC Track Circuit. No electrical
techniques disconnections are required to be made for this ap-
plication.
Because of vitality of DC Track Circuits in Signaling The method is very simple to implement as after
System and the aforementioned complexity involved applying the 33 KHz signal at TF end, Signal Main-
related to Civil Engineering assets, some other tech- tainer or Engineer has to simply walk slowly between
niques as discussed below, were also devised by Signal the rails with Signal Receiver and audio visual alarm
Engineers to tackle the failure on this account but indicating the leakage confirms the fault in Sleeper,
these techniques have a lot of drawbacks including if there is any.
accuracy issues and are full of practical problems- Further, any fault in Glued Joint can be easily as-
certained by audio visual alarm owing to leakage of
the signal via insulated material of Glued Joint on
the other corresponding end of Glued Joint.
5 Area of applications:-
• During Track Circuit failures:- as discussed ear-
lier, this technique offer quick and easy solution
to identify and pin point faulty Sleepers and
faulty Glued Joint along with any other short
Figure 4: Table 1 circuit point.
Because of the above drawbacks, an urge for inno- • Preventive maintenance:- This technique can
vation in this field was constantly felt by signal engi- also be easily applied for identifying leakage in
neers and this method employing the Cable Route Lo- the Glued Joints or Sleepers which may lead to
cator to detect faulty Sleeper and Glued Joint, shall failure in future.
prove to be highly suitable solution for this challeng-
ing problem.
6 Advantages:-
1. Simple and easy to use.
3 Concept:-
2. Quick identification of failure.
Cable Route Locators are one of the very commonly
3. Accuracy is almost 100 percent.
used equipment in railways. In S&T Department,
these are used for locating the route of underground 4. No electrical disconnection is required to be
cables. Presently, all the S&T depots of Kota division made for this application
have Cable Route Locators at their disposal. Cable
Route Locator unit constitutes of a Signal Generator 5. Short Circuit and low leakage points can also be
and a Signal Receiver. In this system, a 33 KHz Sig- detected.
nal is applied to cable with the Signal Generator and 6. Can be used for preventive maintenance also.
the associated magnetic field induced in the process
because of the applied signal is detected by the Sig- 7. All SSEs Depots are already having one or more
nal Receiver consequently generating an audio visual Cable Route Locator at their disposal (zero fi-
alarm. nancial cost).
Gyandeep 2019 61
Detecting faulty Sleepers & Glued joints using Cable Route Locator
Figure 3:
8. As the method is very easy the training can be

imparted to the all the staff irrespective of their
skill sets and that too at their respective duty
place. Pramod Pathak is cur-
rently holding post of
ADSTE (ML)/Kota and
have excellent command
over Signalling and Telecom
Ram Raj Meena is cur- Installations. He holds expe-
rently holding post of rience of working on post of
Sr. DSTE(Coord.)/Kota. i) JE/Tele/GUNA/WCR, ii)
He belongs to IRSSE ADSTE/Sig/GUNA/WCR,
2008 Batch and have iii) ADSTE/Works/BPL/WCR, iv) ADSTE
graduated Electrical /BTE/WCR
Engineering from IIT
Delhi. He holds experi-
ence of working on open
line and construction
postings as i) ADSTE/Sig/JBP/WCR, ii) AD-
STE/Sig/SGO/WCR, iii) DSTE/Con/Kota/WCR,
iv) DSTE/Sig/JBP/WCR, v) Sr.
DSTE/Sig/Kota/WCR
62 Gyandeep 2019
Glossary of Power Supply Terms
S Hari, Professor(Admn), IRISET
Boost Converter: It is a Step-up convertor in

which O/P DC V > I/P DC V Efficiency : The ratio of total O/P power to
total I/P power, expressed as a percentage.
Breakdown Voltage : It is the minimum voltage
that causes a portion of an insulator to fail and Electro-magnetic Compatibility : The P/S
become conductive. and its components should comply to standards
for electromagnetic emissions and susceptibility
Bridge Conv / Rectifier : Employs 4-switching (immunity).
elements (full bridge) or 2-switching elements (half
bridge) Electromagnetic Interference(EMI) also
called as Radio-Frequency Interference(RFI) :
Burn in : The period directly following the very It is unwanted high freq energy caused by switching
first turn-on of a given P/S. It is characterized by a transistors, O/P rectifiers and zener diodes in SMPS.
relatively high and declining failure rate. Most P/S Noise generated by switching action of P/S are
will typically fail in the first few hours of operation reflected back into the power line, which is normally
controlled with a line filter. Radiated EMI can be
Chassis Ground (zero voltage) : It is a con- suppressed by enclosing a P/S circuitry in a metal
nection to the main chassis of a piece of electronic case.
or electrical equipment. Ideally all chassis grounds
should lead to earth ground. En-capsulated : Hermetically sealed and con-
tained in a thermally conductive epoxy resin or plas-
Constant Current : A P/S that regulates its tic.
O/P current to within a specified current range Energy Star : It sets standards for operating
regardless of changes of O/P load. (used in battery efficiency of various kinds of manufactured products
charging application and LED driver ckts) for electrical and electronic products. It defines the
maximum amount of power which can be consumed
Constant Voltage : A P/S that regulates O/P in an idle state in order to meet certification.
voltage level regardless of changes in load resistance.
Filter : A freq-sensitive network that attenuates
Crowbar : An OV protection circuit which shorts unwanted noise and ripple component of a rectified
the O/Ps of P/S, if a pre-determined voltage is O/P
exceeded.
Full Load : The maximum continuous O/P cur-
DC-DC Converter : A supply / converter that rent a supply is rated under nominal operating con-
accepts a DC I/P V and produces a DC O/P V. ditions.
Ground : An electrical connection that is made
De-rating : Specified reduction of O/P current to earth (or to some conductor that is connected
when operating under elevated operating tempera- to earth). A P/S or dc-dc supply common is not
tures. actually ground unless it is connected to earth.
DIN Rail Mount : It is a metal track or rail to Harmonic Distortion : The distortion char-
which modules of industrial control devices can be acterized by presence of multiple harmonics of
easily attached or removed. fundamental frequencies in sinusoidal ac current
waveforms and caused by the switching action of
Dynamic Load : A load condition that changes P/S typically stated as a percentage of the sinusoidal
rapidly during which O/P V may fall out of regula- wave form, ex: 0.95 Power Factor.
tion (overshoot and / or undershoot) temporarily.
63
Heat sinks : It is a device that conducts heat Line Regulation : The variation of an O/P
away from something, usually transferring it to voltage due to a change in the I/P voltage, with all
surrounding air. Various parts inside your PC need other factors held constant.
to have heat sinks(made from aluminum) because
they produce a lot of heat and always use a fan to Load : The components or circuitry drawing
keep the heat sinks cool. current from the O/P of a supply ie., load is O/P
current.
Hold-Up Time : Time period that a P/S O/P
will remain within specified limit, during loss of I/P Load Regulation(O/P regn) : Variation of
power. Adequate hold-up time keeps the computer O/P voltage due to a varying load within a speci-
running until a standby UPS takes over within few fied range with all other factors held constant. It is
milli-sec. expressed as a percentage of the nominal DC O/P
voltage
Humidity : Within a specified temperature Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) : It is
range, the maximum moisture content permissible the time between failure ratings. More the parts less
in the surrounding air of a supply that a P/S can the MTBF. It is expressed in hours which gives the
tolerate to meet its rated specifications relative reliability. Formulae - Total UP time / total
no. of failures
IEC (International Electro-technical
Commission-Geneva) : It sets standards for Mean Time To Repair(MTTR) : The pre-
electronic products and components which is dicted average length of time to repair a faulty unit
adopted by most of worldwide national safety with the specified spares kit. Formulae - Total DN
agencies. time / total no. of failures
I/P Volt range : The range of source voltages
for which P/S meets its specification to deliver its Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect
rated O/P. Transistor (MOSFET) : Used in SMPS having
much better switching characteristics than Bipolar
Inverter : A device that generates AC power from Transistors.
a DC power source.
In-rush Current : When supply is first turned N+1 : The use of multiple supplies to achieve
on, a high surge I/P current is experienced caused higher reliability levels through system redundancy.
by the charging of the bulk I/P capacitors. N+1 system consists of a number (N) of power
supplies plus one (+1) to provide redundancy and
Isolation : It is the electrical separation between allow continued operation through the fault of one of
I/P & O/P and isolated for safety reasons. Some supplies. It is isolated via an isolation/ORing diode
P/S ie., DC/DC converters have common grounds, to ensure that a short within one supply will not
and therefore are not isolated. Galvanic Isolation cause the entire system to fail.
means two circuits which have no ohmic connection
are considered to be galvanically isolated from each Noise : The O/P noise is specified in mV peak-to-
other. It is achieved by using a transformer, opto peak at nominal line and full load. Switching is done
coupler, etc. at very high frequencies, whereas the peak-to-peak
amplitude at the fundamental switching frequency is
Isolation Voltage (Rated) : It is defined as usually much less. Short leads and proper grounding
the maximum voltage across the isolation barrier a techniques must be used. Ripple (fluctuations) and
device can withstand for a fixed time period. noise (spikes) are undesirable AC currents remaining
in power supply of DC O/Ps. No Load Consumption
Leakage Current : It is Current flowing between The amount of I/P power consumed by a P/S under
the O/P bus and chassis ground due to imperfections a no-O/P load condition.
in electronic components and designs.
Operating range : Minimum and maximum
Linear P/S : A PSU that regulates O/P voltage I/P voltage limits within which a P/S will operate
by varying voltage drop across an Resistor or elec- to specifications. A P/S with a wide I/P range is
tronic component placed in series with the load which recommended when the line voltage is subject to
dissipates unused power. brownouts and surges.
64 Gyandeep 2019
Operating Temperature : The range of tem- Rated O/P Current : The maximum continu-
peratures within which a P/S will perform within ous load current a P/S is designed to provide under
specified limits. specified operating conditions.
Ambient Temperature : Still Air temperature Recovery Time : The time required by a
of the immediate environment measured at a mini- transient over or under shoot in a stabilized O/P
mum of 100mm from P/S quantity to decay within specified limits.
O/P Current : Maximum current that can be Regulated P/S : A PSU that maintains a O/P
continuously drawn from the O/P of a P/S. voltage to within specified limits under varying
operating conditions, such as I/P line, O/P load,
O/P Impedance : The variation of O/P voltage ambient temperature. PSU can be linear or SMPS
to change in load current. depending on the method of regulation and mode of
operation of power handling components.
O/P Power : The rated maximum amount of
power available at the O/P of the P/S. Remote sensing : When current is flowing, the
voltage at the end of a cable is different from the
Overload Protection A protective feature that voltage at start because of the resistance of the wire.
limits O/P power or current demands to prevent The higher the current, the higher this loss. Since
damage to the supply. SMPS contain feedback loops to keep the voltage
constant it is feasible to sense the voltage at the
Overvoltage Protection : A circuit(zener other end of the cable with wires that do not conduct
diode) that will typically shutdown P/S when the current.
O/P voltage exceeds a specified range.
Ripple : It is the amount of fluctuation left over
Overshoot : A momentary rise in O/P voltage a from the rectification of AC to DC. It is measured
supply experiences during decreased load condition in volts peak to peak or volts RMS. In SMPS, it
can increase at maximum loading and minimum
Potential free contact means there is no I/P voltage. Ripple decreases the lifespan of the
voltage between contact terminals: It is also capacitors and increases voltage instabilities in the
called ”dry contacts” which are physically operated high speed and very low voltage circuitry in today’s
with the main device, but not electrically connected computers. SMPS have high freq ripple, linear power
to it. The contacts are isolated from each other as supplies have low freq ripple (multiple of 60Hz).
well as from any supply system and it can be either
NO/NC Short Circuit Protection (over current
protection) : A short circuit is an unlimited load
Power Factor : cos ∅ is a measure of how potential far exceeding a supplys O/P current capa-
effectively incoming power is utilized and is defined bility. Under a short circuit condition, most supplies
as ratio of actual power to the apparent power. are designed to shut-down and typically recover
Power is of three types: Active power, Reactive to normal operation when the short is removed.
power and Apparent power. Protection of a P/S not to be damaged if the O/P
circuit is short circuited or connected to a very low
Active Power Factor Correction : SMPS has impedance source.
high harmonic content. This creates extra load on
utility lines and increased heat of utility transformers Soft Start : A feature which limits the inrush
and may cause stability problems. This helps define current of a supply and causes O/P voltage to rise
your power supplies relationship with the power grid. gradually to its specified value. At times due to
much inrush current, P/S may shut down or blow
Pulse Width Modulation : A circuit used a fuse. Hence a soft start gradually increases the
in SMPS where the switching frequency is held O/P voltage to keep the ”outrush” current within a
constant and the width of the power pulse is varied, reasonable range.
controlling both line and load changes with minimal
dissipation. Standby Power : An auxiliary source of power,
Gyandeep 2019 65
intended to power timing and control circuitry in voltage to reach the specified accuracy when the
an appliance or electronic device, when power to O/Ps are fully loaded into resistive loads.
primary operating circuits has been switched off.
UL (Underwriters Laboratories) : An inde-
Static Load : A load that remains constant over pendent, non-profit organization testing for public
a given time period(specified as a percentage of full safety in the United States. UL recognition or
load) listing is required for equipment used in specific
applications.
Storage Temperature : The maximum range
of temperature that the P/S can safely be kept in Uninterruptible P/S (UPS) : A system de-
storage when no circuit power is applied. Long term signed to supply power during the loss of ac line
exposure within these temperature ranges should power. This is accomplished by means of a back up
not degrade the supplys performance. battery and a dc-ac inverter or dc-dc P/S.
Switching Frequency : This is the fundamental Volt : Unit of measurement of electromotive

frequency at which a supply operates its rectifier force, electric potential or potential difference (V).
circuits.
Watt : Unit of measurement of power equal to 1
Switched-Mode P/S : A PSU that incorporates joule/sec (W). DC power can be calculated by multi-
power handling electronic components continuously plying voltage and current. Volts multiplied by amps
switching on and off with high frequency in order to equals watts, or V x A = W.
provide the transfer of electric energy. By varying Warm Up Time : The time required, after initial
duty cycle, frequency or phase of these transitions turn on, for a P/S or dc-dc supply to operate within
an O/P parameter is controlled. Typical freq range its specifications. Most supplies do not require a
of SMPS is from 20 kHz to several MHz. warm-up time when operating above 0 degree C.
Switching Regulator : A non isolated dc-dc Working Voltage (Rated) : It is the maximum
converter consisting of inductors and capacitors to continuous voltage that can be sustained continu-
store energy and switching elements (typically tran- ously across the isolation barrier of a supply without
sistors or SCRs), which open and close as necessary causing stress to the isolation barrier. The rated
to regulate voltage across the load. The switching working voltage is typically much lower than the
duty cycle is generally controlled by a feedback loop rated isolation voltage.
to stabilize the O/P voltage.
Temperature Co-efficient : The average

percentage of change in O/P voltage per degree Some Technical terms related to
change in temperature with load and I/P voltage Power Supply
held constant.
• SPIKE is a very short sudden OV condition that
Thermal protection : When P/S components lasts for < 3 ns. They have the potential to cause
exceeds its own temperature, shuts down in time to great damage to sensitive eqpt.
prevent permanent damage.
• SURGE is a sudden temporary increase in volt-
Transformer : A magnetic device that converts age that lasts for > 3 ns. Typically surges have
AC voltages to AC voltages at any level. It trans- less voltage than spikes, however they last much
fers Power. An increase in voltage causes decrease in longer and at times surges are preceded by spikes
current and vice-versa. • A SWELL is a momentary power line voltage
Transient response : Time required for O/P increase, lasting upto several seconds.
voltage to return within the regulation envelope
following a 50% load change. A P/S with quick • Sags, brownouts & blackouts are all UV condi-
transient response will reduce the risk of read/write tions. Sags rarely affect electronic devices, while
errors. brownouts will usually cause a computer to re-
boot due to moderate times of under-voltage
Turn On Time : The time it takes for the O/P (lasting upto several seconds). Blackouts, of
66 Gyandeep 2019
course, are long periods (minutes to hours) of

interrupted service.

