Ministry of Railways (INDIA)

​
 About R.D.S.O
​

INTRODUCTION

Railways were introduced in India in 1853 and as their development progressed through to the
twentieth century, several company managed and state-owned railway systems grew up. To
enforce standardization and co-ordination amongst various railway systems, the Indian Railway
Conference Association (IRCA) was set up in 1903, followed by the Central Standards Office
(CSO) in 1930, for preparation of designs, standards and specifications. However, till
independence, most of the designs and manufacture of railway equipments was entrusted to
foreign consultants. With Independence and the resultant phenomenal increase in country’s
industrial and economic activity, which increased the demand of rail transportation - a new
organization called Railway Testing and Research Centre (RTRC) was setup in 1952 at
Lucknow, for testing and conducting applied research for development of railway rolling stock,
permanent way etc.

Central Standards Office (CSO) and the ​Railway Testing and Research Centre (RTRC)
were integrated into a single unit named ​Research Designs and Standards Organization
(RDSO)​ in 1957, under Ministry of Railways at Lucknow.
 ​ORGANISATION

RDSO is headed by a Director General. The Director General is assisted by Additional

Director General, Sr. Executive Directors and Executive Directors, heading different
directorates. RDSO has various directorates for smooth functioning:

Bridges & Structures Psycho-technical

Carriage Research
Defence Research Signal
Electrical Loco Telecommunication
EMU & Power Supply Track
Engine Development Testing
Finance & Accounts Track Machines &
Geo-technical Engineering Monitoring
Quality Assurance Traction Installation
Metallurgical & Chemical Traffic
Motive Power Wagon

All the directorates of RDSO except Defence Research are located at Lucknow. Cells for
Railway Production Units and industries, which look after liaison, inspection and development
work, are located at Bangalore, Bharatpur, Bhopal, Mumbai, Burnpur, Kolkata, Chittaranjan,
Kapurthala, Jhansi, Chennai, Sahibabad, Bhilai and New Delhi.

QUALITY POLICY

To develop safe, modern and cost effective Railway technology complying with Statutory
and Regulatory requirements, through excellence in Research, Designs and Standards and
Continual improvements in Quality Management System to cater to growing demand of
passenger and freight traffic on the railways.

FUNCTIONS
 RDSO is the sole R&D organization of Indian Railways and functions as the ​technical
advisor to Railway Board​, Zonal Railways and Production Units and performs the
following important functions :

 Development of new and improved designs.

 Development, adoption, absorption of new technology for use on Indian Railways.
 Development of standards for materials and products specially needed by Indian
Railways.
 Technical investigation, statutory clearances, testing and providing consultancy
services.
 Inspection of critical and safety items of rolling stock, locomotives, signaling &
telecommunication equipment and track components.
RDSO’s multifarious activities have also attracted attention of railway and
non-railway
organizations in India and abroad

GOVERNING COUNCIL
Governing Council comprises of Chairman, Railway Board as Chairman; and Financial
Commissioner, Member Engineering, Member Mechanical, Member Staff, Member Electrical,
Member Traffic, Addl. Member (Plg)/ Railway Board and Director General, RDSO as its
members. The functions of Governing Council are:

 To identify and approve the R&D projects for technology development on Indian
Railways.
 To review the progress of projects.
 To determine the quantum of direct investment in technology development within the
overall allocation of funds under the plan head 'Railway Research'.
 To give direction for improving the working of RDSO.

CENTRAL BOARD OF RAILWAY RESEARCH

Central Board of Railway Research (CBRR) consist of DG/RDSO as Chairman, Addl.

Member (Civil Engg.), Addl. Member (Mechanical Engg), Addl. Member (Elect.), Addl.
Member (Sig), Addl. Member (traffic), Advisor(Finance), Executive Director (E&R), Executive
Director (Plg.)/Railway Board as members and Addl. Director General/RDSO as member
secretary. Non- Railways members of CBRR consist of eminent scientists, technologists,
engineers and senior executives of other research organisations, academic institutions and
industrial units related to railway technology and materials. Functions of CBRR are:

 To consider and recommend the program of research on Indian Railways.

