CBTC ISIM PHASE 2

From 8 to 12 December 2014, CITEF engineers were working on several work packages in the Mito Works laboratories at the premises of Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan). These activities included the installation, commissioning and testing of the second phase of the CBTC iSim (CBTC integrated Simulator) project, which comprises the development of a simulator for testing, verifying and validating real track and on-board CBTC equipment.

In this second phase, CITEF’s simulator makes it possible to test up to four track devices, four interlockings and two on-board devices, all real, at the same time. This involves simulating more than ten real interfaces with both several track and on-board devices, for example over 2000 discrete entrance/exit signals, radio interfaces, serial port interfaces, etc. Also integrated are simulated modules of both the rail infrastructure and the trains. They include a faithful reproduction of on-board equipment so that all the above-mentioned real devices can be tested as if they were installed in their final destination and integrated in a line with up to 64 trains running.

The main value of the simulator is that using one results in a significant decrease in the test and commissioning time frames of the integrated equipment, and, consequently, a decrease in the overall costs of the lifecycle of any CBTC rail signalling project.