sent to the author at srinivasanhari67@gmail.com
Shri. S Hari, joined

S.C.Rly as JE/Tele in 1991.
He worked in Axle counter
and VHF/UHF repairs Lab
before joining as Instructor
IRISET in 1999. He be-
came gazetted officer in 2002.
He has worked in various ca-
pacities in Open line for 12
years and also served as Asst.
Prof(Sig) for one and a half year at IRISET. Prior
to joining as Prof(Telecom) IRISET, he worked as
Sr.DSO/GTL for two years.
Gyandeep 2019 67
Digital/ mobile detox through Yoga & meditation.
Abstract products/services review, social bookmarking, social

gaming, social networks, video sharing, and virtual
This article has been written to highlight the burning worlds began to catch up. Soon, the social media gi-
issues related with the indiscriminate use of digital ants started capturing Organizations, Governments,
platforms like social media, search engines, laptops, individuals, business, hiring manpower, admissions
mobiles etc. and its negative or evil effects on both by educational institutions, law enforcement agen-
the physical & mental well being of humans in the cies, as a source for news base, for interpersonal rela-
long run. The idea behind Digital Detox is not re- tionships etc. some of the major social media giants
gressive, but has been thought after with the vision and their following can be seen below:
of a healthy humane social order, balanced existence
and holistic well being across the world.
Figure 1:
1 Social Media
The origin of social media traces back to 1840, when
telegraph was used for social messaging in US after
pigeon post. But as the possible messages were fixed
and predetermined, such systems were quite useful
& informative. Later on, by 1960 & 70s, modern
concepts in multi-user computing were developed on
generalized computer assisted systems and triggered
the growth of PLATO (Programmed Logic for Auto-
matic Teaching Operations)by the University of Illi-
nois, including forums, message boards, online test-
ing, e-mail, chat rooms, picture languages, instant
messaging, remote screen sharing, and multiplayer
video games. Although, CDC (Central data Corpo-
ration) made its first commercial utilization of social
media, different requirements by the masses for blogs,
business networks, collaborative projects, enterprise
social networks, forums, microblogs, photo sharing, Figure 2:
68
Now, social media has been recognized as an in- 3 Yoga

evitable part of life with huge impact on the minds of
the masses which can influence (either in the positive Etymologically, the word Yoga translated into En-
or negative way) and/ or topple not only huge busi- glish means To connect. Derived from the Sanskrit
ness establishments, financial markets etc, but also root yunjate, has always been misunderstood and has
the political scenarios and Governments across the been limited to certain poses or gymnastic benefits
world. or breathing exercises. But, reality is something dif-
ferent. Now, if Yoga means To connect, then the
Keeping apart the other dangers of social media question of connected with What? comes into pic-
which can easily create disparities across the nations ture. There is a systematic 8 stepped approach that
and political polarization, it can also influence the leads to the enlightenment of an individual which was
mental health of the individuals & organizations. I invented by the great scientist sage Patanjali. A nor-
have tried to bring out in this article, the ways & mal human being is under the sway of pleasures or a
means to encounter through Yoga & Meditation. slave of repetitive patterns (called Samskaras in San-
skrit). Having attained the yogic or connected state
of mind, a person has full control over all the senses
and mind. This helps him lead a balanced life. The
initial 4 steps are based on certain principles of dis-
2 Digital/ mobile detox cipline to tune the physical body to such a state and
are called external practices, whereas the later 4 steps
are all about the internal practices that bestow the
Cyber Literacy actually means the ability to use com- state of balanced mind. On sufficient practice, one re-
puter technologies effectively and to simultaneously alizes that he is not only connected with his body and
understand the implications of those actions. It is mind, but also has higher purpose of life with which
also important to know where to go to find reli- he is connected. And further to this, as an individ-
able and accurate resources in cyberspace, otherwise ual contemplates, he understands that he (psychic
known as cyber intelligence. The word understand- or subtle body) is connected with everything around
ing is key here, as it goes beyond knowing how to use him through his mind and is a part of Nature itself.
the technology but to have a consciousness of ones This is something like a one stop solution to all the
actions. Thus, Digital detox is essential for all such evils in the world.
individuals & organizations toiling in the cyber world The 4 tools for external practices:
to preserve their mental capacities.
1. Yama: Discipline has been defined as the God of
Digital detox refers to a period of time when a
death. To achieve this unswerving discipline and
person voluntarily refrains from using digital devices
for Becoming that, 5 sub-tools have been pre-
such as smart phones, computers and social media
scribed. Non-violence, Truthfulness, Faith, Con-
platforms. This form of detoxification has gained
tinence & Non accumulation of material things.
popularity, as individuals have increased their time
spent on digital devices and particularly, the Inter- 2. Niyama: Although literally means indiscipline,
net. Tech addicts who cant help but spend most of but it should be understood as that which creates
their waking life glued to cell phone/ laptop. Doctors Freedom in true sense, not unbridled sensuality
at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro or voluptuousness. So, the sub-tools for achiev-
Sciences (NIMHANS) have come up with a mobile ing this are: Cleanliness, satisfaction, Penance,
app that helps people reduce their mobile usage. Ser- self study and surrender to the Absolute Ulti-
vice for Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT) Clinic mate. Certain sub-tools look diametrically op-
started by National Institute of Mental Health Sci- posite and one may wonder how developing qual-
ences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru is Indias first clinic ities like satisfaction & surrender produce free-
exclusively dealing with technology-related mental dom. But, this is all a matter of practice that
health issues. While we are trying to limit the use bestows 360 degree vision.
age of technology, the SHUT clinic is packed with
cases of new-age addiction to technology like gam- 3. Asana: Simply means, a physical pose of the
ing, social media, shopping and so on. I find the best body that can make a person stabled. This is
way to handle this menace is through Yoga & Med- highly useful as is essentially required for the
itation as these techniques handle both the physical practitioner to enter into higher states of mind
& mental aspects of human behaviour. that produce balanced existence.
Gyandeep 2019 69
4. Pranayama: It means the dimension of life number84of participating nationalities. Millions of

force. Most of the time we are unaware of the Yoga enthusiasts across the world also participated
dimension of the life force that keeps moving and since then, a lot of research in the field of Yoga
inside the nervous system right from our birth has commenced resulting in identification of the po-
to death. To bring this life force or subtle tential of Yoga for all modern social evils. Thereafter,
sheath into awareness, certain breathing tech- in the successive years, mental and spiritual compo-
niques have been prescribed. This is the last nents of the yogic practices have also been included
step amongst the external practices to be done besides the physical component. The sole aim of Yoga
for the physical body. is to bring peace and harmony across all human be-
The 4 tools for internal practices: ings on this planet Earth. Origin of Yoga being from
the Hindu literature and to alleviate the fears of other
5. Pratyahara: Withdrawal of senses from the religions, the content pertaining to religious practices
objects of worldly attractions is called Pratya- has already been dropped. Its an unfailing means for
hara. It literally means control of ahara, or Digital detox.
gaining mastery over external influences. It has
been compared to a turtle withdrawing into its
shellthe turtle’s shell is the mind and the turtle’s
limbs are the senses.
Shri B B K Murthy is an
6. Dharana: Focusing on something specific is Electronics Engineer from
called dharana which is the opposite of pratya- erstwhile Nagpur University
hara. Dharana is the practice of one pointed (now, known as Rashtrasant
focus on a object, breath, sound. It is where Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur
we train the mind to concentrate and not go University). He has 28 years
of in a milion directions jumping for thought of working experience, initial
to throught, reacting, commenting and judging. 2 years in Instrumentation
DhraN originated from Tamil language as ”Dha- department of 3000 TPD
ranai” and its translated as ”collection or con- continuous process cement
centration of the mind”, or ”the act of holding, plant & captive power plant, followed by 26 years in
bearing, wearing, supporting, maintaining, re- Indian Railways in various capacities from Telecom
taining, keeping back, a good memory”, or ”firm- Inspector looking after Overhead lines & Strowger
ness, steadfastness, certainty”. exchanges to Dy. Chief S&T Engineer/ Networking
in ECoR responsible for roll out of latest innovative
7. Dhyana: More commonly known as Meditation, projects under Digital India Initiative for a Cashless
it is a tool to cleanse all that is redundant and economy & paperless ticketing in IR.
retains the bare minimum essential for spiritual
practices like Samadhi. Digital detox of mind Currently, he is working as Professor (Tele) at
can be easily achieved by Meditating for about IRISET/SC and has been a student of spirituality
half an hour or so, which involves cleaning of all throughout his life. He is an enthusiast in tradi-
all the unnecessary irrelevant stuff of thoughts, tional Yoga of Patanjali Yog Peeth, Hardwar and a
feelings & emotional garbage. preceptor in Heartfulness Meditation to make Peace-
ful, the Powerful under the guidance of global guide,
8. Samadhi: Ensures connectivity with the Origi- Daaji of Heartfulness Institute, having its presence in
nal source as the practitioner transcends into the 130 countries across the globe.
spiritual plane for enlightenment.
After the draft text received broad support from

177 Member States in United Nations General As-
sembly (UNGA) on 11 December 2014, the first Inter-
national Yoga Day was celebrated on 21st June 2015
across the world. 35,985 people, including Narendra
Modi, Honble PM of India and dignitaries from 84
nations, performed 21 asanas (yoga postures) for 35
minutes at Rajpath in New Delhi, and that became
the largest yoga class ever held, and with the largest
70 Gyandeep 2019
Digital Infrastructure & Services : An overview of
Indian Railways with case study of ECoR
Abstract use of IT is still undoubtedly in its growth phase.

Study of the technology used to handle information
This article envisages the efforts made by Indian Rail- and thus aid communication including the conver-
ways in realizing the Digital India Mission with a spe- gence of audio-visual & telephone networks with com-
cific case study of developments made by East Coast puter networks can be defined as Information & Com-
Railway. Basic idea behind Digital Infrastructure & munication Technology or ICT.
Services is automation of all Government functions
in Defense, economic, planning, transport etc. NIC
connects all District Headquarters for implementa-
tion of all central & state initiatives for which NeGP 2 Mission Mode Projects by
(National e- Governance Policy has been unveiled GoI & IR.
in 2006. Core Digital infrastructure includes CSC
(Common service centres), WAN (Wide Area Net-
The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) is an ini-
work) & DC (Data centres) and all services are web
tiative of the Government of India to make all gov-
enabled delivery mode with emphasis on PPP (Public
ernment services available to the citizens of India
private partnership), wherever feasible.
via electronic media. NeGP was formulated by the
Department of Electronics and Information Technol-
ogy(DeitY) and Department of Administrative Re-
1 Digital India Mission. forms and Public Grievances (DARPG). The Gov-
Key enablers and critical determinants of a countrys ernment approved the National e-Governance Plan,
growth & well-being unarguably depend on its Digital consisting of 27 ”Mission Mode Projects” (MMPs)
Infrastructure & Services. Harnessing the new digital and Ten components, on 18 May 2006. This is an en-
technologies and platforms has always been challeng- abler of Digital India initiative, and UMANG (Uni-
ing and is now becoming all the more inevitable for fied Mobile Application for New-age Governance) in
any organization for its development. turn is an enabler of NeGP. Meta data and data stan-
dards or MDDS is the official document describing
Honble Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi
the standards for common metadata as part of In-
launched the campaign of Digital India on 1st July
dia’s National e-Governance Plan.
2015. It includes plans to widen the high speed inter-
net connectivity networks to rural areas of the coun- A mission mode project (MMP) is an individ-
try, development of digital infrastructure, providing ual project within the National e-Governance Plan
government services digitally and universal digital lit- (NeGP) that focuses on one aspect of electronic gov-
eracy. Accordingly, Indian Railways has been work- ernance, such as banking, land records or commercial
ing to realize the Mission of Digital India. taxes etc.
To ensure that the advantages of the new technolo- Similarly, Indian Railways has identified its busi-
gies are accessible to all equitably and affordably by ness processes which need ICT enablement for its
all citizens of India, both the digital infrastructure faster growth. The following flow diagrams depict
and its services should be made such. The article various fields and highly or moderately successful im-
herein brings out the efforts made by Railways in var- plementation of ICT in IR.
ious ICT fields. Interconnection of a large number of data process-
Indian Railways has been one of the countrys ear- ing devices through suitable communication links en-
liest pioneers, around the year 1986, in leveraging abling data transfer between the data processing de-
the power of information technology to its millions of vices constitutes a DATA NETWORK. Several data
valued customers, pertaining to both the passenger & networks are functional over Indian Railways and
freight segments and also for its in house working & year after year, rapid expansion of the networks takes
usage by lakhs of employees. However, system-wide place to cover more and more activity centres.
71
Digital Infrastructure & Services : An overview of Indian Railways with case study of ECoR
Figure 1:
These can be broadly classified ernance project, ICMS or COIS ie Integrated

coach management system or Coach operations
as ICT for passenger segment, information systems with various modules, Crew
Freight segment & administra- management system (CMS), Control office appli-
cations (COA) etc.
tive functions of IR including
train operations.
1. Passenger segment: Various applications per-
taining to passenger segment are in the fields 3. Administrative functions: Accounting in-
of reserved ticketing, unreserved ticketing, train formation management system (AIMS) includ-
& PNR enquiry services, current day bookings, ing integrated payroll accounting system (IPAS),
charting operations, Automatic ticket vending Railway employees self service portal like RESS,
machines (ATVMs; both Smart card operated & REIS, e- Office, SPARROW, Hospital manage-
cash operated called Co-TVMs), Parcel bookings ment systems including UMID smart cards, hun-
(PMS), retiring room/ Dormitory bookings and dreds of Railway websites, codes & manuals etc.
ticket checking activities like computerization of on Railnet backbone.
TTE lobbies & Hand held terminals for online
allotment of berths etc using mobile Apps.
2. Freight segment: Various applications per-

taining to freight segment are in the fields of 4. Use of ICT directly for train operations has also
FNR enquiry to FOIS operations modules like started with applications like data loggers &
Punctuality analysis module, SATSANG Soft- computerization of train signal register, but is
ware Aided Train Scheduling and Network Gov- still in its infancy.
72 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 2:
3 Case study of Digital infras- ticket, Season tickets & Quick Booking using mo-
bile smart phones through App for travelling be-
tructure & services particu- tween stations over East Coast Railway.
larly wrt one of the Railways
2. Geo-fencing using GPS technology was tested
(ECoR). over all the 250 locations of ECoR to prevent
ticketless travelers from booking tickets when
ECoR in coordination with the Console, CRIS they see ticket checking staff on trains or sta-
& RCIL has Implemented the following initiation premises. Training workshops for TTEs on
tives to make this Digital India Mission into a usage of TTE App for checking of Mobile pa-
reality. perless tickets was also conducted over the Rail-
way. Thereafter, TTE App was also launched for
1. Government of India encourages people to move checking of Mobile App based paperless ticketing
towards a cashless economy. This is being and the same is in use extensively. Widespread
achieved by using Debit/ credit cards, Electronic campaigns for promotion of Mobile Apps utson-
payment gateway like Netbanking, UPI, Paytm, mobile was done through audio visual means,
Mobikwik etc. First of all, as a part of OPERA- video walls etc. at Bhubaneswar & Visakhap-
TION 5 MINUTES of Honble Minister of Rail- atnam stations of ECoR.
ways, East Coast Railway has been the first in
Indian Railways to launch the facility of UTS on 3. Under the Digital India initiative, first in-
Mobile App for booking of both paper & paper- digenous Mobile AppECOR YATRA has been
less unreserved tickets over the complete zone in launched by ECoR on 07.07.2018 with integra-
a single go on 16.05.18 for the benefit of its val- tion of all information pertaining to Passenger
ued passengers. Paperless UTS ticket on mobile services for pilgrims of Puri Rath Yatra 2018
is available for Single journey ticket, Platform travelling to the holy city of JagannathDham un-
Gyandeep 2019 73
Figure 3:
Figure 4:
der a single umbrella for easy and wide dissem- 4. Online Contact based & Contactless payment
ination of information related to Special Trains systems over ECoR have been introduced for
and Passenger Ticketing. which 263 POS machines were installed at var-
74 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 5:
Figure 6:
Gyandeep 2019 75
Figure 7:
ious PRS, UTS & Parcel locations over ECoR has enhanced data availability helping in accu-
& enabling of online App based payment sys- rate decision making.
tems like BHIM/UPI. Encouraging more cash-
less transactions for the passengers and promo- 8. Remote FOIS sidings have been shifted from
tion of digital payment activities & digital pay- VSAT based to Railway/ RCILs own OFC net-
ment infrastructure utilization. work, resulting in higher reliability in generation
of timely RRs & huge savings to Railways in
5. All Smart card based Automatic Ticket Vending terms of payment of regulatory charges to WPC,
Machines over ECoR have been switched over Ministry of communications. In achieving this,
to Connected mode, thereby sorting out most of the last mile connectivity constraint for some of
the passenger refund related issues of ticketing the sidings has also been overcome by usage of
through ATVMs itself. fixed IP/ static IP based SIM cards for the local
siding end from OFC PoP.
6. Large scale usage of Digital web portals like
IREPS, IRPSM, Government E Marketplace etc 9. Free Rail wire wi fi services for better & reli-
for effective & timely Project Management of able access of seamless internet to all esteemed
various works under Plan Heads helped im- passengers in many stations of ECoR by RCIL
mensely because of Computerization & expedi- has also been a very progressive step under the
tious disposal of cases. Digital India Initiatives.
7. Ensuring 24x7 availability of all types of data- 10. Computerization of Train signal registers at 20
com & peripheral equipment at field for work- locations over ECoR by Station Masters, usage
ing & maintenance of ICT based systems along of data analytics for passenger planning & pro-
with seamless main & standby backbone network file management, refunds management etc. have
76 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 8:
provided additional boost to the train & passen- Indian Railways in various capacities from Telecom
ger management. Inspector looking after Overhead lines & Strowger
exchanges to Dy. Chief S&T Engineer/ Networking
4 Conclusion projects under Digital India Initiative for a Cashless
economy & paperless ticketing in IR.
Digital infrastructure & services in Indian Rail-
ways have helped in extending better services to Currently, he is working as Professor (Tele) at
the passengers & customers, besides providing a IRISET/SC and has been a student of spirituality
solid base for efficient, effective & real time based all throughout his life. He is an enthusiast in tradi-
working for its employees fulfilling the Digital In- tional Yoga of Patanjali Yog Peeth, Hardwar and a
dia Mission. preceptor in Heartfulness Meditation to make Peace-
ful, the Powerful under the guidance of global guide,
Daaji of Heartfulness Institute, having its presence in
130 countries across the globe.
Electronics Engineer from
erstwhile Nagpur University
(now, known as Rashtrasant
Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur
University). He has 28 years
of working experience, initial
2 years in Instrumentation
department of 3000 TPD
continuous process cement
plant & captive power plant, followed by 26 years in
Gyandeep 2019 77
Mentoring Skills
Abstract • A desire to work with others
Mentoring can be simply defined as a healthy, in- • A desire to engage with others on an interper-
tellectual and mutually rewarding conversation be- sonal level
tween two or more individuals. This seems so sim-
• A desire to learn
ple, but has profound importance at both levels; indi-
vidual and organizational, particularly with reference • A motivation to mentor
to the behavioral attitude transformation and overall
growth of the systems, organizations and country, as • Good listening and communication skills
a whole. Recently, during this year I have attended
• Good questioning skills
a Seminar on mentoring skills at MCR HRD, Hy-
derabad which prompted me to write this article. It • Good common sense
was conducted by Director, Ministry of Defense and a
faculty of Ministry of HRD. A very simple mnemonic • Good people management and leadership skills
was given to us to understand the importance of men-
• Knowledge of the industry, organization, or field
toring skills. DDLA i.e. Discover and Develop
in which the mentee works or aspires to work in
the Latent Ability of a person.
Mentoring has been both an Art and Science since • Self-confidence and self-awareness
eons and has been used for development of skills, la-
tent abilities and accelerated learning. • Strong ethics
• Lack of prejudice
1 WHAT IS A MENTOR? • Openness, honesty and trustworthiness
A mentor is a person who has both professional and • Patience
life experience, and one who voluntarily agrees to
help a mentee develop skills, competencies, or goals. • Empathy
Put another way, a mentor is an advisor and role
model who is willing to invest in the mentees per-
sonal growth and professional development.
3 WHAT IS A MENTEE?
Some folks think that mentor is really just another A mentee is someone who has identified a specific
word for a role model. Mentors certainly are ex- personal or professional goal and who believes that
pected to be a role model for mentees in a variety the guidance and help of a mentor and being held
of areas, such as relating to peers, work-life balance, accountable to the mentor can help him or them
and ethics, but merely being a role model does not achieve his or their goal. The mentee’s potential:
make you a mentor. Being a mentor means inter- Before agreeing to enter into a mentoring rela-
acting with a mentee and providing support, advice, tionship, a mentor must believe that the prospective
and feedback to the mentee in other words, it re- mentee possesses qualities that will increase the like-
quires involvement with the mentee. So, Mentors are lihood and the mentee will benefit from the relation-
more than role models. ship. Qualities to look for in mentees
• A willingness to learn about themselves