 To review the research program from time to time.
 To ensure coordination and assistance from other research laboratories.
 To review the ongoing projects from the technical angle.

​INFRASTRUCTURE

RDSO has a number of laboratories which are well equipped with research and testing
facilities for development, testing and design evaluation of various railway related equipments
and materials. Some of these are:

Air Brake Laboratory ​is equipped with facilities for simulating operation of air brakes on
freight trains up to 192 wagons and 3 locomotives as also for simulation of passenger trains up to
30 coaches.

Brake Dynamometer Laboratory has facilities to develop and test brake friction materials for
locomotives, coaches and wagons. A unique facility in India, this laboratory has also been used
by R&D organizations of Ministry of Defence like DMRL, DRDL and HAL for indigenization
of brake pads for defence aircraft.

B&S Laboratory ​has a 6mx14m heavy/testing floor on which full scale models of beam (spans
up to 10 m, slabs, columns, towers, shells and other components made of concrete, steel, brick
etc can be tested under static, dynamic or pulsating loads. A high frequency ranging 250-700
cycles/min pulsator for the application of a pulsating loads varying from 2 to 20 tonnes and a
maximum static load of 40 tonnnes on heavy duty testing floor. The Laboratory is equipped with
analogue strain indicator, multi channel dynamic strain recording system, switching & balancing
units, acoustic emission equipment, data acquisition system etc. for recording various
parameters.

Diesel Engine Development Laboratory has four test beds capable of testing diesel engines
from 100 to 6000 HP with fully computerized systems for recording of over 128 test parameters
at a time. This facility has already enabled RDSO to develop technologies for improving fuel
efficiency, reliability and availability of diesel engines as well as to extract higher output from
existing diesel engines.

Fatigue Testing Laboratory ​for testing ​prototype locomotive and rolling stock bogies, springs
and other railway equipments subjected to stress and fatigue so as to ascertain their expected life
in service.

Geo-technical Engineering Laboratory is equipped with facilities for determining strength

parameters of soil in lab and field condition. The State-of-art Sub-surface Interface Radar (SIR)
system, Laser based soil particle analyzer, and computerized consolidation test apparatus have
been installed in the lab. The lab also has computerized Static Triaxial Shear apparatus for
determining the strength of soil as well as the design of embankment.
Metallurgical & Chemical Laboratory is capable of destructive and non-destructive testing of
metals, polymers, composites, petroleum products and paints for providing information to be
used in design and also for monitoring performance of materials in service.

The M&C laboratory include Scanning Electron Microscope, Direct reading

spectrometer, Ultrasonic Flaw Detector and other non destructive examination equipment,
polymer and composite evaluation facilities, thermal analyzer, corrosion engineering evaluation
facilities including weather meter, static 760 hour AR test rig for grease testing. V2F dynamic
test rig for grease testing, lube oil filter evaluation rig Cetane rating machine & 50t machine for
rubber deflection characteristics.

Psycho-Technical Laboratory for assessment of critical psycho-physical attributes of

operational staff such as drivers, switchmen and station masters for efficient operation. The
ergonomic laboratory of psycho-technical Dte is also equipped with bio-feedback system for
assessment of EMG, GSR (Galvanic Skin Resistance) temperature, pulse and respiration rate &
is used for stress management exercises.

Signal Testing Laboratory for testing of all types of signaling equipments such as safety
signaling relays, block instruments, power supply equipments, point machines, signaling cables,
electro-mechanical signaling equipments/ components etc. There is an exclusive environmental
testing section equipped with environmental testing facilities as per ​ISO:9000​. These include,
programmable heat, humidity & cold chambers, mould growth, dust, rain chambers. Signaling
Equipment Development Centre has been set up in the Signaling Lab. In this Centre, working
signaling equipment & systems have been set up. The working systems include SSI, universal
axle counter, VLSI axle counter, AFTCs, block instruments etc. In addition, equipment
developed by RDSO, such as signaling relays, poly-carbonate lenses, LED signal lamps, triple
pole double filament lamps, power supply equipment etc., have also been displayed. This centre
will be used for testing minor improvements in designs of SSI, axle counters etc., as well as for
imparting training to newly inducted Inspectors.

