ICE 1 fleet gets information upgrade: Vossloh Information Technologies has been commissioned as part of a wider refurbishment to upgrade the mobile customer information system on German Rail's fleet of ICE 1 high-speed trains

International Railway Journal, July, 2005

The project to modernise the existing onboard information system on board 708 ICE 1 cars will bring the existing system up to the latest standards. It includes upgrading and extending train and car computers, installing modern interior route indicators using TFT technology, and installing an electronic seat reservation system with displays for saloon and compartment cars.

The first prototype train equipped with the modernised system was clue to be commissioned in the second quarter of this year, followed by trials. Serial installation of the system is scheduled for the third quarter.

Implementing a completely new concept would have been very work and time-intensive because of the many different and specific system interfaces. Vossloh Information Technologies (IT) therefore developed a concept that retains the most important components of the existing infrastructure while exploiting all technical possibilities for the inclusion of new capabilities.

ICE 1 has two communications systems, fibre optics and high-frequency wideband, which operate throughout the train. As both are permanently integrated into the couplers, where there are no possibilities for extensions, only these two systems could be used in the re-designing process.

The communications system, based on the LAR78 loudspeaker system for passenger rail vehicles, remains unchanged. The amplifier unit corresponds to the standard LAIR sub-rack, except that it does not support the external loudspeaker circuits. The call station, however, has been modified to fulfil special requirements in ICE 1--smaller dimensions and additional operating elements for internal telephone calls, function keys, numerical selection block, and additional indicator lights.

LAR78 has only an analogue interface for through-train communications according to UIC MB567 standards. The signals and levels necessary to comply with UIC MB567 are therefore reproduced by the fibre-optic interface assemblies. This system works independently of the customer information (CIS) computers.

The internal telephone function is an extension of the standard LAR range. LAR needs further support to implement this function so the fibre-optic system has been given its own independent channel for low-frequency transfer. However, as IAR cannot signalise and thus activate this channel, the function is performed by the CIS computer.

The status of these call stations, especially their operating elements, is registered and forwarded via the CIS infrastructure to the central computer. When the central computer detects the function call, "internal telephone", it triggers activation of the low-frequency channel in the two cars involved.

The CIS central computer remains basically unchanged in its design. It will merely be equipped with a supplementary Global Positioning System (GPS) unit in the form of a plug-in circuit board, which is inserted in a vacant slot in the rack. The operating software, which is responsible for the system functions, will, however, be adapted to the new requirements. Routeing is supported by the GPS unit. The kilometre impulses, speed "close doors" and door release signals (only in the function data format of ICE 2) from the vehicle bus now serve only as a fallback level.

This has the following advantages compared with the previous control ,system in the ICE 1 fleet:

* automatic "to give the right away"

* after an interruption, automatic synchronisation as the train approaches the next station, and

* verification of a forthcoming stop with the route schedule data.

The system is operated in the same way as the established ICE 1/2 scheme using the existing LCD display. As an option, a LAN module connected to the central computer by means of a serial interface could be used for connection to radio data transfer.

The function assemblies of the CIS car computer will all remain in service. This ensures that all functions, in particular for internal telephoning and data transfer to the vehicle bus, will continue to operate in the usual way. However, the seat reservation components cannot be connected directly to the CIS bus as in ICE 2, and an additional assembly is therefore needed as an interface converter.

It is planned, for logistical reasons, to supply a pre-equipped and pre-tested rack, which will then be re-equipped with the assemblies removed during vehicle refurbishing and tested again. This has several advantages in that it:

* eliminates error-prone re-processing of the wired rack

* eases the logistical situation

* saves the buffering material that would otherwise be necessary, and

* eliminates electro-mechanical weaknesses in the previously-used racks by means of a backplane.

The GPS-supported car computer provides visual information on the next stop and train speed for example, for passengers to keep themselves up-to-date about their journey at all times. DB selected high-quality, full colour. 12.1-inch TFT displays with a contrast ratio of 600:1 to ensure the best possible readability in direct sunlight.