2 What makes a good mentor?
• A willingness to learn from others experience
• A desire to help others succeed
• Commitment to their personal and professional
• A willingness to pass along information growth
• A willingness to give and receive feedback • Strong interpersonal skills
78
Mentoring Skills
• Good listening skills M - Mature & Motivating E - Energetic & empa-

thetic N - Nurturing T - Trust Worthy O - Open
• An easy ability to learn Minded R - Resourceful and Responsive
Above all, a Mentor should have the ability of con-
• An open mind and a willingness to try new
verting the weaknesses or short comings of his
things
Mentee into genuine qualities and abilities.
• An ability to accept feedback and learn from it Mentor should be amicable and should have quality
of thought and contextual in speech.
• Patience and ability to take a long-term view DDLA: How to become a Mentor :
D - Discover: Mentor should have the ability to
• Good communication skills discover the latent abilities in Mentee and for that
proper relationship building, development of rapport
• Flexibility
and keen acumen to introspect into the needs and
• Respect for other people’s time and effort culture. He should be an example in analyzing the
behavior and have a clear understanding about the
• Realistic expectations cause in which he needs to develop the Mentee. Men-
tor has to be an effective listener and should have
• A strong work ethic his own SWOT analysis first and must be capable
of SWOT analysis of his Mentee in the initial stage
• A strong initiative itself. Later on, Mentor should develop in himself
the capability of turning the weakness into strengths
• A clear commitment to being mentored
after successful implementing and ensuring this.
• A willingness to take responsibility for their ca- D - Development: Development of a Mentee can
reer be done through skilful counseling and try to resolve
the problems of Mentee. As it is very difficult to go
• Openness, honesty and trustworthiness into the depth of the problem in one or two meetings,
Mentor has to fix up more than one meeting to un-
There is a Japanese Proverb which says that Better derstand the problem and then finally arrive at coun-
than 1000 days of diligent study, one day with a great seling session for bringing about behavioral changes
Teacher. Here a great teacher refers to a Mentor. in the mentee based on SWOT analysis. He has to
There is a basic difference between a Teacher (guru) develop such skill and attitudes suitable to the spe-
and a Mentor. Mentor is a person who is genuinely cific need of the Mentee. The various developmental
interested in developing the key skills of his Mentee. activities and support needed for that should be given
A grand example is quoted from Mahabharata quite to the Mentee. More often, the growth of the Mentee
often to explain the difference between a Teacher and is through psychological success. The mentor should
a Mentor. Dronacharya was the Guru or Teacher of also monitor the performance during this period and
both Arjuna and Duryodhana, However, at the time advise formative feedback for implementation. He
of Kurukshetra War, Arjuna has to rise to the occa- should take all care not to criticize his Mentee for
sion, stand up against evil and also against his own reasons whatsoever they may be, and always adopt
teacher to fight. This was just because of his Mentor SOFTEN approach during his dialogue. (S-Smile,
Lord Krishna who guided him for the right thing at O-Open posture, F-Forward thinking, T-Touch, E-
the right time. So all that a Mentor wants is Mentees eye contact, N-nodding). Such Mentor Mentee rela-
success in whatever he is doing, after guiding him for tionship helps in removal of mental blockages and in-
the right cause. So during this course, many prac- cludes the ability to develop positive activity through
tical examples on how to become Mentee and how competency building.
to become Mentor etc. were discussed through case LA - Latent Ability: The quality of being able
studies and role modeling of an organization. Some to do something, especially the physical, mental, fi-
more examples of the mentor-mentee:- nancial, or legal power to accomplish something in
Mentor Mentee Mentee lying latent and yet to manifest.
1) Chanakya Chandra Gupta Mourya 2) Vikram The whole specimen of mentoring activities has dif-
Sara Bhai Abdul Kalam 3) Ramdas Shiraji Maharaj ferent phases starting from the contact phase, sup-
4) Bairam Khan Akbar port phase, reviewing phase and mentoring phase. In
Basic qualities a Mentor should possess as a de- Micro and Macro level, the success criteria should al-
codified mnemonic: ways be measured in terms of the purpose and sum-
Gyandeep 2019 79
Mentoring Skills
mative feed back at the end of the session. In the end, traditional Yoga of Patanjali Yog Peeth, Hard-
a Mentor should always leave the option of doing or war and a preceptor in Heartfulness Meditation
not doing to the mentee without forcing upon him. to make Peaceful, the Powerful under the guid-
There are many books and references that focus on ance of global guide, Daaji of Heartfulness Insti-
Mentoring skills like Art of Mentoring by Shri Ravi tute, having its presence in 130 countries across
Shanker Gundlapalli the globe.
This Mentor Mentee relationship should extend to
the organizational level for the development of the
organization which essentially involves hand holding
in skill development and is particularly relevant in all
technical fields.
Electronics Engineer from
erstwhile Nagpur University
(now, known as Rashtrasant
Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur
University). He has 28 years
of working experience, initial
2 years in Instrumentation
department of 3000 TPD
continuous process cement
plant & captive power plant, followed by 26 years in
Indian Railways in various capacities from Telecom
Inspector looking after Overhead lines & Strowger
exchanges to Dy. Chief S&T Engineer/ Networking
projects under Digital India Initiative for a Cashless
economy & paperless ticketing in IR.
Recent Achievements:
1. Railway mobile Apps like UTS for unreserved
paperless ticketing along with Geo-fencing based
on GPS technology were rolled out initially over
complete ECoR in a single go and then extended
countrywide.
2. TTE App for ticket checking & Handheld termi-
nals for TTEs of Rajdhani & Shatabdi trains.
3. ECoR Yatra App for easy & wide dissemina-
tion of information of Special trains, passenger
amenities etc. to lakhs of passengers on the oc-
casion of Jagannath Rath Yatra at Puri in 2018.
4. He has done instrumental work in putting an end
to the era of PCT by 100% computerization of
ECoR Unreserved ticketing arena including UTS
for Passenger Halts from nearest location.
Currently, he is working as Professor (Tele) at
IRISET/SC and has been a student of spiritual-
ity all throughout his life. He is an enthusiast in
80 Gyandeep 2019
Intermediate Block Signaling using MSDAC
R Viswanath Reddy, IRSSE, DSTE/Co-ord/BZA
Abstract 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE

For Intermediate Block signaling, various schemes are
SHEME
in use in Indian Railways based on different types
of vehicle detection devices and mechanism used to A. Typical layout of the scheme: The Intermediate
drive the remote IB Signals. Presently, the typical Block Section between NW-WADI of GTL division is
IB signaling schemes in existence are i) Conventional reffered for easy understanding. The typical layout
IB with copper cable ii) IB with Quad and copper of the placement of different DPs and Signals is as
cable iii) IB with EI and OCs iv) IB with UFSBI. In follows:
all these above schemes, axle counters are used for A Relay hut of size 12mx5m is provided to
track vacancy detection and to drive the signals at cater for RBG room at IB location. The IB home
IB, to read the status back and for resetting mecha- Signals are typically planned in such a manner that,
nism, various schemes have been used. Multi Section the UP and DOWN IB signals are near to Relay
Digital Axle Counters (MSDACs), with dual detec- hut and as such both signals are driven from the
tion in distributed architecture can also be used for hut including the corresponding distant signals.
track detection as well as exchange of signaling infor- The nomenclature of DPs in DOWN direction is
mation and resetting. This is successfully working in DN-DP1A, DN-DP1B, DN-DP2A, DN-DP2B, DN-
NW-WADI section of GTL division, with near zero DP3A, DN-DP3B, DN-DP4A, DN-DP4B. Similar
failures till date from the date of installation and sin- nomenclature has been adopted for UP direction also.
gle detection has been provided in 3 IBs of BZA di-
vision, which are working successfully without many B. Provision of MSDACs for track vacancy detec-
hassles. tion and defining the boundaries of track section and
Supervisory Track Sections:
1 INTRODUCTION Dual detection has been provided with redundancy

for all other equipment as well as communication
Intermediate Block Section is one step advancement media. The Typical IB section consists of Three
over absolute block system of working between two track sections in each direction. i) AS track section,
block stations in which, the block section is divided which starts from the foot of LSS and ends at 400m
into two sections of approximately equal length where ahead of IB home signal (DN-AC) ii) IB track
two trains can be accommodated simultaneously in section, from the foot of the IB home signal to 400m
each direction of traffic. The Intermediate block sig- ahead of the signal (7 AC) iii) BPAC section, from
nalling consists of two major components. A) Pro- foot of the IB home signal to 180m ahead of the
vision of axle counters for track vacancy detection home signal of the ahead station for proving block
in rear as well as advance sections B) Exchange of overlap (DN-BPAC). A supervisory track section
signalling and reset information between IB and sta- (DN-SPT) covers all these three track sections,
tions. In the present scheme, dual detection with re- which is used for second level of reset as explained in
dundancy at each level including communication me- later sections.
dia has been adopted to achieve higher availability.
Track vacancy detection has been achieved through Why dual detection? :
Multi Section digital axle counters and exchange of There are few instances where it is observed single
signalling information has been done through the detection (whether SSDAC or MSDAC) is prone to
utilization of IO-EXBs which are part of MSDAC. failures irrespective of precautions taken. It may be
The typical scheme is explained using M/s Frauscher due to inherent design flaws, which might have not
make FAdC R2 system. The same scheme may be have been envisioned during the design of the system
adopted to other MSDACs with slight modification or due to external factors during real time working of
and tailoring to the needs of different makes. the system.
81
Figure 1: Typical Layout of IBS
i. whenever a loaded rake movement is ii. Two separate TLJBs are provided with
there over the coil portion, due to light IP65 protection for termination of each
weight of the guard brake, there exists DP.
a considerable probability of the wheel
jumping over the coil causing a mis-
count and thereby counting mismatch
and failure of axle counter.
ii. When there is a long haul movement
or due to any unavoidable reasons, if
the wheel traces a to and fro movement
over the portion of coil, the system goes
into hang state which requires reboot-
ing of the same. This is prevalently ob-
served not only in SSDAC but also in
Figure 6: Termination box for DP
MSDAC.
iii. Unintended count due to food foil: It
has been an experience in few cases, iii. The 6quad cable from Relay hut to lo-
where the Aluminum food foil which cation box is duplicated and provided
runs along the track gets struck and in two different paths to achieve path
attaches to the Rx Coil, which causes redundancy.
unintended outcount or in count lead- iv. Each Coil/DP is connected to an
ing to failure of Axle counter. Advanced Evaluation Board(AEB)
through a surge protection device, for
In all above cases, if dual detection is processing of data received from coil.
provided with staggering of coils, such v. Two evaluators (EVs), Main and Re-
failures shall be avoided through Auto- dundant (M&R) are provided in IB lo-
matic reset feature. cation as well as adjacent stations. The
main DPs of UP and DOWN direc-
Why redundancy of other components of
tion are connected to EV(M) and re-
MSDAC? :
dundant(R) DPs of UP and DOWN di-
In order to avoid other equipment failures such
rection are connected to EV(R). The
as Power supply card, communication card, mother
evaluated information is shared to Re-
board as well as relay driver card and relay failures,
lay Driver card and COM-AdC. The
all are duplicated including communication media.
COM-AdCs at IB as well as adjacent
As shown in Fig.4, the redundancy at equipment
locations are on a common network
level is achieved as follows.
through ethernet ports and in turn
i. At wheel sensor level, dual detection is through dedicated OFC, via an unman-
provided with two DPs on either rail in aged ethernet switch as shown in Fig.4.
each direction of traffic. The COM-AdCs of both M & R EVs
82 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 2: Boundaries of Track Section
are hot linked and any failure of one of vi. There are two ethernet switches avail-
the board does not hamper the track able for shared communication among
detection. the MSDACs at all the three locations.
Gyandeep 2019 83
Figure 3: Dual Detection
One ethernet switch works on dedi- locations

cated fibres(Tx &Rx). Another ether-
net switch works on a pair of quad ca- The IB signal relay status has to be repeated from
ble. Alternatively, the second one can rear station to IB location. Similarly the status of
also be provided over redundant fibre. IB signal as well as other vital and non vital indica-
tions have to be exchanged between IB location and
Stations. In order to achieve this, the IO-EXBs are
used in either location, with each pair exchanging 3
vital I/Os between them. The vital mode is typi-
cally termed as quad mode in which 3 I/Os of vital
information can be exchanged, where as the non vi-
tal mode is termed as single mode, where 12 I/Os
can be exchanged between two locations with a pair
of IO-EXBs. As these are under the approved list
of components of FAdC R2 by RDSO, they can be
safely used for this purpose. The typical Information
required to be exchanged between two locations is as
follows
D. Reset feautures of MSDAC
The reset arrangement is proposed at three levels

using Track Sections and Supervisory Track Sections,
Figure 7: Ethernet Switch two of which are automatic reset arrangements and
one is manual reset.
vii. The Vital Relays (ACPRs) of each
track section are picked up at the En- 1. L -I : Automatic reset with redundant
try end of track section (either in IB track section :
location or station). The status of vi-
Once the train has cleared both the track sec-
tal relays exchanged between two lo-
tions, and any one of the track sections is in
cation through IO-EXBs depending on
failure state, the track section, which is in clear
the need.
condition will reset the one in failed condition.
C. Exchange of signaling information between two The track section, which is under reset is kept
84 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 4: Typical equipment Block diagram
in preparatory mode and the clear track section train with low speed enters and exits the track
information is used to take off the signal. section with equal count at the boundaries of
track section.
2. L -II : Automatic reset with Supervisory
As shown in Fig.2, DN-SPT is a supervisory
track section:
track section which covers all the track sections
When a supervisory track section is clear, all the of IB in DOWN direction. If any one of the track
track sections falling completely within the ju- sections fail, within the entire IB, DN-SPT re-
risdiction of that supervisory track section can sets that track section and keeps in preparatory
be assumed to be clear. If any track section mode.
fails and its corresponding supervisory track sec-
tion is clear, it will automatically reset the failed 3. L -III : Manual Reset with Line verifica-
track section. tion :
In case of automatic resetting with supervisory In case of failure of Level -1 and Level -2 reset,
track section, the reset track sections will be kept manual resetting has to be carried out, which re-
under preparatory mode, and the corresponding sets all the failed track sections in the section un-
signal will continue to be in ON aspect, until a der consideration. One reset box at train sending
Gyandeep 2019 85
Figure 5: Vital and Non-Vital I/O between IB and station
86 Gyandeep 2019
station along with its corresponding Line verifi- 5 Conclusion

cation(LV) box at other station is used to manu-
ally reset all the track sections between both the Reliability of conventional IB signaling suffers from
stations of a particular direction of movement. two problems. i) The SSDACs are provided without
This reset can be done only when Station Mas- duplication, which may lead to intermittent failures,
ters of both the stations have ascertained that thus making the system less available. ii) Similarly
all the track sections between the stations are the Signaling and Power cables provided along the IB
clear of trains in that particular direction. This block section are terminated in Quarter/Half location
will reset and set all the failed track sections in boxes with atleast 2 RE cuts between Station and IB.
preparatory mode. The clearance of train in each These location boxes are in inaccessable locations for
section with balancing of count will make the carrying out preventive as well as break down main-
track section clear and bring to its normal mode tenance. Moreover as the number of location boxes
of working. and terminations increases, the probability of failure
also proportionally increases.
In view of the above, in the present scheme it is
proposed to provide dual MSDAC for detection of
track vacancy over OFC and IO-EXBs are used for
3 Power Supply Arrangement exchange of signaling information between two loca-
tions, duly eliminating signaling cables and RE cuts.
The IB location is provided with a Mini IPS, for
which the input supply of 230V AC is from UP AT
and DN AT. The necessary power supplies for MS-
DAC are derived from the Mini IPS. M/s Frauscher
make MSDAC works on a voltage range of 19-72V The information / views expressed in this pa-
DC. Hence 24V DC supply with suitable current ca- per is of the authors and are based on their
pacity from Mini IPS serves the purpose. In stations, experience. Comments / observations may
the necessary power supplies are derived from the Ma- be sent to the author at vreddy.iitk@gmail.com
jor IPS.
4 Cable requirement Shri R Viswanath Reddy

is an IRSSE officer of 2010
batch. He had received Post
Signaling Cable : In the stations, Home & Advance
Graduate degree from IIT
starter signals are directly fed from the EI/Relay
Kanpur, in Electronics and
room with standard signaling cable, with aspect re-
Communication Engineering
peating relays at signal locations. IB Signals at IB
in the year 2009. He started
location are directly fed using a 12x1.5Sq.mm signal-
his career in Indian Railways
ing cable from Relay Hut, without any repeater relay
as ADSTE/Kadapa in Gun-
at site, as the distance is not more than 200m.
takal division of SCR in the year 2013. He is currently
Quad Cable : MSDAC evaluator to each DP re- working as DSTE/Co-ord/Vijayawada.
quires 1 quad of 4 conductors. A separate 6 quad
cable is used for each DP of dual detection (main
+ Stand-by) from the nearest Half location box pro-
vided for Signal cable termination at signal location.
From IB Hut to Half location box one 6 quad each is
used for UP & DN directions.
The media between Station to IB location is dupli-
cated by providing 6 Quad cable in addition to OFC
cable. The OFC as well as Quad ethernet switches
work in hot stand-by mode with seamless change over
to each other without disturbing the communication
working.
Gyandeep 2019 87
Progress Measuring Tool for Monitoring
Small/Medium Size Projects
Debabrata Samanta, Project Manager(S&T), RITES, Gurgoan
Manoj Arora, GGM (S&T), RITES, Gurgoan
Abstract Project success, therefore, should be examined from