Track Laboratory for testing full scale track panel under dynamic load patterns similar to those
encountered in service. Stresses at the various locations of track components under simulated
load conditions are measured and recorded for analysis. This has helped in rationalizing and
optimizing design of track structures for Indian conditions. The facility of fatigue testing of
welded rail joints is also available.

In connection with joint research project of UIC on rail defect management, RDSO has
been entrusted with lab testing of rail samples from various world railways under simulated
loading conditions. Special rail tensioning system for application of longitudinal forces on rail
samples to simulate the thermal forces of the field has indigenously been developed, installed
and commissioned in track lab. This system, with capacity of up to 150 tone in static condition,
is being used to conduct testing of different rail samples.
Mobile Test Facilities for recording of track parameters, locomotive power and conducting
oscillograph trials for evaluating vehicle-track interaction as also for monitoring track conditions.
For condition monitoring of OHE under live line and to facilitate directed
maintenance of electrification, a Network of testing and recording apparatus (NETRA) car, first
of its kind , developed by RDSO is actively in service for scanning OHE in Railway.

Vehicle Characterization Laboratory for conducting vehicle characterization tests on railway

vehicles to study the behavior of suspension systems and to determine natural frequencies​.

Centre for Advanced Maintenance Technology at Gwalior ​for upgrading maintenance

technologies, and methodologies. Also to achieve improvements in productivity and
performance of all railway assets and manpower. This covers reliability, availability, utilization
and efficiency.

​LIBRARY

Considerable efforts and resources were devoted on the development of an outstanding

Library collection to meet the expanding needs of Research and Development. The Library has
more than 1.70 lakh volumes which includes books, reports, specifications, and translations on
Science, Engineering, Technology, Management and Railways. About 100 technical journals and
magazines both Indian and foreign origin are received in the Library regularly.

QUALITY OBJECTIVES
​  

Safety: ​Development of crashworthy design of coaches for enhanced safety of passengers.

Development of 1,25,000 km of track to be recorded by TRC’s in the year 2005-06 for providing
basic feed back for maintenance of Track on Indian Railways. Development of anti-vandal PSC
sleeper & Elastic Rail clip so as to delay the removal time of rail from the track by one hour.
Development of High Speed Self Propelled Accident Relief Train for faster travel to accident
site. Design and development of indigenous Electronic interlocking system using 2 out of 3
architecture with object controller. Fire-retardant coaches. Development of computerized
psychological test package for railways. Provision of Train Actuated Warning Device (TAWD).
To develop Earth Quake codes and rehabilitation guidelines.

Traffic growth: ​Development of 3-phase high staring torque traction motor for WAG-9/WAP-7
locomotives. Design of BCNH wagon with shorter length as compared to BCNA for increasing
rake throughput for covered wagons.
Environment: ​Use of eco-friendly refrigerant on under-slung AC coaches. Commissioning of
dedicated Exhaust Emission measurement facility on the test beds as per International standards.
Modification in Toilet Discharge System in Coaches to prevent rail corrosion.

Cost Cutting:​ ​Design of cost-effective Aluminum wagon-BOBRAL Reduction of maintenance

time of Oscillograph recorders and Signal conditioners by 2%.

Export/import substitution:​ ​Indigenization of electrics of GM EMD locomotives.

Development of Indigenous technology for Digital axle counter.

Asset Reliability: ​Reduction in average repair time of Oscillation Monitoring System (OMS) by
5% with respect to previous year. Quality Audit of Railway Workshops and other Units as per
the schedule given by Railway Board. Radial and Self-Steering Bogie. To develop continuous
health monitoring system using optical fiber technology for bridges.

Passenger comfort/ Faster travel: ​Development of Microprocessor control for better working
of air conditioning system of AC coaches. Development of air spring for existing bogies. Tight
Lock CBC couplers with Anti-Climbing features in coaches. Improved High Speed Turnouts.

Infrastructure development: ​Commissioning of two Nos. high-speed self propelled Ultrasonic

Rail testing cars and Brake Dynamometer for Brake Dynamometer Laboratory. Construction of
dedicated test track for RDSO.

Energy efficiency: ​Development of energy efficient dual voltage 3-phase EMU in Mumbai
Area –
(a) BHEL project (b) GP –194 project.

Quality management system improvement:​ ​To Issue Final Inspection Certificate within 7
working days of inspection of products. Reduction in customer complaints closure time by 10%.

Technology Mission on Railway Safety

(TMRS)

Introduction
 Railways have been the engine of economic and technical growth and development in
India. Railway Safety is not merely an area of national concern but also poses challenges to the
engineering and research community of the country. A Technology Mission has been launched to
focus national attention and drive modern technologies of monitoring, control, communications,
design, electronics and materials for Railway Safety. The earlier national programs on space and
defense research have not merely achieved goals specific to the missions, but have also provided
impetus to technology endeavors in institutions all across the country. A Technology Mission on
Railways will similarly help to initiate and incubate design and development projects of
significant national importance.
Technology issues on Railway safety and economy relate to multitude of engineering
disciplines. The mission will help to pool relevant engineering knowledge, expertise and
resources available in various research organizations and academic institutions in order to
address these issues in an efficient manner.

Mission Goals

● To develop and adopt state-of- the-art safety and control technologies defined by needs
related to Indian conditions; to implement projects aimed at achieving higher throughput,
lower cost of transmission and safer train movement.
● To encourage and initiate R & D activities pertinent to Indian Railways in academic
institutions and laboratories and establish convergence and synergy among them.
● To evolve and establish the academia-research institution-industry consortium approach
as a viable and vibrant mission mode of research and development.
● To disseminate technologies through participatory approach to other application areas

Mission Approach

IIT Kanpur and RDSO Lucknow are the major collaborators in the mission. A trident consortium
comprising of

● Academic and Research institutions

● Railway Organizations
● Industry

has been formed for effective definition and implementation of projects. The constituents of the
consortium collaborate to bring expertise and share responsibilities. RDSO provides domain
knowledge and experience to articulate problems and conceptualize projects. Academic
institutions like IITs and CSIR laboratories contribute towards problem analysis, design
synthesis and prototype development; the industry is providing inputs relevant for adoption of
technology and its commercialization.

Projects under TMRS scheme :

1. Track Side Bogie Monitoring System

The objectives of this project include

a) Development of an automated system to be installed along the track for detecting faults in
bogies of rolling stock (on-line monitoring of the condition of bogies).
b) Measurement of lateral and vertical rail forces.
c) Automatic vehicle identification using RFIDs.
d) Development of instrumentation for detection of components of the rolling stock which may
cause derailment.

2. Derailment Detection Devices

This project envisages development of On-Board equipment for sensing derailment

possibilities of rolling stock. Development includes appropriate instrumentation and
signal processing strategy and its integration with the existing brake mechanism for
minimizing losses due to dragging of derailed vehicle. Presently there is no
instrumentation on Indian Railways for detecting derailment possibilities.
The process of derailment is characterized by heavy misalignment of the axle along with
large oscillations and jerks. Vehicle dynamics software packages are being employed to
carry out simulation of vehicles running on new or worn wheels. MEMS sensors for
detecting vertical, horizontal accelerations and tilting have been identified and test runs
are being conducted on Northern Railways. Recorded data is to be employed to arrive at a
suitable criteria for derailment detection.

3. Sensors for Detecting Hotboxes and Hot Wheels

Most derailments can be traced to either the failure of wheel bearings or brake binding.
Both conditions lead to overheating followed by seizure which in turn can cause wheel
flats, track damage and derailment. Hot Axle and Box Detection (HABD) systems are
used globally for the purpose. These rely on remote measurement of temperatures of the
bearing boxes and the wheels. These systems have to be capable of measuring the
temperatures very fast (at 200 kmph the measurement of a minimum of 10 points has to
be made within 0.004 second). Any system to be used in India has to be designed to cope
with climatic extremes.