a more holistic perspective than the traditional mea-
The development and implementation of project spe- sures in terms of budget, schedule and specifications.
cific monitoring tool is one of the key requirements The construction industry is one of the largest in-
for successful monitoring of any project. And, to dustries in the world, with members who are experts
meet this requirement, a cost effective project mon- in planning, design, construction, operation, and ad-
itoring tool is developed and implemented in a real ministration. The success of construction projects
time project of medium size. This tool can be repli- is a fundamental issue for most governments, users
cated across all industry sectors. and communities. In the literature that deals with
construction project success and causes of time and
cost overruns in the construction industry, there is
1 Introduction some literature that highlights the role of the con-
tractors in project success. Construction projects
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to and their success are closely related to contractors
create a unique product, service or result (PMBOK (Alzahrani,2013).
Guide, Fifth Edition). Project initiation shall be- When projects are purchased and sourced from ex-
gin with the strategy being formulated by Corporate ternal suppliers, it is typical that the supplier needs
team or high level team from an organization, which to understand the clients processes and operations
could be Government, Private or Semi-Government well, in order for the project to serve the needs of the
type. Projects and programs (which are a set of client. For example, in information system deliver-
multiple projects) are mechanisms for bringing about ies, it is crucial that the supplier is familiar with the
changes in terms of production cost, differentiation in clients business process, can focus on the right system
product features on a sustainable basis. In order to requirements, and can deliver the system accordingly.
achieve project success in terms of cost, schedule and In the area of project-related buyer-supplier cooper-
quality, it is important to measure progress (of En- ation, much of the previous research has focussed on
gineering, Procurement, Construction and commis- supplier qualification and selection (Hartley et al. ,
sioning phases) at granular level on regular basis for 1997; Stock and Tatikonda, 2004), contractual rela-
projects of various sectors such as Construction, IT tions (Cox and Thompson, 1997).
(Information Technology), PPP (Public Private Part- With the emergence of information and commu-
nership) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). nication technologies (ICTs), and e-Government, it
The objective of this paper is to provide insights into is possible to improve efficiency and effectiveness of
the progress measurement method developed and im- internal administration within government and to re-
plemented successfully in a recent project (with sites locate government service from government offices to
across India) where RITES is hired as a Project Man- locations closer to the citizens. While the benefits
agement Consultant (PMC). of ICT in government can not be disputed , there
The success of a construction project depends on are several concerns about its success as well as the
a number of factors, such as project complexity, con- strategies to be adopted in implementation of systems
tractual arrangements, relationship between project in various countries (Gichoya, 2005).
participants, the competency of project managers, Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have become
and the ability of key project members (Baker et al a preferred procurement method for governments
,1983; Jaselskis et al, 1991). to adopt to provide better essential public services,
According to Lehtiranta et al. (2012), construction which include health, education, water and power
project success depends on the multi-firm project or- supply, and transport (Pongsiri 2002; Chinyio and
ganizations involved working together satisfactorily. Gameson 2009).
88
Progress Measuring Tool for Monitoring Small/Medium Size Projects
An ERP system is an integrated, configurable and 3 Assumptions

customizable information system which plans and
manages all the resources in the enterprise, stream- 1. While calculating site wise progress weightage
lines and incorporates the business processes within , it is assumed that uniform effort is required
and across the functional or technical departments for all sites within a particular cluster. This is
in the organization (She and Thuraisingham, 2007). not 100% true, however, noting the planned con-
ERP systems consist of different modules which rep- struction duration of 11.5 months, and the minis-
resent different functional areas and they offer in- cule weightage factor each site will have, the cal-
tegration across the entire business, including Hu- culated progress shall considered to be closed to
man Resources, Accounting, Manufacturing, Materi- reality.
als Management, Sales and Distribution and all other 2. Progress to be earned post comple-
areas which are required in different branches (Dav- tion/finalization of a particular activ-
enport, 1998). ERP supports a process-oriented view ity/deliverable. Hence, it is a step method
of the enterprise and provides standardized business of progress measurement rather than continuous
processes and real-time financial and production in- method of progress measurement.
formation for the management (Nah and Delgado
2006; May, 2003). 3. The progress weightage for Site Survey fixed at
5%, FDS at 3%,DDS at 5% respectively (Total
This paper is a case study on development and suc-
13% for Engineering) , I&C and Completion&
cessful implementation of Progress Measuring Tool
Handover are made to nearest round figures i.e
by the author in a multi-million dollar project exe-
18% and 8% respectively. While for Procure-
cuted across around 330 sites.
ment based on available cost data the weightage
is given as 32% and for Construction (Civil &
Electrical) is 29%.
4. Construction weightage is further divided to
2 Backround and Basis Civil as 26% and Electrical as 3% respectively.
Completion & Handing Over weightage (8%) is
divided into two heads ; viz. SAT Completion
The project progress measurement and reporting to (weightage: 7%) and Final Documentation (As-
all concerned project stakeholders is the key in a built , O&M Manual) ,JMR, Training) weightage
project for the purpose of project monitoring on regu- as 1%.
lar basis. Here, the progress so measured is for moni-
toring physical project progress of LSTK (LumpSum
TurnKey) scope, not financial project progress. Of 4 Cluster Level Site Progress
course, there is certain correlation between physical Calculation Basis
progress and financial progress.
Towards this objective, PMC (Project Manage- At each cluster, there are multiple sites and at each
ment Consultant i.e. RITES) developed the Project site , there are site works such as civil works, electrical
Progress Measurement Model based on data from works , installation & commissioning works, comple-
past projects so executed and LSTK Contract cost tion & Handing over works.
break-up in terms of Engineering, Procurement, Con- And, based on cost again, the cluster wise weigh-
struction and Commissioning. tage (for civil and electrical (C&E), Installation &
Commissioning (I&C) works, Completion & Hand-
Accordingly, Project Progress weightage (till clus- ing Over (C&H) and Final Documentation) are as-
ter level) as Cost base Model is developed in order signed to arrive at cluster wise progress Civil & Elec-
to arrive at overall project progress (aligned with trical, I&C, C&H and Final Documentation respec-
project execution plan) for reporting to all project tively. Refer Table-1.0.
stakeholders.. Based on above project progress
weightage, project progress figures are reported reg-
4.1 Calculating Civil Works Progress
ularly in the heads of Engineering, Procurement &
Subcontracting, Construction (Civil & Electrical), Considering LSTKs scope of work for Civil works of
Installation & Commissioning and Completion & LSTK, activities for Civil Works (for cabins of each
Handing Over respectively. Refer Figure-1.0 on De- site of a cluster) are broadly segregated into 25 ac-
velopment Framework. tivity steps.
Gyandeep 2019 89
Figure 1: Development Framework of Project Performance Measurement System (Spreadsheet Based)
Even though efforts required for each activity step up to Civil work progress for the particular cluster.
may not be same and some of the activity steps may
not be applicable for certain cluster/site, for the cal-
culation sake, we assumed efforts required as same for 4.2 Calculating Electrical Works
all activity steps. Hence , weightage for each step is Progress
4% given. Based on 100% completion of each activity
Similarly, considering scope of work for Electrical
step and based on non-applicability (of certain activ-
works of LSTK, activities for Electrical works are seg-
ity step for certain site), the Civil works progress is
regated into 13 activity steps.
calculated on 100% basis (for each site) and then roll-
Even though efforts required for each activity step
90 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 2: Weightage Assigned to each cluster for Various site works
may not be same and some of the activity steps may 4.3 Construction Progress (i.e. Civil
not be applicable for certain cluster/site, for the cal- & Electrical progress)
culation sake, we assumed efforts required as same
for all activity steps. Hence , weightage for each step
is 7.7% given.
Based on 100% completion of each activity step
and based on non-applicability (of certain activity Based on weightage assigned to civil works and elec-
step for certain site), the Electrical works progress trical works respectively (considering cost) for each
is calculated on 100% basis (for each site) and then cluster and the above calculated progress (100% ba-
roll-up to Electrical work progress for the particular sis) of civil works and electrical works, total construc-
cluster. tion progress for each cluster is calculated.
Gyandeep 2019 91
4.4 Calculation of Installation & period) are generated regularly. Refer Figure-3.0 and
Commissioning (I&C) Progress Figure-4.0 .
Considering scope of work for I&C of LSTK, activities

for I&C works are segregated into 20 activity steps 6 References
(including equipment foundation).
Even though efforts required for each activity step 1. A Guide to the Project Management Body of
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for all activity steps. Hence , weightage for each step of contractors attributes on construction project
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1983.
4.5 Calculation of SAT (as Comple-
4. E.J. Jaselskis, D.B. Ashley, Optimal allocation of
tion & Handing Over) Progress project management resources for achieving suc-
Considering scope of work for Completion & Hand- cess, Journal of Construction Engineering and
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C&H/SAT works are segregated into 3 activity steps
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Even though efforts required for each activity step
retical framework for construction projects, Eu-
may not be same and some of the activity steps may
ropean Journal of Purchasing & Supply Manage-
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for all activity steps. Hence , weightage for each step 6. Chinyio, E., and Gameson, R. (2009). Private
is 33.33 finance initiative in use. Policy, finance and man-
Based on 100% completion of each activity step and agement for public-private partnerships, A. Ak-
based on non-applicability (of certain activity step for intoye and M. Beck, eds., Wiley-Blackwell, Ox-
certain site), the C&H/SAT works progress is calcu- ford, U.K., 323.
lated on 100% basis (for each site) and then roll-up to
C&H/SAT work progress for the particular cluster. 7. Davenport, T. H. (1998, July-August). Putting
the enterprise into the enterprise system. Har-
vard Business Review, 76(4): 121 131.
4.6 Calculation of Final Documenta-
tion Progress 8. Gichoya D (2005) Factors Affecting the Success-
ful Implementation of ICT Projects in Govern-
Considering scope of work for Final Documentation ment The Electronic Journal of e-Government
of LSTK, there is one activity step considered , which Volume 3 Issue 4, pp 175-184, available online at
can be achieved on completion of JMR/As-built. www.ejeg.com.
However, Final documentation hasnt been further
segregated into activity step due to non-availability of 9. Hartley, J.L., Zirger, B.J. and Kamath, , R.R.
cost data for some of them and the negligible weigh- (1997), Managing the buyer-supplier interface
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15 No. 1, pp. 57-70.
5 Reporting
10. Lehtiranta, L., Krn, S., Junnonen, J.-M., Julin,
Based on above Progress Measurement Tool and P. 2012. The role of multi-firm satisfaction in
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92 Gyandeep 2019
Figure 3: Project Work Breakdown structure (with assigned weightage)
Figure 4: Project Progress Figures
Figure 5: Project Progress Trend
Gyandeep 2019 93
11. M. May, Business Process Management- Pvt. Ltd. (now Air Liquide) , as a Project Man-
Integration in a web-enabled environment. ager in Foster Wheeler (now Woods Group) , as se-
Pearson Education, Great Britain, 2003. nior consultant/Head-Operations in Whitebull Con-
sulting & Services Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata and currently
12. Nah, F. F.-H., & Delgado S. (2006). Critical as Project Manager (S&T) in RITES Ltd.
Success factors for Enterprise Resource Planning As engineer and shift manager he worked in Chan-
Implementation and Upgrade. Journal of Com- deriya Lead Zinc Smelter (of HZL) from construction
puter Information Systems, 99 113. till commissioning and plant stabilization and oper-
ation. As design engineer , later Project engineer,
13. Pongsiri, N. (2002). Regulations and public- Head of Quality and Project/Engineering Manager he
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refinery cum petrochemical projects in Qatar, Iran
14. She W., & Thuraisingham B. (2007). Security and Vietnam and Green Field Oil refinery Project
for Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. In- of IOCL, Paradip. Currently he is working as PMC
formation Systems Security, 16:152163. Project Manager in Enterprise Wide Access Control
and Surveillance (EACS) Project of ONGC across
15. Stock, G.N. and Tatikonda, M.V. (2004), Exter- 330 sites in India.
nal technology integration in product and pro- He has been working in RITES Ltd for more than
cess development, International Journal of Op- 2.5 yrs and has a special interest in implementation
erations & Production Management, Vol. 24 No. of structured Project Management practices in vari-
7, pp. 642-665. ous projects. In this direction, he has developed and
successfully implemented project progress measure-
ment methodologies and reporting in EACS project
of ONGC.
He has attended course on Construction Safety at
The information / views expressed in this pa- NTUC, Singapore and certified QMS/Lead Auditor
per is of the authors and are based on their of ISO 9000:2000.
experience. Comments / observations may be His Article Understanding the Basics of Smart
sent to the author at dsamanta.delhi@gmail.com Cities got published in June-2016 edition of Manage
India,Vol.6, Issue 8 from Project Management Insti-
Shri Debabrata Samanta tute (PMI).
is a certified PMP Project
Manager coming from a
Non- Railway background.
He has worked in the Oil
& Gas, Metallurgical and
Infrastructure sectors of
MNCs/Private Companies
and Government Undertak-
ings for more than 30 yrs in
India and Abroad (Germany,
Qatar, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia) .
He is a Metallurgical Engineer from 1988 pass-out
batch of Regional Engineering College (Now NIT)
Durgapur and PGDM from All India Management
Association (AIMA), Delhi. He is a Fellow of Insti-
tution of Engineers (India) and member of All India
Management Association, Delhi.
He has worked as a Senior Research Assistant in In-
dian Institute of Technology, Delhi, as Engineer cum
Shift Manager in Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), at
various roles from Project Engineer, Quality Manager
and Project/Engineering Manager in Lurgi India Co.
94 Gyandeep 2019
Avoid Slowing Down of Train While Approaching the
Station: Introduction of the Fifth Aspect of Signal
Lokesh Vishnoi, Dy.CSTE/Tele,SEC Railway,
All of us must have experienced in their Foot plate train at controlled speed and not at full throttle
inspections and travel in Power (Loco) that the Pilot between the Visibility Point of Distant Signal and
usually slows down the train when he is approach- the Visibility point of the Home Signal. This
ing the Distant Signal. The universal argument we distance is approximately 2KM in length; and the
hear is that he is slowing down because he needs to time lost between keeping a train at 120 KMPH
control the Loaded Train in time; so that he can take and 60 KMPH between these two visibility points
appropriate action on seeing the Home Signals aspect. will be full one minute mathematically. It will be
Analysing the Pilots statement, we come to conclu- even more for Freight Trains, having lower accelera-
sion that his action is logical in now-a-days situation/deceleration speeds.
tions of continuously increasing loads and/or number
of wagons. It was discussed by me with the Pilots/Asst. Pi-
As can be seen from the situational picture shown lots during footplate and with Electrical/Mechanical
below in fig-I depicting the existing scenario that the branch Officers and we arrived at conclusion that it
pilot may not be 100% sure that he is going to get will definitely be helpful to the running crew if an
PASS-THROUGH, even when he gets a G in the Dis- additional aspect, named here as the INDICATOR
tant Signal the Station. This results in slowing down DISTANT is provided in the MACLS territory. The
of train from the point Observing Distant Signal of purpose of this signal will be to let the Pilot know
the station to the point where he can observe the that his train has already been given a Go-Through
Home is green, i.e., showing G aspect, and he can be for this station via mainline, and he need not slow
100% sure that he will be getting the Run-Through down the train while approaching the station.
signals. The distance between visibility point of Dis- The advantages we will derive from this ad-
tant and the visibility point of Home Signal is ap- ditional signal, as in shown in figure 2 are given
proximately 02 KM, and hence, the Pilot continues to below: -
run the train with speed some what slower than what 1. As the new proposed Indicator Distant signal
the speed he can and he shall drive to optimize the will be approximately 3KM before the Home Sig-
available time to reacts to the trains destination via nal; it will give a feeling of certainty of the on
the decided route. Logically, he is right to some ex- coming path to the Loco Pilot approximately
tent, and as per the motto of SAFETY:- INCREASE 3KM in advance. By going at the assured speed
SPEED ONLY WHEN YOU ARE DOUBLY SURE of 120KMPH, the train can save full 1.5 minutes
OF IT, we will also instruct Pilot not to go on pre- than the watchful & caution speed of 60KMPH.
sumptions and reduce speed to be doubly sure of be-
ing able to stop the train if and when needed. 2. Running of the train will be more & more organ-
The following table shows the EBD (Emergency ised & systematic & there will be less of break ap-
Breaking Distance) & (Normal BD) of a train with plications; resulting in increased passenger com-
58 loaded N Box, I noted during discussions with fort& definite saving of fuel/energy.
Dy.CEEs. 3. Putting up the ID (Indicator Distant) signal can
work as a first step towards putting up of Au-
With 58 loaded N Boxes tomatic Signalling in the section, as it will be
-EBD at 65 KMPH-1066 m. comparatively easier to change the Inner Dis-
-Normal BD in these conditions-1600 tant, Distant & Indicator Distant Signals to one
of the signals of Automatic Signalling territory.
It can be inferred from this table, and the figure-1 Both budget & time saving will support this con-
above that as the Pilot cannot be sure of getting version positively, in future.
a Pass-Through even on getting a Green Signal Even if we decide to put an IBS in the section
in Distant, he is logically right in keeping the where Indicator Distant is provided, the Indica-
95
Avoid Slowing Down of Train While Approaching the Station: Introduction of the Fifth Aspect of Signal
Figure 1:
Figure 2:
tor Distant will be very helpful in the sense that for establishing the new IBS also. Or we can say
the cable laid up to Indicator Distant will be that the strategy is future compiled.
approximately 03 KM from the existing Home
Signal. If the Signalling Cable/Location Boxes 4. The time saving of 1.5 minutes in the running
etc. are carefully planned, they can be utilised time, as is calculated in point (1) above is in itself
a great boon for saturated sections. With due
96 Gyandeep 2019
Avoid Slowing Down of Train While Approaching the Station: Introduction of the Fifth Aspect of Signal
planning, this reduced inter-section running time

may avoid the need of putting a New Third Line
in the section by giving this facility on both sides
of station; as the proper calculation will show. The information / views expressed in this pa-
This method will achieve the objectives of de- per is of the authors and are based on their
saturation/capacity enhancement while spend- experience. Comments / observations may be
ing an amount very much below the expenditure sent to the author at lokeshv77@hotmail.com
on Third Line etc.
Shri. Shri LokeshVishnoi,
5. This introduction of new aspect will pave the IRSSE(1993batch) Presently
way for putting up another new Aspect in CLS, working as GM/CC in
namely SAS (Sectional Advanced Starter), 2 KM CGRL(GM/Corporate Co-
ahead of the existing Advanced Starter, possibly ordination in CG Rail Cor-
with an interlocked permissible signal between poration Ltd.), a partnership
AS (Advanced Starter) and SAS (Sectional Ad- firm of I.Rlyss & Chhattis-
vanced Starter); one KM from each. This will garh Govt., specially created
further reduce the Sectional Running Time, and for Fast-Track Project Exe-
will allow to push two trains ahead; one train in cution of local projects. Awarded as ”ENGINEER
section between next station and SAS and other OF THE TEAR” by the Jt.Engineers Associa-
between AS & SAS. This will further reduce the tion/Raipur under leadership of IETE/Raipur.
sectional length by 2 KM, and sectional running Awarded by the GM/SECR for Good implemen-
time by further one & half minute. tation of SECR-INET project for implementing
multiple ERPs(MIS) in SECR. Efficiency award by
6. This proposal is Future Prof in the sense that if
CMD/RVNL for commissioning and completing of
we decide to make the section Auto Signalling
BYT-R 3rd line project.
Section, the infrastructure created for provision
of Indicator Distant (ID) & Sectional Advanced
Starter (SAS) can be deployed towards making
up the frame work of Auto-Signalling, and hence
may very much reduce the time-period needed
in commissioning of the Automatic Signalling in
the subject Section, once the work for it starts.
Gyandeep 2019 97
Future Railway Mobile Communications System
V.Balasubramaniam,Instructor(Telecom), IRISET)
1 Introduction 2 Scope
The scope of the FRMCS is depicted in Figure 1
Background from the perspective of the user. Figure 1 shows the
complexity of the communication needs in the rail-
way environment, and illustrates only a certain num-
• Globally, many railway infrastructure managers ber of relationships between the actors (human users)
and railway undertakings currently use an inter- and equipment (trackside and on-board) or between
operable radio communications network, GSM- equipment without human interaction.
R (Global System for Mobile Communications Network management of the FRMCS system itself,
Rail), for operational voice communications and and the related tools to perform this management,
to provide the data bearer for ETCS (European are not within the scope of this document and there-
Train Control System). In the European Union fore not mentioned; ease of network management,
this is legally mandated in the Technical Speci- maintenance, repair and upgrade is business need,
fications for Interoperability that are applicable should be fulfilled and addressed separately. Man-
in the European Member States. Voice and data agement of the railway operational communication is
communications are also used for various other part of the scope of this document.
applications. The following users are those identified to be users
within this document and may not be necessarily con-
clusive within FRMCS:
• GSM-R is a MOTS (modified off the shelf
technology) system based around manufactur- • Driver(s)
ers commercial GSM (Global System for Mo-
bile Communications) offerings, enhanced to de- • Controller(s)
liver specific R (railway) functionality. Due to • Train staff
the product modifications required to provide
R functionality, and the need to utilize non- – Train conductor(s), Catering staff, Security
commercial radio spectrum, much of the equip- staff
ment utilized for GSM-R comprises manufactur-
ers special-build equipment and/or software vari- • Trackside staff:
ants. The use of MOTS technology for GSM-R
– Trackside maintenance personnel , Shunt-
has proven expensive for the railways, both in-
ing team member(s)
terms of capital and operational expenditure.
• Railway staff (excl. all of above):
• The predicted obsolescence of GSM-R by 2030, – Engine scheduler(s)

combined with the long term life expectancy of – RU operator(s)
ETCS (2050) and the Railway business needs,
– Catering scheduler(s)
have led to the European Railway community
initiating work to identify a successor for GSM- – IM operator(s)
R. The successor has to be future proof, learn – Engineering personnel (s)
from past experiences / lessons and comply with
– Station manager(s) / Station personnel (s)
Railway requirements. This document is one of
the first steps in this process, where the railways – Depot personnel
needs are identified and defined in a consistent
• Member of the public:
and technology independent way, the foundation
for next steps on defining the Future Railway – Passengers (on trains, on platforms, at sta-
Mobile Communications System (FRMCS). tions, etc.)
98
Figure 1:
– Other persons (on platforms, at level cross- voice and data applications
ings, etc.) In this document, the End-to-End performance and
functionalities have taken as a reference those of the
• Systems:
legacy radio railway systems, for example GSM-R.
– ATC on-board system This is enhanced with further adjustments (relax-
– ATO on-board system ation or strengthening of requirements) depending on
specific needs.
– On-board system
Each fundamental principle (Prx clauses) is accom-
– Ground system panied by guidance (bullets clauses) that is provided
– Trackside warning system / Trackside sys- to further enhance the readers understanding of the
tem / Sensors along trackside dimensions that have been considered throughout the
– Trackside elements controlling entities development of this document.
(such as, for example, for level crossings) Pr1. The FRMCS shall satisfy the commu-
– Applications (such as, for example, those nication needs of the railway operation.
for monitoring lone workers, for remote con-
trolling of elements) • Railway operation includes normal, degraded
and emergency operating conditions. Some char-
• Network operator acteristics may be affected by the operational
• Public emergency operator conditions, such as capacity, availability, quality
of communication, etc.
3 Fundamental principles • Evolution of the characteristics of the route or

introduction of new routes may affect the oper-
This section defines the fundamental principles that ational needs. The system shall be scalable to
shall be considered throughout the development of cope with these changes.
Gyandeep 2019 99
• Operational conditions can vary depending on Pr2. FRMCS shall support the applications
the characteristics of the route, for example max- independently of the used FRMCS networks
imum permissible line speed, headway between and radio access technologies by any of the
trains, complexity of route (single, double, mul- users. Transition of a user to or from other
tiple track layout), low/medium/high density FRMCS networks or radio access technologies
routes, climatic environment, volume of train shall not lead to interruption of the usage of
journey commencing, frequency and likelihood of the applications.
accidents and/or operational incidents (conflict
points, level crossings etc.). These may require • The system shall provide voice and data com-
different classes of service. munication. This may be achieved over multiple
communication bearers.
• Capacity, reliability, availability, maintainability,
• The system shall provide all basic telephony fea-
quality of service are characteristics to be used
tures and supplementary services as commonly
to meet the operational needs of the railways.
used (for example Call forwarding, call transfer,
The End to End performance and functionali-
etc.).
ties may be relaxed or strengthened compared
to the legacy radio system (for example GSM- • FRMCS networks shall be able to intercon-
R), depending on specific operational needs. nect/interwork with GSM-R or and/other net-
works (mobile or fixed).
• Other characteristics such as integrity, clarity,
accuracy etc. have to be taken into account and • The transition between networks shall be auto-
may also vary depending on the operational con- matic, without any interaction required from the
ditions. user unless otherwise required.
• System functionalities shall be maintained in the • The user should not experience any interruption
environment or climatic conditions required for in the usage of the application due to a transition
the operation. between networks (seamless user experience). In
the case of transition to/from GSM-R, a degra-
• The system shall be capable to co-exist (spec- dation of the user experience including interrup-
trum wise) and operate in parallel with other tion may be acceptable. The application and/or
mobile communication systems keeping the re- the end user device shall have the ability to auto-
quired functionality and performance. matically re-establish the communication session
of the application (like a voice call).
• Information inside the FRMCS system can be
made available to other external systems, such • A seamless user experience in the case of tran-
as traffic management systems, tracking systems, sition means that the ongoing communication
planning systems, etc. The relevant interfaces session is not terminated. A short interruption,
have to be defined. not impacting the application session or the user
communication, maybe acceptable.
• Harmonization of different types of data for
FRMCS internal and external railway use shall • The user does not experience any difference in
be considered (like location data, caller identity, the behavior of the application regardless on
etc.). which network the user is active or other users
are active on.
• The FRMCS shall facilitate connectivity to and
• When one of the users is active in a GSM-R net-
from public operators, both mobile and fixed net-
work a degradation of the user experience may
works.
be acceptable.
• Communications shall be possible in the event
Pr3. The FRMCS shall place the human
of loss/lack of infrastructure. In this case it is
being at the centre of the design.
acceptable for a limited number of applications
only to be made available. Reduction of the per- • Human-Machine Interfaces shall be intuitive,
formance is also acceptable. standardized where possible.
• The system shall be flexible to support new cre- • Functionality/application shall remain consis-
ated apps or new functionality in the future. tent across all devices used.
100 Gyandeep 2019

• Messaging shall be operationally meaningful. • There shall be caller identification.

• Data input shall be mostly automated to facili- • There shall be train location information.
tate the operation of voice and data applications.
• There shall be a mechanism that prevents back-
• Minimal interaction to initiate or accept voice
ground noise being overheard by participants.
communication shall be required.
• Tones and alerts shall not conflict with others • There shall be a mechanism that facilitates the
within the operating environment. passing of confirmation data messages that can
be used as a reference point by the user during
• For voice communication, the system will allow a related activity.
the user to switch between different modes of us-
ing the microphone and loudspeaker (e.g. hand- • The system shall provide technical solutions to
set, headset, hands-free, etc.) based on the op- mitigate the risk of miscommunication in multi-
erational needs. user voice communication, like Push-to-Talk,
voice detection, etc. Optionally this solution
Pr4. The FRMCS shall support the applica- could be used in a user-to-user communication,
tion of the harmonized operational rules and based on operational rules.
principles where available.
Pr7. The FRMCS shall be cost effective.
• Issuing and revoking of movement authorities
has to be performed according to the harmonized • The re-use of installed base, for example GSM-
operational rules and principles where available. R, shall be considered by enabling the re-use of
• Voice communication during operation has to re- existing equipment that has not reached the end
spect the harmonized operational rules and prin- of its lifecycle such as the base station installa-
ciples where available. tions, on-board installations, track side installa-
tions, controller installations, etc.
• The structure of operational messages or infor-
mation has to follow the harmonized operational • Reduction in capital expenditure, whilst provid-
rules and principles where available. ing access to the benefits associated with the fu-
ture radio mobile communication system during
Pr5. The FRMCS shall support the ex- the migration phase.
change of information and performance of ac-
tions without the manual assistance of humans • Ability to capitalize on true COTS (for both
(machine to machine communication) both for hardware and software) products, and make
operational and maintenance purposes. use of open and standardized interfaces (non-
propriety).
• Activities relating to the maintenance of on-
board and infrastructure assets have to be au- Pr8. The FRMCS shall provide precaution-
tomated. Over-the-air software updates, config- ary measures to prevent un-authorized access.
uration changes, fault diagnosis and rectification
shall be allowed by the system architecture and • To prevent un-authorized and potential mali-
applications. cious acts affecting the use of the communication
system and any associated data.
• Automatic and remote monitoring of the char-
acteristics of the railway assets has to be sup-
• Certain applications require strong authentica-
ported.
tion, encryption and key management methods
• Direct exchange of information between devices, and the communication system shall support
for example, between infrastructure elements these when required.
(such as a point and a barrier for a level cross-
ing) or between trackside elements and other el- • Access to applications shall be configured within
ements (such as a sensor and a device on board the system and based upon the permissions as-
of a train), has to be supported. sociated with each authorized user.
Pr6. The FRMCS shall mitigate the risk of • The system shall be able to mitigate (cyber) se-
miscommunication. curity threats.
Gyandeep 2019 101

4 Applications 28. Critical Advisory Messaging services- safety re-

lated
a. Critical Communication Applications
b. Performance Communication Applica-
1. On-train outgoing voice communication from the tions
driver towards the controller(s) of the train.
1. Multi-train voice communication for drivers ex-
2. On-train incoming voice communication from cluding ground user(s)
the controller towards a driver
2. On-train voice communication
3. Multi-train voice communication for drivers in-
cluding ground user(s) : 3. Line side telephony
4. Banking voice communication : 4. On-train voice communication towards passen-

gers (public address)
5. Trackside maintenance voice communication
5. Station public address
6. Shunting voice communication
6. Communication at stations and depots
7. Public emergency call
7. On-train telemetry communications / Infrastruc-
8. Ground to ground voice communication ture telemetry communications
9. Automatic train control communication 8. On-train remote equipment control
10. Automatic train operation communication 9. Monitoring and control of non-critical infrastruc-
11. Data communication for Possession management ture / Non-critical Real time video
12. Trackside maintenance warning system commu- 10. Wireless on-train data communication for train
nication staff / railway staff on platforms
13. Remote control of engines communication 11. Driver advisory - train performance
14. Monitoring and control of critical infrastructure 12. Train departure related communications
15. Railway emergency communication 13. Messaging services
16. On-train safety device to ground data communi- 14. Transfer of data
cation 15. Record and broadcast
17. Public train emergency communication 16. Transfer of CCTV archives
18. Working alone 17. Real time video call
19. Voice Recording and access to the recorded data c. Business Communication Applications
20. Data recording and access 1. Information help point for public
21. Shunting data communication 2. Emergency help point for public
22. Train integrity monitoring data communication 3. Wireless internet on-train for passengers
23. Public emergency warning 4. Wireless internet for passengers on platforms
24. On-train outgoing voice communication from d. Critical Support Applications
train staff towards a ground user
1. Assured Voice Communication
25. On-train incoming voice communication from a
ground user towards train staff 2. Multi user talker control
26. Railway staff emergency communication 3. Role management and presence
27. Critical Real time video 4. Location services
102 Gyandeep 2019

5. Authorization of communication
6. Authorization of application
7. QoS Class Negotiation
8. Safety application key management communica-
tion
9. Assured data communication
10. Inviting-a-user messaging
11. Arbitration

sent to the author at sap.balu@rediffmail.com
Shri V.Balasubramaniam,
Worked as TCI/III/Hq/GTL
: Assisted Sr.DSTE/M/GTL
in telecom works. Also main-
tained a section of about
400 KMS and looked after
control lines, telephone ex-
change and PRS. Worked
as JE/T/PRS/SC : Installa-
tion, Commission and main-
tenance of PRS circuits over SC Railway Worked
as JE/Tele/M/BPA :Maintenance of Control cir-
cuits, VHF sets, PRS circuits, ART, Siding Com-
munication. Staff, stores and establishment man-
agement in the BPA section of SC division.Worked
as SSE/Tele/SW/SC : Preparation of estimate for
new works and execution of works and attached with
Sr.DSTE/M/SCWorked as Instructor Computer Lab
(ICP-1) : In charge for Computer Lab. Maintenance
of IT infrastructure in IRISET/SC, PA system and
Audio Visual systems in class rooms. Installation,
Commissioning and maintenance of various IT infras-
tructure. Imparting training to the trainees in var-
ious subjects. Staff, stores and establishment man-
agement.Presently working as instructor Transmis-
sion lab ITX-3 : Teaching in various subjects viz
PCM principles , SDH principles, OFC systems, Mo-
bile systems and SDH equipments (Tejas & Fibcom).
Conducting experiments on PDH, SDH,OFC, VHF
and mobile communication systems (GSM-R) Gyan-
deep 2018 111Responsible Disposal of E - Waste
Gyandeep 2019 103

IP Surveillance : An Overview
D Jayarajan, Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
IP surveillance is a digitized and networked version 7. Scalability: Utilizing edge processing and in-
of closed-circuit television (CCTV). In an IP surveil- dividual camera licensing, it is possible to scale
lance system, an IP camera records video footage and from a single camera up to thousands.
the resulting content is distributed over an IP (Inter-
net protocol) network. 8. Redundancy: It is possible to record simulta-
The benefits of an IP-based system are clear to un- neously in two NVRs. This offers an additional
derstand, and by that I mean literally better picture safety net to recover footage in the event of dam-
quality! But there are far more benefits than a crisp age/corruption to data on the main NVR.
digital picture. Below are the top benefits and rea-
sons for why IP-based video surveillance systems are 9. Lossless Playback: Footage can be reviewed
taking over from analogue CCTV solutions. with multiple zoom on playback, even on fixed
lens cameras, with no degradation of the image.
1. Resolution: A typical analog camera equates to This alleviates a common problem with analog
about 0.4 MP (megapixels), whereas a standard systems, where high levels of compression can
IP camera offers 2 MP, which is more than five often leave the image unreadable.
times the analog resolution. With some IP cam-
eras ranging up to 10MP, its easy to see how the 10. Wireless: If its possible to get a line-of-sight
technology can cut down on the overall number between the camera and the servers location, it is
of cameras required. possible to reduce cabling costs by transmitting
the data wirelessly. Some important specifica-
2. Remote Access: You can login into a secure tions of surveillance devices one should be clear
server remotely, using a web-based interface to before going for procurement.
view real-time footage on PCs, as well as on
mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and
Android-based devices. Programs such as Team 1 Camera:
Viewer also allow for remote support and end-
user training. 1. Resolution: Resolution is defined by the to-
tal number of pixels in the sensor or the hor-
3. Analytics: The improvements in hardware have izontal and vertical pixels. Megapixel Camera
been matched by powerful analytics software. is a general term used for any camera that has
Video Management Systems (VMS) can be com- over 1 million pixels in the sensor. There are
bined with other software to allow applications 2.0, 3.0, 5, 8, 10 and higher megapixel cameras.
such as face recognition, license plate recogni- The pixels are organized in a matrix of horizon-
tion, people counting, and motion detection. tal and vertical pixels. The relationship between
the horizontal and vertical pixels is called the
4. No New Wires: Existing LAN/WAN network
aspect ratio. The aspect ratio (vertical to hor-
with Cat5/Cat6 cable can be used for trans-
izontal ratio) is usually 4:3 or 9:16 (wide). For
ferring images captured by the cameras to the
example, a 1.2 Megapixel sensor on the camera
recording device.
has 1280 horizontal pixels and 1024 vertical pix-
5. Power: IP cameras can be powered by a number els. A 2 megapixel camera has 1920X1080 pix-
of methods. If the IP camera allow, Power over els. 4K is usually refers to a camera with over 8
Ethernet (PoE) can be deployed. Megapixels of resolution. It has approximately
4,000 horizontal pixels. There is some difference
6. Hybrid: High-end NVRs, allow existing CCTV between the definitions of the television indus-
cameras to be incorporated into the IP system. try and the security market. A camera with
This can significantly reduce the initial costs, 3840X2160 which runs at up to 30 fps and one
and allow a phased approach towards a complete with 4096 HX2160 V pixels which run at up to
IP Surveillance solution. 60 fps are referred 4K cameras.
104
Figure 1:
2. Illumination: The minimum illumination is the be manually adjusted through a range of angles.
lowest light level that provides a reasonable im- The zoom lens is similar to the variable lens, but
age from the IP camera. At the low light level, it can be controlled remotely. This allows you to
the amplifiers are working very hard and there adjust the setting of the camera lens from your
can be circuit noise that affects the video image. computer making it very easy to install. IR Cor-
This is called the signal to noise (S/N) ratio. rected Lenses bend the light to achieve the right
There are some camera specs that indicate very focus and magnification. IR corrected lens com-
low minimum illumination (0.0001 lux), but this pensates for the focal difference and provides a
is measured at a shutter speed of 0.5 sec. much clearer image. This is most apparent at the
higher resolution. If you plan to use a megapixel
3. Shutter Speed: The minimum light level is also IP camera system, then make sure you get the
affected by the shutter speed, which relates to IR type lens.
the frame rate. The longer the shutter is opened
the more light can reach the sensor. The longer 5. Lens angle: The lens is measured in mm (mil-
the shutter stays open, the lower the frame rate. limeter). The lower the number the wider the
This translates to a maximum frame rate of 2 viewing angle. A 2 mm lens may have an angle
fps. of about 110 degrees, while a 50 mm lens has
an angle of about 5.5 degrees. The angle of the
4. Lens: Many IP cameras come with a lens. The lens depends on the size of the sensor and the
lens allows you to frame the area that you want distance from the sensor to the lens.
to see. For example, a wide-angle lens could be
used to view a small room, while a narrow-angle 6. Iris: Iris control adjusts how much light falls on
lens (with more magnification) can be used to the sensor. There are manual iris controls, DC
see an area thats far away. The lens also can auto iris, and p-iris lenses. The iris affects the
affect some of the other specifications such as depth of field. The smaller the iris opening the
minimum illumination, frame rate, and resolu- longer the depth of field. When the scene is very
tion. A Fixed lens, as the name implies, has only dark the lens iris opens and the field of view is
one mm or angle setting. A variable lens can reduced. This means some areas that are close
Gyandeep 2019 105