4. On Board Diagnostics
 The objective of the project is to develop an On-board Diagnostics for Diesel and Electric
locomotives through a network based real time control system. The exercise includes
development of appropriate instrumentation and signal processing strategy for various
equipments which form part of the transmission and also for other auxiliary machines on
board the locomotives. It will enable real time monitoring of vital locomotive equipments
like prime mover, rotating machines, traction motor suspension bearings, axle bearings,
radiator drive, air compressor, transformer, tap changer, pantograph, etc on electric/diesel
locomotives. The system will also have self-diagnostic features.
The diagnostic system will include on-line data acquisition and display over multiple
channels simultaneously, Frequency analysis and Real-time FFT display, On-line
trending analysis, On-screen trend display, Data storage with date-time information, Safe
and tolerable limits for all channels, Automatic visual and audio alarm in case of limit
crossing. The system also includes algorithmic diagnosis and communication through
mobile network from the locomotive to central control unit.
5. Environment Friendly Railway Coach Toilet System

The Indian Railway runs several long distance trains involving journeys up to three
nights. The existing coach toilet system consists of a lavatory in which the excreta are discharged
directly to the ground through the lavatory chute. However, the present system has some major
concerns due to discharge of fecal matter on the track. These concerns include: damage to the
rails, unacceptable aesthetic and hygienic/sanitary conditions, particularly on the railway
stations, and non compliance to the environment regulations/standards/practices. An exercise is
being carried out in this mission to conceptualize, design, and indigenously develop a
working/ready to install environment-friendly coach toilet system for Indian Railways' passenger
trains.

The toilet system will have the following attributes:

● Convenient to a variety of users, robust, and minimum operation and maintenance

complications.
● Prevent damage to the railway track and coaches.
● Maintain hygienic/sanitary conditions
● Compliance with global environmental regulations/standard/ practices.

6. Corrosion Prevention of Rails

Corrosion problem of rails concerns:

● rail foot corrosion under the glass filled nylon/mild steel liner due to accumulation of
corrosive environment under the liners.
● jamming of the elastic rail clip (ERC) in the insert
● corrosion of the weld region
 The gradual thinning of rail foot leads to frequent rail replacements and is a safety issue.
Corrosion of the ERC in the insert leads to jamming of ERC, resulting in loss of toe load.
Another aim of the project is the development of new corrosion resistant rail steel alloy
chemistry to minimize corrosion of rails under liner locations. This is being done in collaboration
with SAIL, the industry partner in the project. New corrosion resistant rail steels will be
identified based on laboratory experiments of trial compositions. Trial rails will be manufactured
and subjected to field studies. Based on these results, the corrosion resistant rails can be adopted
by Indian Railways.

7. Fog Vision Instrumentation

The project envisages development of instrumentation for improving the visibility during foggy
weather, night and bad weather conditions by developing a Fog vision system. Train
movement gets severely hampered during foggy climatic conditions. The weather conditions
consistently worsen with fog getting more opaque and such weather conditions extends for
months. Instrumentation technology needs to be developed to enable the train driver to see
through the fog for uninterrupted and safe train operation. After examining several options
such as Radar (mm-wave), Radiometer (mm-wave), Radiometer (infrared), Sonar(ultrasonic),
etc, it has been concluded that laser based viewing systems will be most suited for the Fog
Vision Application. Information like position of obstacles on the track ahead should be made
available on the graphical console display. The distance covered should be at least equal to
the normal distance visible due to the driver under normal night conditions. Optical visibility
may become nearly zero in severe fog conditions. Hence, sensors with fog penetration
capability should be developed and data from them processed to give an enhanced image of
the track ahead on a console. There may be requirement for developing multiple types of
sensors to cater to different scenarios. In such cases, data from multiple sensors should be
used intelligently to give a single display on the console. Active Infrared stereo vision using
gating will enable the enhancement of infrared viewing under heavy attenuation in foggy
conditions.

8. Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation (SIMRAN)

The objective of this project is to

(i) Develop an effective way to collect and disseminate information dynamically of every
train in a given geographical boundary for its location, speed and direction of movement.
(ii) Ensure better and selective dissemination of information to passengers. Train tracking
system using Global Positioning System (GPS) is being developed. Each train will have a
train locator unit to receive information from GPS satellites and continuously identify the
position of the train with information about its location (latitude and longitude values).
GSM is to be used for connectivity and wherever needed as an alternate location
identifier. The data logger can also be used to provide services for a central train enquiry
system, anti- collision device, train charting etc.
RAIL-TEL

RailTel Corporation a "Mini Ratna (Category-I)" PSU is one of the largest neutral
telecom infrastructure providers in the country owning a Pan-India optic fiber
network on exclusive Right of Way (ROW) along Railway track. The OFC
network covers all important towns & cities of the country and several rural areas
covering 70% of India's population. RailTel with strong nationwide presence is
committed to bring cutting edge technology and offer innovative services to the
Indian Telecom market.

RailTel is in the forefront in providing nationwide Broadband Telecom &

Multimedia Network in all parts of the country in addition to modernization of
Train operations and administration network systems. With its Pan India high
capacity network, RailTel is working towards creating a knowledge society at
various fronts. Presently, RailTel has created over 50251 RKMs of fiber network
connecting over 4500 cities/towns on the network including several rural areas.

The network is supported by multiple of 10G/2.5G based STM-64/16 system rings.

In addition, RailTel has also provided over 10500 KM of network with DWDM
systems with 100G/400G capacity which is targeted to be further expanded to
additional 14000 KM within a year to cover all major cities of the country. RailTel
also has a MPLS network with core on 10G capacity along with NGN system to
support various IP enabled services.

Equipped with cutting edge I.T certifications like ISO 20000 , ISO 27000 and
CMMI-Level 3 certifications, RailTel offers a wide gamut of managed telecom
services to Indian Telecom market. The service includes Managed lease lines,
Tower colocation, MPLS based IP-VPN, Internet and NGN based voice carriage
services to Telecom Operators, Internet Service Providers, MSOs, Enterprises,
Banks, Govt. Institutions/dept., Educational Institutions/Universities, etc. RailTel
is aggressively entering into Enterprise services market with launch of its various
services like Data Center, Railwire, Telepresence, etc.Recently RailTel has also
acquired Unified License.

In addition, RailTel with its rich experience in the domain of Telecom & ICT field
have been selected for implementation of various mission-mode Govt. projects in
the telecom field. Under such initiatives, RailTel is rolling out National Knowledge
Network (NKN), National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) and North East OFC
project under USOF scheme.
NETWORK

Fig . what is network

A network is a collection of computers, servers, mainframes, network devices, peripherals, or
other devices connected to one another to allow the sharing of data. An excellent example of a
network is the ​Internet​, which connects millions of people all over the world.
It can be defined as a group of computers and other devices connected in some ways so as to be
able to exchange data. -Each of the devices on the network can be thought of as a node; each
node has a unique address. -Addresses are numeric quantities that are easy for computers to work
with, but not for humans to remember. Example: 204.160.241.98 -Some networks also provide
names that humans can more easily remember than numbers. Example: www.javasoft.com,
corresponding to the above numeric address

A network consists of two or more computers that are linked in order to share resources (such as
printers and CDs), exchange files, or allow electronic communications. The computers on a
network may be linked through cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared light
beams.

Two very common types of networks include:

● Local Area Network (LAN)

● Wide Area Network (WAN)
You may also see references to a Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN), a Wireless LAN
(WLAN), or a Wireless WAN (WWAN).

LOCAL AREA NETWROK

Fig. LAN Netwrok

A Local Area Network (LAN) is a network that is confined to a relatively small area. It is
generally limited to a geographic area such as a writing lab, school, or building.

Computers connected to a network are broadly categorized as servers or workstations. Servers

are generally not used by humans directly, but rather run continuously to provide "services" to
the other computers (and their human users) on the network. Services provided can include
printing and faxing, software hosting, file storage and sharing, messaging, data storage and
retrieval, complete access control (security) for the network's resources, and many others.