Figure 2: Typical connectivity of IP Surveillance system
or far away are not in focus. tant. Protected against water jets from any
angle IP67: Water resistant plus. Protected
7. Focal Length: The focal length (measured in against the events of temporary submersion (10
mm) of a lens determines how far the camera can minutes)
see. The most common focal length on security
cameras is 3.6mm, which will allow for roughly
a 72 degree field of view (FOV described below). 2 Network Video Recorder:
This particular focal length works well for resi-
dential or small office surveillance applications. A network video recorder (NVR) is a specialized com-
puter system that includes a software program that
8. PAN/TILT/ZOOM: PTZ network cameras records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB
use pan (360), tilt (180) and zoom to provide flash drive, SD memory card or other mass storage
both wide-area coverage and great detail with a device. An NVR is typically deployed in an IP video
single camera. Great image quality and the abil- surveillance system.
ity to zoom in make it possible to verify detected
security events. These cameras are equipped 1. Recording Resolution: Recording at the
with a variety of intelligent features and can megapixel resolution takes huge amount of space.
move between pre-set positions and zoom in au- To store more data to a limited number of vol-
tomatically in response to detected events. They umes generally (unless not required) we chose
can also be easily integrated into a system with low resolution formats to record the data. These
other cameras. formats used for selecting recording resolutions.
9. Protection: IP rating refers to ingress protec- 2. Frame Rate: Video is nothing but series of still
tion rating or international protection ratings, images called frames and the frame rate is the
which are used to qualify levels of dust- and number of those images counted/ captured in a
water-sealing effectiveness. IP65: Water resis- second to create motion illusion. Its expressed
106 Gyandeep 2019

in frame per second and in short fps. The hu- 9. Network Protocols: The device should sup-
man eye can process 10 to 12 separate images port generally used network protocols such as
per second. Normally recommended FPS varies TCP/IP, RSTP, UPnP, FTP and NTP.
from 12.5 to 25.
10. ONVIF: ONVIF gives you the flexibility to pick
3. Image Size: Suppose an image of size 500 x 400 and choose optimal products for your needs with-
pixels. out being locked into a specific brand. ONVIF
Image size in color (without any compression) = conformant video management software, for in-
500 x 400 x 3 byte = 500 x 400 x 24 stance, will allow you to integrate ONVIF con-
= 4800000 bits formant devices from different hardware manu-
= 4800000/ 8 (Bytes) = 600000 Bytes facturers.
= 600 KB
An image file size of 600 KB (585.9 KB) is only 3 Switch:
24.3 KB after applying JPEG compression.
All the ethernet switches used in the system should be
4. Video Compression: Video compression tech-
PoE enabled. A PoE switch is a network switch that
niques used to reduce video size. A significant
has Power over Ethernet injection built-in. The PoE
reduction in file size can be achieved with little
switches offer advantages like time and cost savings,
or no adverse effect on the visual quality. Many
flexibility, safety and reliability and scalability. POE
compression techniques used in CCTV industry
is now ubiquitous on networked surveillance cameras,
to store data on a limited space or transmit over
where it enables fast deployment and easy reposition-
network with a limited bandwidth. Some of the
ing.
video codec standards currently used in CCTV
industries are MPEG-4, H.264 and H.265. H.265
is a video compression standard designed for the
newest generations of high-resolution video. Its
a successor to the widely-used H.264 codec and The information / views expressed in this pa-
offers some major improvements. per is of the authors and are based on their
5. MPEG-4 (Part -2): MPEG-4 supports low-
sent to the author at jdnair1965@yahoo.co.in
bandwidth applications and applications that re-
quire high quality images, no limitations in frame
Shri D Jayarajan,
rate and with virtually unlimited bandwidth. It
presently working as In-
is a licensed standard.
structor in IRISET. He
6. H.264: An H.264 encoder is able to reduce the has 31 years of service in
size of a digital video file by more than 50% more Railways. He is incharge of
than the MPEG-4 standard, without compro- control test room and has
mising image quality. It is best suitable to store experience in installation
large video files to a limited available space or to and commissioning of con-
transmit video over network. tol communication system
in W Rly and worked as
7. H.265: The main difference is that HEVC al- SSE(tele)/HQ in Bhavnagar Div.He is engaged in
lows for further reduced file size, and therefore the installation and commissioning of CCTV surveil-
reduced required bandwidth, of your live video lance in IRISET campus and hostels to enhance
streams. Unlike H.264 macro blocks, H.265 pro- safety, cleanliness and discipline in the campus
cesses information in what’s called Coding Tree
Units (CTUs).
8. Bandwidth: In digital world, bandwidth refers

to the data-carrying capacity of a network or
data transmission medium. It indicates the the-
oretical maximum amount of data that can pass
from one point to another in a unit of time (usu-
ally a second). Network bandwidth is expressed
in bits per second (bps).
Gyandeep 2019 107

IoT (Internet of Things)
J Vijay Kumar, Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
Abstract are more connected things than people in the world.
The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the use of in- While the potential impact of the IoT is consider-
telligently connected devices and systems to leverage able, a concerted effort is required to move beyond
data gathered by embedded sensors and actuators in this early stage. In order to optimize the develop-
machines and other physical objects. IoT is expected ment of the market, a common understanding of the
to spread rapidly over the coming years and this con- distinct nature of the opportunity is required. To
vergence will unleash a new dimension of services that date, mobile operators have identified the following
improve the quality of life of consumers and produc- key distinctive features:
tivity of enterprises, unlocking an opportunity that
the GSMA (GSM Association members) refers to as
the Connected Life. 1. The Internet of Things can enable the next wave
of life-enhancing services across several funda-
mental sectors of the economy.
1 Introduction 2. Meeting the needs of customers may require
global distribution models and consistent global
With the advance of IoT billions of physical devices services.
around the world that are now connected to the
internet, collecting and sharing data. Thanks to 3. The Internet of Things presents an opportu-
cheap processors and wireless networks, it’s possible nity for new commercial models to support mass
to turn anything, from a pill to an aero-plane to global deployments.
a self-driving car into part of the IoT. This adds
4. The majority of revenue will arise from the pro-
a level of digital intelligence to devices that would
vision of value-added services and mobile opera-
be otherwise dumb, enabling them to communicate
tors are building new capabilities to enable these
real-time data without a human being involved,
new service areas.
effectively merging the digital and physical worlds.
5. Device and application behavior will place new
For consumers, the IoT has the potential to deliver and varying demands on mobile networks.
solutions that dramatically improve energy efficiency,
IoT systems allow users to achieve deeper automa-
security, health, education and many other aspects of
tion, analysis, and integration within a system. They
daily life. For enterprises, IoT can underpin solutions
improve the reach of these areas and their accuracy.
that improve decision-making and productivity in
IoT utilizes existing and emerging technology for
manufacturing, retail, agriculture and other sectors.
sensing, networking, and robotics.
Machine to Machine (M2M) solutions - a subset
IoT exploits recent advances in software, falling
of the IoT already use wireless networks to connect
hardware prices, and modern attitudes towards tech-
devices to each other and the Internet, with minimal
nology. Its new and advanced elements bring major
direct human intervention, to deliver services that
changes in the delivery of products, goods, and ser-
meet the needs of a wide range of industries.
vices; and the social, economic, and political impact
of those changes.
Growing big and bigger in 2013, M2M connections
accounted for 2.8% of global mobile connections (195
million), in 2017 it accounted for 8.4 billion and this 2 IoT - Key Features
likely reach 20.4 billion by 2020. Total spending on
IoT end points and services will reach almost $2tn The most important features of IoT include artificial
in 2017, with two-thirds of those devices found in intelligence, connectivity, sensors, active engage-
China, North America and Western Europe. There ment, and small device use. A brief review of these
108
Figure 1:
features is given below: transform IoT from a standard passive network

of devices into an active system capable of real-
world integration.
• Artificial Intelligence IoT essentially makes vir-
tually anything smart, meaning it enhances ev- • Active Engagement Much of today’s interaction
ery aspect of life with the power of data collec- with connected technology happens through pas-
tion, artificial intelligence algorithms, and net- sive engagement. IoT introduces a new paradigm
works. This can mean something as simple as for active content, product, or service engage-
enhancing your refrigerator and cabinets to de- ment.
tect when milk and your favorite cereal run low,
and to then place an order with your preferred • Small Devices - Devices, as predicted, have be-
grocer. come smaller, cheaper, and more powerful over
time. IoT exploits purpose-built small devices
• Connectivity-New enabling technologies for net- to deliver its precision, scalability, and versatil-
working, and specifically IoT networking, mean ity. IoT - Advantages The advantages of IoT
networks are no longer exclusively tied to major span across every area of lifestyle and business.
providers. Networks can exist on a much smaller Here is a list of some of the advantages that IoT
and cheaper scale while still being practical. IoT has to offer:
creates these small networks between its system
devices. • Improved Customer Engagement Current an-
alytics suffer from blind-spots and significant
• Sensors IoT loses its distinction without sen- flaws in accuracy; and as noted, engagement re-
sors. They act as defining instruments which mains passive. IoT completely transforms this
Gyandeep 2019 109

to achieve richer and more effective engagement 4 Conclusion

with audiences.
The IoT has the potential to dramatically increase
• Technology Optimization The same technolo- the availability of information, and is likely to trans-
gies and data which improve the customer expe- form companies and organizations in virtually every
rience also improve device use, and aid in more industry around the world. As such, finding ways to
potent improvements to technology. IoT unlocks leverage the power of the IoT is expected to factor
a world of critical functional and field data. into the strategic objectives of most technology
companies, regardless of their industry focus.
• Reduced Waste IoT makes areas of improve-
ment clear. Current analytics give us superfi- The number of different technologies required
cial insight, but IoT provides real-world infor- supporting the deployment and further growth
mation leading to more effective management of of the IoT places a premium on interoperability,
resources. and has resulted in widespread efforts to develop
standards and technical specifications that support
• Enhanced Data Collection Modern data collec- seamless communication between IoT devices and
tion suffers from its limitations and its design for components. Collaboration between various stan-
passive use. IoT breaks it out of those spaces, dards development groups and consolidation of some
and places it exactly where humans really want current efforts will eventually result in greater clarity
to go to analyze our world. It allows an accurate for IoT technology companies.
picture of everything.
The future of IoT is virtually unlimited due to ad-
vances in technology and consumers desire to inte-
3 IoT-Disadvantages grate devices such as smart phones with household
machines. Wi-Fi has made it possible to connect peo-
Though IoT delivers an impressive set of benefits, it ple and machines on land, in the air and at sea. It
also presents a significant set of challenges. Here is a is critical that both companies and governments keep
list of some its major issues: in mind with so much data traveling from device to
device, security in technology will be required to grow
just as fast as connectivity in order to keep up with
• Security IoT creates an ecosystem of constantly demands. Governments will uncountable face tough
connected devices communicating over networks. decisions as to how far the private sector is allowed
The system offers little control despite any se- to go in terms of robotics and information sharing.
curity measures. This leaves users exposed to The possibilities are exciting, productivity will in-
various kinds of attackers. crease and amazing things will come by connecting
the world
• Privacy The sophistication of IoT provides sub-
stantial personal data in extreme detail without
the user’s active participation.
• Complexity Some find IoT systems complicated Shri J. Vijay Kumar

in terms of design, deployment, and maintenance joined as JE/Tele and be-
given their use of multiple technologies and a longs to East Coast Rly.
large set of new enabling technologies. He maintained Analog Mi-
crowave in Waltair division.
• Flexibility Many are concerned about the flex- He worked as in charge of
ibility of an IoT system to integrate easily with Computer-lab & Networking-
another. They worry about finding themselves lab and maintained IT
with several conflicting or locked systems. infrastructure & E-learning
in IRISET. Presently he is
• Compliance IoT, like any other technology in working as Instructor in Transmission lab/IRISET
the realm of business, must comply with regu-
lations. Its complexity makes the issue of com-
pliance seem incredibly challenging when many
consider standard software compliance a battle.
110 Gyandeep 2019

LTE for Railways (LTE-R)
Y V Prasad, Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
Abstract and charging rules function; PDN: packet data net-

work; SGSN: serving general packet radio service
Long Term Evolution for Railways (LTE-R) is a (GPRS) support node. Furthermore, the carrier ag-
next-gen communications network dedicated for rail- gregation capability of LTE will permit the use of
way services, enabling high-speed wireless voice and different bands to overcome problems of capacity.
data communications inside trains, from the train Standard LTE includes a core network of evolved
to the ground and from train to train. This net- packet core (EPC) and a radio access network of
work supports voice communication among drivers, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network
control center operators, maintenance and other rail- (E-UTRAN). The Internet protocol (IP)-based EPC
way staff supporting; push-to-talk group communi- supports seamless handovers for both voice and data
cation, broadcasting, location-dependent addressing to cell towers, and each E-UTRAN cell will support
and multilevel prioritization; data communication for high data and voice capacity by high-speed packet
the train control signaling and other operation and access (HSPA). As a next-generation communication
maintenance as well as text messaging during voice system of HSR, LTE-R inherits all the important fea-
communication; multimedia communication for wire- tures of LTE and provides an extra radio access sys-
less video surveillance, mobile video conference, file tem to exchange wireless signals with onboard units
sharing, mobile office and passenger infotainment ser- (OBUs) and to match HSR-specific needs.
vices.
2 LTE-R Services
1 LTE-R System Description
HSR communications intend to use a well-
To provide improved and more efficient transmission established/off-the-shelf system, where some specific
for High-speed railways (HSR) communications, it is needs should be defined at the service level. As
vital to consider frequency and spectrum usage for suggested by the E-Train project, LTE-R should
LTE-R. HSRs are important strategic infrastructure. provide a series of services to improve security,
LTE systems work at the bands above 1 GHz, such QoS, and efficiency. Compared with the traditional
as 1.8, 2.1, 2.3, and 2.6 GHz, although 700900-MHz services of GSM-R, some features of LTE-R are
bands are also used in some countries. Large band- described.
width is available in the upper bands, giving a higher
data rate, whereas lower frequency bands offer longer 1. Information transmission of control systems: To
distance coverage. enable compatibility with the ETCS-3, LTE-R
Figure 1 Summarizes the frequency bands for LTE- provides real-time information transmission of
R in China, Europe, and Korea. As a high-frequency control information via wireless communications
band has larger propagation loss and more severe with a ¡50-ms delay. While the location informa-
fading, the radius of an LTE-R cell would be ¡2 km tion of the train is detected by a track circuit in
[due to the strict requirement of signal-to-noise ratio ETCS-2, ETCS-3 and LTE-R, the location infor-
(SNR) and BER in HSR], leading to frequent han- mation of the train is detected by RBC and on-
dovers and a requirement of substantial investment board radio equipment. This improves the accu-
for higher BS density. Therefore, the low-frequency racy of train tracking and the efficiency of train
bands, such as 450470 MHz, 800 MHz, and 1.4 GHz, dispatchment.
have been widely considered. The 450470-MHz band
is already well adopted by the railway industry; there- 2. Real-time monitoring: LTE-R provides video
fore, dedicated bandwidth for professional use can monitoring of front-rail track, cabin, and car con-
still be allocated from local regulators. nector conditions; real-time information moni-
BSC: BS controller; HSS: home subscriber server; toring of the rail track conditions (e.g., temper-
MME: mobility management entity; PCRF: policy ature and flaw detection); video monitoring of
111
Figure 1: Frequency spectrum of LTE-R in different countries
Figure 2: .LTE - R architecture
railway infrastructures (e.g., bridges and tun- 3. Train multimedia dispatching: LTE-R provides
nels) to avoid natural disasters; and video mon- full dispatching information (including text,
itoring of cross tracks to detect freezing at low data, voice, images, video, etc.) of drivers and
temperatures. The monitoring information will yards to the dispatcher and improves dispatch-
be shared with both the control center and the ing efficiency. It supports rich functionalities,
high-speed train in real time, with a ¡300-ms such as voice trunking, dynamic grouping, tem-
delay. Although some of the aforementioned porary group call, short messaging, and multi-
surveillance can be conducted by wired commu- media messaging.
nications, the wireless-based LTE-R system is
more cost effective for deployments and main- 4. Railway emergency communications: When nat-
tenance. ural disasters, accidents, or other emergencies
occur, establishment of immediate communica-
112 Gyandeep 2019