Workstations are called such because they typically do have a human user which interacts with
the network through them. Workstations were traditionally considered a desktop, consisting of a
computer, keyboard, display, and mouse, or a laptop, with with integrated keyboard, display, and
touchpad. With the advent of the tablet computer, and the touch screen devices such as iPad and
iPhone, our definition of workstation is quickly evolving to include those devices, because of
their ability to interact with the network and utilize network services.

Servers tend to be more powerful than workstations, although configurations are guided by
needs. For example, a group of servers might be located in a secure area, away from humans, and
only accessed through the network. In such cases, it would be common for the servers to operate
without a dedicated display or keyboard. However, the size and speed of the server's
processor(s), hard drive, and main memory might add dramatically to the cost of the system. On
the other hand, a workstation might not need as much storage or working memory, but might
require an expensive display to accommodate the needs of its user. Every computer on a network
should be appropriately configured for its use.

On a single LAN, computers and servers may be connected by cables or wirelessly. Wireless
access to a wired network is made possible by wireless access points (WAPs). These WAP
devices provide a bridge between computers and networks. A typical WAP might have the
theoretical capacity to connect hundreds or even thousands of wireless users to a network,
although practical capacity might be far less.

Nearly always servers will be connected by cables to the network, because the cable connections
remain the fastest. Workstations which are stationary (desktops) are also usually connected by a
cable to the network, although the cost of wireless adapters has dropped to the point that, when
installing workstations in an existing facility with inadequate wiring, it can be easier and less
expensive to use wireless for a desktop.

See the ​Topology​, ​Cabling​, and ​Hardware​ sections of this tutorial for more information on the
configuration of a LAN.

WIDE AREA NETWROK

Fig. WAN Network

Wide Area Networks (WANs) connect networks in larger geographic areas, such as Florida, the
United States, or the world. Dedicated transoceanic cabling or satellite uplinks may be used to
connect this type of global network.

Using a WAN, schools in Florida can communicate with places like Tokyo in a matter of
seconds, without paying enormous phone bills. Two users a half-world apart with workstations
equipped with microphones and a webcams might teleconference in real time. A WAN is
complicated. It uses multiplexers, bridges, and routers to connect local and metropolitan
networks to global communications networks like the Internet. To users, however, a WAN will
not appear to be much different than a LAN.

NETWORK comprises of switch, cables, Ethernet, Ethernet switch ,OFC

CABLES

Despite advances in wireless technologies, many computer networks in the 21st

century still rely on cables as a physical medium for devices to transfer data.
Several standard types of network cables exist, each designed for specific
purposes.

Types are following-

Coaxial Cables

Invented in the 1880s, "coax" was best known as the kind of cable that connected
television sets to home antennas. Coaxial cable is also a standard for 10 Mbps
Ethernet cables. When 10 Mbps Ethernet was most popular, during the 1980s and
early 1990s, networks typically utilized one of two kinds of coax cable — thinnet
(10BASE2 standard) or thicknet (10BASE5). These cables consist of an inner
copper wire of varying thickness surrounded by insulation and another shielding.
Their stiffness caused network administrators difficulty in installing and
maintaining thinnet and thicknet.
 Twisted Pair Cables

Twisted pair eventually emerged during the 1990s as the leading cabling standard
for Ethernet, starting with 10 Mbps (10BASE-T, also known as Category 3 or
Cat3), later followed by improved versions for 100 Mbps (100BASE-TX, Cat5,
and Cat5e) and successively higher speeds up to 10 Gbps (10GBASE-T). Ethernet
twisted pair cables contain up to eight (8) wires wound together in pairs to
minimize electromagnetic interference.