Figure 3: Future possible services provided by LTE-R,(source: IRSE)
tions between accident site and rescue center is

required to provide voice,video, data, and im-
age transmissions. Railway emergency commu-
nication systems use the railway private network The information / views expressed in this pa-
to ensure rapid deployment and faster response per is of the authors and are based on their
(with a ¡100-ms delay) compared with GSM-R. experience. Comments / observations may be
sent to the author at sambireddy@efftronics.com
5. Railway Internet of Things (IoT): LTE-R pro-
vides the railway IoT services, such as real-time Shri.Y.V.Prasad, is
query and tracking of trains and goods. It helps presently working as in-
to enhance transport efficiency and extend ser- structor/IRISET, having
vice ranges. Moreover, railway IoT could also knowledge in PDH, SDH,
improve train safety. Most of todays trains OFC and mobile radio sys-
rely on trackside switches located in remote ar- tems. He was associated
eas. With the IoT and remote monitoring, it is in installation and com-
possible to remake trackside infrastructure from missioning of GSM-R at
switches to power lines, which could automate IRISET. And also installed
many of the routine safety checks and reduce the Tejas TJ1400 STM-4 and
costs of maintenance. FIBCOM (6325) STM-4 and PUNCOM ,WEBFIL
2MB Multiplexing equipments.
Figure 3 summarizes the future possible services
provided by LTE-R, which is based on the technical
reports of the UIC, China Railway, and ERA.
In addition to the features listed previously, some
other services of LTE-R should be included, such
as dynamic seat reservation, mobile e-ticketing, and
wireless interaction of passenger information.
Gyandeep 2019 113

Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)
Technology
V Srinath, Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
Abstract Band Description Wavelength

O band Original 1260 to 1360nm
DWDM system and the need of this system are dis- E band Extended 1360 to 1460nm
cussed along with the operation of each component. S band Small Wavelengths 1460 to 1530nm
The increasing demands of bandwidth lead to the en- C band Conventional (er- 1530 to 1565nm
hancement in DWDM. The components of DWDM bium window)
system are individually discussed. Various advan- L band Long wavelengths 1565 to 1625 nm
tages and disadvantages of DWDM technology are U band Ultra wavelengths 1625 to 1675 nm
discussed. The maintenance of optical signal quality
and the factors that is important while the design Table 1:
and operation of DWDM are seen. The advantages
of DWDM make this technology ideal for communi- 3 Channel Spacing
cation and other applications.
The minimum frequency separation between two dif-
ferent multiplexed signals is known as the Channel
spacing. Since the wavelength of operation is in-
1 Introduction versely proportional to the frequency a correspond-
ing difference is introduced in the wavelength of each
signal.
Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)
is an optical technology used to increase bandwidth
Channel spacing in GHz 200 100 50 25 12.5
over existing fiber optic back bones.
Channel Spacing in nm 1.6 0.8 0.4 0.2 0.1
A key advantage to DWDM is that it’s protocol and No. of channels (C-band) 22 45 90 180 360
bit-rate independent. DWDM-based networks can No. of channels (L-band) 35 70 140 280 560
transmit data in IP, ATM, SONET/SDH and Ether-
net, and handle bit rates between 100 Mb/s and 2.5 Table 2:
Gb/s. Therefore, DWDM-based networks can carry
different types of traffic at different speeds over an
optical channel.
Why we need DWDM? Earlier we use SDH trans- 4 DWDM Components
mission technology where optical signals transmitted
A DWDM system generally consists of five com-
through a optical fiber utilizing only single dedica-
ponents: Optical Transmitters/Receivers, DWDM
tion band width like STM 1,4,16 and 64. By imple-
Mux/DeMux Filters, Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers
menting SDH technology we have wasted maximum
(OADMs), Optical Amplifiers, Transponders (Wave-
amount of band width
length Converters).
4.1 Optical Transmitters/Receivers

2 ITU T BAND DWDM systems require very precise wavelengths of
light to operate without inter channel distortion or
The middle windows (S and C) around 1500 nm are crosstalk. Several individual lasers are typically used
the most widely used. This region has the lowest to create the individual channels of a DWDM system.
attenuation losses and achieves the longest range. It Each laser operates at a slightly different wavelength.
does have some dispersion, so dispersion compensator Modern systems operate with 200, 100, and 50-GHz
devices are used to remove this. spacing. Newer systems support 25-GHz spacing and
114
Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) Technology
Figure 1:
12.5-GHz spacing is being investigated. Generally, the photons of signal with extra energy. EDFA are
DWDM transceivers (DWDM SFP, DWDM SFP+, the optical repeaters that amplify the optical signal.
DWDM XFP, etc.) operating at 100 and 50 GHz can The silica based optical fibers are doped with erbium
be found on the market nowadays. to improve the power of wavelength.[4]
4.2 DWDM Mux/DeMux Filters 4.5 Transponders (Wavelengths Con-

Multiple wavelengths are combined to be transmit- verters)
ted on one fiber and these form a composite sig- Transponder is a device that is used to send and re-
nal. At the receiver end this composite signal is ceive signals from fiber and these are used to convert
again separated into individual wavelengths using de- full duplex electrical signal to full duplex optical sig-
multiplexer. Optical multiplexer and de-multiplexer nal. These convert optical signal of one wavelength
are passive components. Since the process of this to optical signal of another wavelength suitable for
multiplexing and demultiplexing is optical thus there DWDM applications. These are also known as opti-
is no need of external power source. cal electrical-optical (OE-O) wavelength converters.
Thus these are useful for optical communication but
4.3 Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers these are bulky and consume more power.
Transponders are generally used in WDM systems
Optical add/drop multiplexers (i.e. OADMs) have (2.5 to 40 Gbps), including not only DWDM systems,
a different function of ”Add/Drop”, compared with but aslo CWDM systems. Fiberstore provides various
Mux/DeMux filters. Here is a figure that shows the WDM transponders (OEO converters) with different
operation of a 1-channel OADM. This OADM is de- module ports (SFP to SFP, SFP+ to SFP+, XFP to
signed to only add or drop optical signals with a par- XFP, etc.).
ticular wavelength. From left to right, an incoming
composite signal is broken ito two components, drop
and pass-through. The OADM drops only the red 5 Working of DWDM System
optical signal stream. The dropped signal stream
is passed to the receiver of a client device. The re- 1. The transponder accepts input in the form of a
maining optical signals that pass through the OADM standard single-mode or multimode laser pulse.
are multiplexed with a new add signal stream. The The input can come from different physical me-
OADM adds a new red optical signal stream, which dia and different protocols and traffic types.
operates at the same wavelength as the dropped sig-
2. The wavelength of the transponder input signal
nal. The new optical signal stream is combined with
is mapped to a DWDM wavelength.
the pass-through signals to form a new composite sig-
nal. 3. DWDM wavelengths from the transponder are
multiplexed with signals from the direct inter-
4.4 Optical Amplifiers face to form a composite optical signal which is
launched into the fiber.
The optical signal (light) can be amplified directly
using optical amplifiers without first converting it to 4. A post-amplifier (booster amplifier) boosts the
the electrical signal. These amplifiers add gain or strength of the optical signal as it leaves the mul-
boost the amplitude of optical signals by simulating tiplexer.
Gyandeep 2019 115

Figure 2:
Figure 3:
Figure 4:
Figure 5:
5. An OADM is used at a remote location to drop the de muliplexer.

and add bit streams of a specific wavelength.
8. The incoming signal is demultiplexed into indi-
6. Additional optical amplifiers can be used along vidual DWDM wavelengths.
the fiber span (in-line amplifier) as needed.
9. The individual DWDM lambdas are either
7. A pre-amplifier boosts the signal before it enters mapped to the required output type through the
116 Gyandeep 2019

Figure 6:
transponder or they are passed directly to client- 3. Since multiple optical signals are multiplexed to-
side equipment. gether thus insertion loss occurs.
Using DWDM technology, DWDM systems provide 4. Splicing and connector losses are also observed
the bandwidth for large amounts of data. In fact, the which affect the system performance.
capacity of DWDM systems is growing as technolo-
gies advance that allow closer spacing, and therefore 5. Loss due to chromatic dispersion and polariza-
higher numbers, of wavelengths. But DWDM is also tion dispersion also affect the system.
moving beyond transport to become the basis of all-
optical networking with wavelength provisioning and
mesh-based protection. Switching at the photonic
layer will enable this evolution, as will the routing
8 Applications of DWDM sys-
protocols that allow light paths to traverse the net- tem
work in much the same way as virtual circuits do to-
day. With the development of technologies, DWDM 1. DWDM has capability to expand capacity and
systems may need more advanced components to ex- can serve as backup bandwidth without a need
ert greater advantage to install new fibers thus it is ready made for
long distance telecommunication services.
6 Advantages of DWDM 2. DWDM can also be used in various networks

like sensor networks, remote radar networks, tele
1. 1. It has unlimited transmission capacity due to spectroscopic process control network and many
multi data transmission network. more networks.
2. It is flexible as it is protocol and bit rate inde-
pendent. 3. By the use of only two fibers 100% protected ring
with 16 separate communication signals, can be
3. It is expanded at any node very smoothly. constructed deploying DWDM terminals as these
are self healing rings.
4. Data transparency and high reliability.
5. It is suitable for long haul transmission. 4. In order to meet the demand in fast growing in-
dustrial base DWDM system can be used for ex-
6. Continuous data regeneration is not required. isting thin fiber plants as these plants cannot
support high bit rates.
7 Disadvantages of DWDM
1. Amplifiers are used to improve power and gain
thus system becomes expensive.
2. Attenuation loss due to impurities in core or

cladding of fiber.
Gyandeep 2019 117

9 Conclusion
DWDM works by combining and transmit-
ting multiple signals simultaneously at different
wavelengths on the same fiber. In effect, one
fiber is transformed into multiple virtual fibers.
So, if you were to multiplex eight STM16 sig-
nals into one fiber, you would increase the car-
rying capacity of that fiber from 2.5 Gb/s to
20 Gb/s. Currently, because of DWDM, single
fibers have been able to transmit data at speeds
up to 400Gb/s.
References
1. https://eujournal.org
2. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org

sent to the author at srinathvuppu@yahoo.co.in
Shri V.Srinath has done

Post graduation in Physics
(Electronics Specialization)
from University of Bom-
bay.He joined S.C. Rlys
in 1991 as JE (Tele). He
worked in MW mainte-
nance and MW lab. He
is Involved in repairs of
MW/UHF/VHF /MUX modules and also signal
modules. At present he is working as Instructor/
Transmission Lab /IRISET.
118 Gyandeep 2019

Need of Coherence in Telecom Eco System on the
Advent of 5G
Sanjoy Battacharjee, Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
The year 2019 will present several opportunities capabilities to design and execute market leading
for providers to bolster current revenue sources or ecosystems by the executives. Another pressing
to create entirely new revenue streams. Many of challenge is fear and resistance to share their data to
those opportunities will arise from changing market other players and the role of the regulators.
conditions and consumer preferences and from the
first large scale rollouts of 5G technologies, which are Without a strategic plan or data transparency,
expected to create significant business opportunities companies will be prevented from seeing the true
for telecom companies. This all comes as large power an ecosystem and thus not taking action in
telecom service providers continue on a challenging making it.
search-and-rescue mission to improve growth amid
the entrance of new digital players. In this situation To overcome challenges and capitalize on this
achieving frontrunner status can be tough when emerging growth opportunity, telecoms companies
trying to go it alone. should focus on the following:
Strategy: To be successful, telecoms leaders must
The leading telecoms companies are fast realizing define their strategic intent and goals for the ecosys-
this reality. As industry players struggle to reach tem. What are the innovation opportunities? What
growth targets, theyve come to realize that forming smart pivots need to happen to cultivate value? Find-
ecosystems i.e. a network of cross-industry players ing value requires new mindsets and resource alloca-
who work together to define, build and execute tion.
market creating customer and consumer solutions is Business Model: To cultivate value, companies
the need of an hour. need a strong ecosystem business model that clearly
identifies customers, markets, channels and the rev-
We can define an ecosystem as potential collabo- enue model, one that clearly create economic oppor-
ration among a set of players, where no single player tunity for all those involved. Tools can help facil-
need own or operate all components of the solution, itate the speed of knowledge sharing. Process can
and that the value the ecosystem generates is much drive quality, privacy and security. For example,
larger than the combined value each of the players a retail chain might have a goal of improving cus-
that could be contributed individually. According a tomer experience by using an augmented/virtual re-
recent report by Accenture, ecosystems are poised ality (AR/VR) application enabled by 5G and small
to unlock $100 trillion of value for business over the cells. In many cases, the business model and revenue
next 10 years by opening doors to competitive agility model could be entirely new.
world wide open, and the telecommunications indus- Operating Model Company leaders must funda-
try is particularly primed for ecosystem disruption. mentally shift their mindset relinquish control, share
In fact, the study found that 83 percent of telecoms company data, and allow others to do what they
leaders say ecosystems are an important part. do best. Leaders can play a key role in defining the
reference architecture within their ecosystems, but in
When it comes to 5G readinesses and the path to order to create the true north as a way forward, they
future growth, the implication is clear: ecosystems must leverage partners to co-create and integrate
will be key to help telecoms players, create new tools and services that address their combined
revenue streams especially in B2B business to business issues and deliver differentiated results.
business. drive growth and withstand competitive Proper governance frameworks can ease fears and
threats by joining forces with competitors, peers and can reduce friction among ecosystem participants.
newcomers alike.
The path to ecosystem success requires a clear and
One cause of this latency is lack of experience and ambitious vision, the right partners, and the ability
119
Need of Coherence in Telecom Eco System on the Advent of 5G
to think bigger and bolder. Telecom companies can Blockchain should be on every telecommunications
execute a disruptive ecosystem strategy with three providers radar. Telecoms can harness block chain
steps: technology to simplify billing systems, cut down
revenue leakage from roaming and identity fraud,
For each market play, define the vision, business and automate settlements with smart contracts and
case, prioritization and roadmap. When ecosystem tokens. The technology also offers several other
players combine their functional, technology and advantages that can benefit 5G networks, including
industry strengths and capabilities, the resulting the enablement of secure, error-free, peer-to-peer
value proposition could be game-changing. connectivity for thousands of IoT devices with cost-
efficient self-managed networks. It can also power a
Partners should bring complementary capabilities, new generation of access technology selection mecha-
a collaborative mindset, domain expertise, customer nisms for 5G networks, such as sharing of faster and
relationships and data that will help bring the regulated local connectivity for reliable service to
market play to fruition. device; enablement of local connection prices based
on local supply and demand; and the creation of new
After finding the rig ht teammates, leaders must business models for determining the ideal capability
then master the ability to identify the level of for nonprioritized traffic. Telecoms can acceler-
orchestration from ecosystem partners and their ate their progress toward 5G by using blockchain
level of involvement in product development. to autonomously monitor and regulate their networks
Fundamental to the success of ecosystems is As telecoms companies face these headwinds and
organizations ability to adopt an ecosystem mindset. with an eye to the 5G future, leading organizations
This takes embracing new business models, thinking are realizing that going it alone is no longer an option.
beyond current growth drivers, and looking outside They need the help of partners that bring unique ca-
the four walls of the company it will rather help pabilities, data, and deep industry knowledge that
them to gain revenue in the fixed broadband market can be a source of mutual innovation. Ecosystems
and business-to-business (B2B) opportunities such provide a roadmap to growth that can help telecoms
as smart cities and Internet of Things (IoT). It will players not just keep pace, but leap miles forward.
also provide the ideal environment for telecommu-
nications providers to employ network slicing to
customize their offerings. In the context of 5G, this
will enable sharing of a given physical network to
The information / views expressed in this paper is of
run IoT, mobile broad band, and very low-latency
the authors and are based on their experience. Com-
applications including many connected-car and
ments / observations may be sent to the author at
connected-home functions that have the potential to
sanjaybhattacharya4@gmail.com
create entirely new revenue sources for providers in
2019.
Shri Sanjoy Bhattacharjee
is presently working as In-
Two other key revenue-generating opportunities structor / IRISET. He co-
for telecom providers will be mHealth and mPay- ordinate with construction
ments. In the area of mHealth, operators can wing for installation , com-
monetize services targeted to the growing number missioning and Testing of
of subscribers who have adopted health care centric 6 Quad cable , OFC, STM
wearables to, for example, help them ensure theyre and PD muxes from Tatana-
taking the proper dosages of medications. In the gar to Rourkela and fron
world of mPayments, on the other hand, mobile op- Rajkharsawan to Dongaposi
erators can play a different role: As an integrator for over CKP division of SE Rly.
devices, applications, methods of mobile payment,
and customer identity management. One study
estimated that this strategy could help telecommu-
nications providers increase their mobile payments
revenue at least fourfold by 2022.
One final technology to watch in 2019 is blockchain.
120 Gyandeep 2019

The Relics of Semiconductor Age
Shiva Das Banerjee , Instructor(Telecom), IRISET
Semiconductors has been a bridge between science

and technology in the past but today in the Informa-
tion Technology era, it is a forgotten topic. Today
writing the relics of semiconductor age may be a
true tribute extended towards the contribution made
by then material science heroes and stalwarts who
are unrecognized and unsung today. An effort to
remember them and the events of the semiconductor
age through this article is my small attempt.
The discovery of semiconductor behavior in a solid

can be attributed to Michael Faraday in the 1880
s who found that unlike metals , the resistance of
Ag2s decreased with increase in temperature. Later
many natural minerals such as Galena (PbS) and
elements such as Calcogenide , Sulphur , Selenium
and Tellurium were found to exhibit such similar
The theoretical background that was necessary
behavior.
to understand semiconductors developed after the
advent of quantum mechanics and its application
Thus the 1st semiconductor device used these sub- to solids in the early 30s by Peierls , Wigner and
stances. Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose discovered that Wilson among others. Thus the stage was set for
when metals were brought into contact with Galena the discovery of the transistor in 1948 by Bardeen,
crystal , they exhibited rectification i.e. I-V charac- Brattain and Shockley- arguably the discovery with
teristic were non linear. He used this property for the greatest particle impact in the 20th century.
detection of radio waves. These metal- semiconduc-
tor diode are now known as Schottky diodes through For transistors to make an impact, major advances
the 1st patent in 1904 is in the name of J.C Bose . in materials technology were necessary, 1st was the
He also found that depending on the crystal and the preparation of high purity Germanium, a hitherto
metal the polarity of rectification was opposite ! He innocuous element whose discovery was due to the
called these crystals positive and negative coherers. fact that there was a gap in group IV of Mendeleev
We now know that this is because of n and p type s periodic table below Silicon . The technique
conductivity. These idea were completely unknown of zone refining was perfected by Pfann at Bell
at the time, the concept of holes arising 30 years Telephone Laboratories and enabled him to prepare
later due to Bethe . It is discoveries such as these rod of polycrystalline Germanium of purity level
that prompted Nobel Laureate Sir Neville Mott to better than 1 part per million. Thus the first Point
say that Sir J. C Bose was 60 years ahead of his time Contact Transistor was made from Poly- crystalline
! Germanium.
This story illustrates the fact that the fundamental
discoveries and applications have always gone hand- Why not silicon? Silicon was already used in
in- hand in the field of Semiconductors. The discov- detectors in radio receivers in 2nd World War and
ery of 1st Light Emitting Diode (LED) by Lossev known as promising semiconductor. The initial
in the USSR made out of natural Silicon carbide is difficulty was due to much higher melting point 1414
another fascinating story. Lossev died of starvation *C vs. 953 *C for Germanium . Further it was much
in St. Petersburg just as he was completing these more reactive with oxygen. However zone refining
experiments at the end of 1st world war. LEDs were again worked and the Junction Transistor first made
therefore forgotten till the 1960s when they were from Ge was soon competing with Si devices.
rediscovered by Holonyak and others in the USA.
121
Point contact transistor depended on the surface and NF Mott recognized by Nobel Prizes in 1978 .
property of semiconductors which were poorly The chalcogenide materials studied did not however
understood in the forties and fifties and were even lead to viable devices - instead was born Silicon in a
less controllable. In fact the 1st transistor proposed new amorphous manifestation for use of solar cells.
by William Shockley in 1946 was field effect tran-
sistor (FET) which did not work ! It is ironical The IC industry act as the base of information
that most common devices now used in integrated technology including Computers , Communication
circuit (ICs) for high packing density and low power ,Space Technology , Automation , not to mention
consumption is FETs . MOSFETs were developed the vast entertainment industry . Semiconductor is
in early sixties when it was realized that the nature macroscopic form are used as sensors , in displays
has provided the most ideal dielectric to passivate and in photovoltaic system. In future could be used
Silicon - thermally grown Silicon Dioxide ! After for solar hydrogen generation and storage.
this Ge stood no chance because Germanium oxide
was found to be hygroscopic and unstable while Sili- it was realized early that silicon had two serious
con Dioxide could be used as a diffusion mask as well. drawbacks its carrier mobilitys were relatively low
but this could be overcome by having smaller and
The discovery of the transistor was due to team- smaller devices . A major handicap not overcome
work between theoretician Shockley and Bardeen , to this day in spite of the recent revival of interest
experimentalist Brattain and Pearson and materials in porous Silicon , is this indirect band- gap leading
technologist such as Pfann in an industrial envi- to poor light emission. Thus the first semiconductor
ronment . In 1958 while studying the properties laser was made from Galliumium Arsenide . Other
of heavily doped P-N junctions, Esaki discovered IIIrd to Vth group compounds such as Indium
the Tunnel Diode in Japan and shared a Nobel Phosphide also showed these properties which
Prize with Giaver and Josephson in 1973. However made them suitable for Opto- electronics. Alloys
this device was not a commercial success though of GaAs and InP with emission at 1.3 and 1.55
it verified a phenomenon predicted long before by microns to match the minima in absorption of silica
quantum mechanics. fiber are now used widely as source in Fiber optic
communication . Semiconductors such as Indium
The next breakthrough was the Semiconductor Antimonide and Mercury Cadmium Telluride have
Laser invented in 1962 simultaneously by three emerged as excellent Infra Red detector for night
groups working at IBM , General Electric , and MIT vision, remote sensing and environmental monitoring.
with the Russians only a little behind. At first in did
not compare favorably with well-known gas or solid The advent of advanced growth technologies such
state lasers and reminded in scientific laboratories as MBE and MOVPE have permitted the fabrication
. The development of low loss silica fibers in 1970 of quantum wells , quantum wires and quantum
- itself a major contribution from Material Science dots which could not be dreamt of 40 years back
and Technology - transformed the whole scenario . The study of the classical Hall Effect in such a
and now semiconductor Lasers are a hot subject for two-dimensional layered material revealed a new
research and have great demand in industry. While phenomenon -The Quantum Hall effect discovered by
Laser in the Red and IR regions are being made with Von Klitzing , Dorda and Pepper, though only the
lower and lower threshold current, a Blue Laser is the first got the coveted Nobel prize in 1984 . This effect
holy grail of semiconductor device at present . It is has been used to measure the fundamental constant
expected to revolutionize optical storage technology eh/c to an accuracy of one part per billion . The
as a shorter wavelength will give fourfold increase fractional Quantum Hall effect discovered shortly
in storage capacity , it would not win a Nobel prize after by Tsui has been related to superconductivity
but a market of over $ 6 billion was predicted then . theory on the one hand and elementary particle
theory on the other . It remains a fruitful and
In the sixties s and seventies s there was much exciting field for theoreticians.
interest in the disordered semiconductors, as opposed
to perfect single crystals used in technology. Could Silicon is undoubtedly the purest material ever
the same theories be applied ? What were the basic prepared on earth with purity level down to better
differences in electrical and optical properties to be than. 0.1 part per billion . Its lattice parameters
expected ? The intense investigations in this field at 25 degree Celsius has become the standard of
lead to path breaking discoveries by P A Anderson length . SIlicon is just emerging as a mechanical
122 Gyandeep 2019

material for micro machining because of its unique films.

properties . Tiny electrostatic motors 25 microns in eh/c = fundamental constant that is the quantum
diameter have been fabricated and pumps that can of electromagnetic action,
actually enter blood- streams . By electron- beam where c = 2.99792458X108 m/s(Speed of light )
lithography it has been fashioned into electrodes of e = 1.60217733X10-19 C (Elementary charge )
with down to 100 A* (Amstrong) . The first laser h = 6.6 X 10 - 34 J X s, (Planck’s constant)
annealing experiments were conducted on Silicon .
This has now emerged as a new surface treatment
technology in metallurgy.
By Molecular Beam Epitaxy , Silicon can be The information / views expressed in this pa-
grown one atomic layer after another and by CVD at per is of the authors and are based on their
temperatures as low as 150 degree Celsius . The first experience. Comments / observations may be
Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) images by sent to the author at sdbanerjee622gmail.com
Binning and Rohrer who won the Nobel prize in 1986
convinced the skeptics that they were really looking Shri Shiva Das Banerjee
at surface atoms which were pictures of the 7 x 7 / Instructor / Network lab
atomic structure on Silicon ! The small silicon chip has 24 years of working ex-
can now contain more than 3 million devices and still perience in railway commu-
more is to come . Thus the future of semiconductors nication in the field of Mi-
as a vehicle for fundamental discoveries as well as crowave 7GHz,18 GHz ,OFC
revolutionary technologies seems assured. and Networks of Eastern and
East Central Railways and
teaching experience of 10
Chalcogenide materials are chemical compounds
years at IRISET/SC
consisting of at least one chalcogen ion, i.e. a
chemical element in column VI of the periodic table
also known as the oxygen family. More precisely the
term chalcogenide refers to the sulphides, selenides,
and tellurides. Epitaxy is the process of growing a
crystal of a particular orientation on top of another
crystal, where the orientation is determined by the
underlying crystal. The creation of various layers
in semiconductor wafers, such as those used in
integrated circuits, is a typical application for the
process.
MOVPE Metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy is a

process in which monocrystalline compound semi-
conductor layers are produced by the reaction of
molecules in the gas phase on a heated substrate.
The substrate provides the crystal‘s building plan
according to which the atoms order on the surface.
MBE Molecular-beam epitaxy is an epitaxy

method for thin-film deposition of single crystals.
MBE is widely used in the manufacture of semi-
conductor devices, including transistors, and it is
considered one of the fundamental tools for the
development of nanotechnologies.
CVD Chemical vapor deposition is a vacuum de-

position method used to produce high quality, high-
performance, solid materials. The process is often
used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin
Gyandeep 2019 123

With Best compliments from: With Best compliments from:
With Best compliments from:
Team Engineers
MEDIKONDA
Phone: 040-27221764
Fax: 040-27221314 Solutions in Connectivity
Mobile: 9490412518 An ISO 9001 : 2008 Company
CONSTRUCTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED

SURESH TRADERS
25+ Years of Product Development,
Support & Soaring Ahead
Anchoring Next Generation Networks for Indian Railways

Signal & Telecom Contractors
Indian Railways RDSO approved Supplier (Modem & LAN Extenders),
Digital Axle Counter / UFSBI / SSBPAC Auto Change Over
(E1, OFC) (FABIO 2CX) / Hybrid Optical Multiplexers /
Packet Transport Network Devices supporting (TANSY)
MPLS / SDH / PDMUX / Optical
Transport Network Devices / Terminal Servers /
H.No. 30-647/54, Plot No. 54, 1st Floor, SDN Elements / Various Protocol
N.B.H. Colony, Near Jain Mandir Road, Converters / Optical Drivers
R.K. Puram (P.O.), Safilguda,
NELLORE, ANDHRA PRADESH. Secunderabad - 500 056.
E-mail: suresh.cont@gmail.com
Datacom & Networking Products Designed,
Developed & Manufactured in India
C. NARASIMHA REDDY B.Sc (Ag) G. SATISH

RAILWAY SIGNAL & ENTERPRISES
TELECOMMUNICATION CONTRACTOR Signal &
Telecommunication Contractors
(Indian Railways)
H.No. 12-13-483/32, Flat No. 401,

4th Floor, Surya Towers, Street No.1,
Nagarjuna Nagar, Tarnaka,
OFFICE: Secunderabad - 500 017.
E-mail: gastishenterprises@gmail.com
Plot No.20 Ravi Co-Operative Housing Society, Mahendra Hills,
gsatish_ent@yahoo.com
East Marredpally, Secunderabad – 500026,Telangana State
E-Mail : narasimhareddychandupatla@gmail.com Mobile: +91-9440474636
Mobile: 9246501467 Telefax: 040-27221314
RDSO APPROVED MANUFACTURER &
EXPORTER OF RAILWAY SAFETY SIGNALING ITEMS
URBAN® ENGINEERING ASSOCIATION PVT. LTD.
ISO 9001:2015 & ISO 14001 : 2015 CERTIFIED
Regd. Office:
32/J, Sahitya Parisad Street, Kolkata – 700 006, India
Tel:+91 33-2555 7233
E-mail: urbankolkata@gmail.com | Web:www.urbanengg.com
&
URBAN TEKNO-SYSTEMS PVT. LTD.

(100% Subsidiary Company of Urban Engineering Association Pvt. Ltd.)
Regd. Office:
32/H, Sahitya Parisad Street, Kolkata – 700 006, India
Tel:+91 33-2555 8349
E-mail: teknosystems@gmail.com | Web:www.urbanengg.com
T. KRISHNARJUN REDDY
M/s. VINEELA ENTERPRISES

RAILWAY SIGNAL &
TELECOMMUNICATION CONTRACTOR
Office:
East Marredpally, Secunderabad – 500026, Telangana State.
E-mail: vineela.enterprises01@gmail.com
Mobile: 9246268419
RDSO APPROVED MANUFACTURER &
EXPORTER OF RAILWAY SAFETY SIGNALING ITEMS
URBAN® ENGINEERING ASSOCIATION PVT. LTD.
Regd. Office:
32/J, Sahitya Parisad Street, Kolkata – 700 006, India
Tel:+91 33-2555 7233
E-mail: urbankolkata@gmail.com | Web:www.urbanengg.com
&
URBAN TEKNO-SYSTEMS PVT. LTD.

(100% Subsidiary Company of Urban Engineering Association Pvt. Ltd.)
Regd. Office:
32/H, Sahitya Parisad Street, Kolkata – 700 006, India
Tel:+91 33-2555 8349
E-mail: teknosystems@gmail.com | Web:www.urbanengg.com
T. KRISHNARJUN REDDY
M/s. VINEELA ENTERPRISES

RAILWAY SIGNAL &
TELECOMMUNICATION CONTRACTOR
Office:
East Marredpally, Secunderabad – 500026, Telangana State.
E-mail: vineela.enterprises01@gmail.com
Mobile: 9246268419
Team Engineers
MEDIKONDA
Phone: 040-27221764
Fax: 040-27221314 Solutions in Connectivity
Mobile: 9490412518 An ISO 9001 : 2008 Company
CONSTRUCTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED

SURESH TRADERS
25+ Years of Product Development,
Support & Soaring Ahead
Anchoring Next Generation Networks for Indian Railways

Signal & Telecom Contractors
Indian Railways RDSO approved Supplier (Modem & LAN Extenders),
Digital Axle Counter / UFSBI / SSBPAC Auto Change Over
(E1, OFC) (FABIO 2CX) / Hybrid Optical Multiplexers /
Packet Transport Network Devices supporting (TANSY)
MPLS / SDH / PDMUX / Optical
Transport Network Devices / Terminal Servers /
H.No. 30-647/54, Plot No. 54, 1st Floor, SDN Elements / Various Protocol
N.B.H. Colony, Near Jain Mandir Road, Converters / Optical Drivers
R.K. Puram (P.O.), Safilguda,
NELLORE, ANDHRA PRADESH. Secunderabad - 500 056.
E-mail: suresh.cont@gmail.com
Datacom & Networking Products Designed,
Developed & Manufactured in India
C. NARASIMHA REDDY B.Sc (Ag) G. SATISH

RAILWAY SIGNAL & ENTERPRISES
TELECOMMUNICATION CONTRACTOR Signal &
Telecommunication Contractors
(Indian Railways)
H.No. 12-13-483/32, Flat No. 401,

4th Floor, Surya Towers, Street No.1,
Nagarjuna Nagar, Tarnaka,
OFFICE: Secunderabad - 500 017.
E-mail: gastishenterprises@gmail.com
gsatish_ent@yahoo.com
East Marredpally, Secunderabad – 500026,Telangana State
E-Mail : narasimhareddychandupatla@gmail.com Mobile: +91-9440474636
Mobile: 9246501467 Telefax: 040-27221314
With Best Compliments From
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101, Kalpataru Synergy,
Opp. Grand Hyatt, Vakola, Santacruz (E),
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Tel +91 22 30645000 (Board)
Business Enquire mktg@kalpatarupower.com

Media media@kalpatarupower.com
Investors investorrelations@kalpatarupower.com
HR mab@kalpatarupower.com
Fax +91 22 30642799 (International Business),
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REGISTERED OFFICE
Plot No. 101, Part III, GIDC Estate, Sector 28,
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Tel +91 79 23214000, Fax +91 79 23214239
POWER TRANSMISSION LIMITED
CORPORATE OFFICE
101, Kalpataru Synergy,
Opp. Grand Hyatt, Vakola, Santacruz (E),
Mumbai - 400 055. India
Tel +91 22 30645000 (Board)
Business Enquire mktg@kalpatarupower.com

Media media@kalpatarupower.com
Investors investorrelations@kalpatarupower.com
HR mab@kalpatarupower.com
Fax +91 22 30642799 (International Business),
+91 22 326712608 (Infrastructure Division)
REGISTERED OFFICE
Plot No. 101, Part III, GIDC Estate, Sector 28,
Gandhinagar - 382028, Gujarat, India
Tel +91 79 23214000, Fax +91 79 23214239
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ENGINEERING COMPANY
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Tarnaka, Secunderabad - 500 017, Telangana.
Cell: 98850 91800, E-mail: ganapathieggco@yahoo.co.in
GANAPATHI
ENGINEERING COMPANY
H.No. 12-13-829/17, Road No. 1, Lane No. 2, Kimtee Colony,
Tarnaka, Secunderabad - 500 017, Telangana.
Cell: 98850 91800, E-mail: ganapathieggco@yahoo.co.in

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utzÆN

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From Director's Desk

There have been connuous technological improvements both in Signalling &

Successful adopon of these modern technologies require training on

This issue of Gyandeep has arcles on futurisc technologies in signalling and

Signal Engineering and Telecommunications

From Director's Desk

There have been connuous technological improvements both in Signalling &

Successful adopon of these modern technologies require training on

This issue of Gyandeep has arcles on futurisc technologies in signalling and

Signal Engineering and Telecommunications

Location Referencing In ERTMS/ETCS 13

Earth leakage detection & risk mitigation 17

Competence Management in S&T: IRSTELO 26

E-Office implementation in SC Division 36

Problems in Replacement of Working Data Loggers at Major RRI Yards - Casestudy of

IP based Video Surveillance System (VSS) on Indian Railways 41

VoIP based Train Control communication System (TCCS) 47

PSTN Backup Control Communication 52

Commissioning of Electronic Interlocking at ERODE

Glossary of Power Supply Terms 63

Digital/ mobile detox through Yoga & meditation. 68

Intermediate Block Signaling using MSDAC 81

Future Railway Mobile Communications System 98

IP Surveillance : An Overview 104

IoT (Internet of Things) 108

LTE for Railways (LTE-R) 111

Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) Technology 114

Need of Coherence in Telecom Eco System on the Advent of 5G 119

The Relics of Semiconductor Age 121

safety approval for the system. Independent Safety

1. Ensure the safe space separation among the

Figure 3: Project Concept

Figure 5: Working Diagram

Figure 6: Euro ballise

4.2 On-board 4.2.6 Odometer (Distance Measurement

• LCD panel displays Current / permitted speed, • Power Supply Unit

• Storage capacity to keep log of 60 • Functional, location based Addressing

6.2 Interoperability • Priority calls (Mandatory)

• EMI/EMC compliance as per EN50121 and EN

• Location of RBC to be decided based on Geo-

8 Salient features of bids in- 9 Initial Trials

Shri A.K. Sablania, an

• Directional train position information in refer-

5 Explanation: location is not as critical as the SvL. The supervision

• The trains odometry is accurate to ± (5 m +

1 Introduction • Intermediate termination of distant cable is done

2. Double cutting and cross protection are provided

Figure 3: Out of correspondence of point due to earth fault of detection cable

Figure 4: Double cutting and cross protection

4 Leakage detection followed. One of the popular methods of testing is

is connected to negative busbar and earth. It is vice leakage values

5 ELD Earth Leakage Detec- 2. ELD capacity is mentioned in terms of channels

Figure 9: ELD detecting earth leakage

Observation Action Role Responsibility

out the time of supply withdrawal from the cable

7 Usage of Data logger to iden-

9 Summing Up ii. Providing leakage value in soft form to

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