Two primary types of twisted pair cable industry standards have been defined:
Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) and Shielded Twisted Pair (STP). Modern Ethernet
cables use UTP wiring due to its lower cost, while STP cabling can be found in
some other types of networks such as Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI).
 SWITCH
A switch is a device in a ​computer network​ that connects other devices together. Multiple data
cables are plugged into a switch to enable communication between different networked devices.
Switches manage the flow of data across a network by transmitting a received ​network packet
only to the one or more devices for which the packet is intended. Each networked device
connected to a switch can be identified by its ​network address, ​allowing the switch to direct the
flow of traffic maximizing the security and efficiency of the network.A switch is more
intelligent than an ​Ethernet hub,​ which simply retransmits packets out of every port of the hub
except the port on which the packet was received, unable to distinguish different recipients, and
achieving an overall lower network efficiency.
An Ethernet switch operates at the ​data link layer​ (layer 2) of the OSI model to create a
separate ​collision domain ​for each switch port. Each device connected to a switch port can
transfer data to any of the other ports at any time and the transmissions will not interfere.​[a]
Because ​broadcasts​ are still being forwarded to all connected devices by the switch, the newly
formed ​network segment ​continues to be a ​broadcast domain.​ Switches may also operate at
higher layers of the OSI model, including the network layer and above. A device that also
operates at these higher layers is known as a ​multilayer switch.
Segmentation involves the use of a switch to split a larger collision domain into smaller ones in
order to reduce collision probability, and to improve overall network throughput. In the extreme
case (i.e. micro-segmentation), each device is located on a dedicated switch port. In contrast to
an Ethernet hub, there is a separate collision domain on each of the switch ports. This allows
computers to have dedicated bandwidth on point-to-point connections to the network and also to
run in full-duplex mode. Full-duplex mode has only one transmitter and one receiver per
collision domain, making collisions impossible.

The network switch plays an integral role in most modern Ethernet ​local area networks
(LANs). Mid-to-large sized LANs contain a number of linked managed switches. Small
office/home office (SOHO) applications typically use a single switch, or an all-purpose device
such as a residential gateway to access small office/home broadband services such as DSL or
cable Internet​.
ETHERNET
 

An ​Ethernet​ cable is one of the most common types of network cables used for wired networks.
Ethernet cables connect devices within a ​local area network​, like PCs, ​routers​, and ​switches​.
These physical cables are limited by their length and by their durability. If a network cable is too
long or of poor quality, it won't carry a good network signal. These limits are one reason there are
different types of Ethernet cables optimized to perform certain tasks in specific situations.

Fig. Ethernet cable

An ethernet cable resembles a phone cable, but is larger and has more wires. Both cables share a
similar shape and plug, but an ethernet cable has eight wires, while phone cables have four.
Ethernet cable connectors are also larger.

Ethernet cables plug into ​Ethernet ports​, which are larger than phone cable ports. An Ethernet
port on a computer is accessible through the ​Ethernet card​ on the ​motherboard​. This port is
usually on the back of a desktop computer, or on the side of a laptop.

● Network protocol that controls data transfer over LAN

● Standardized as IEEE 802.3 protocol
● Ethernet card also known as Normal card
● Uses Bus or Star Topology
● CAT5/ CAT6 (category) are widely used
 ● Two ports-

1) RJ45 Jack that connects Unsheilded Twist Pairs(UTP)

2) for coaxial jack

Fig Types of Ethernet cable

Category 5 cable, commonly referred to as Cat 5, is a ​twisted pair​ cable for ​computer networks​.
The cable standard provides performance of up to 100 MHz and is suitable for most varieties
of ​Ethernet over twisted pair​. Cat 5 is also used to carry other signals such as ​telephony
and ​video​. The use of ​balanced lines​ helps preserve a high ​signal-to-noise ratio​ despite
interference from both external sources and ​crosstalk​ from other pairs.

Category 6 cable, commonly referred to as Cat 6, is a standardized ​twisted pair​ cable

for ​Ethernet​ and other network ​physical layers​ that is ​backward compatible​ with
the ​Category 5/5e​ and ​Category 3 cable​ standards. Compared with Cat 5, Cat 6 features more
stringent specifications for ​crosstalk​ and system noise. The cable standard also specifies
performance of up to 250 MHz compared to 100 MHz for Cat 5.

Applications of Ethernet:

● Automatic transfer lines.

● Sectional conveyors
● Discrete-part machines
● Applications requiring fast response times
● Most of the high-speed applications that require high throughput and speed, high I/O
count, distribution across large geographic distances, and real-time performance
​ETHERNET SWITCH

An Ethernet switch is a device used to build a network connection between the ​attached
computers (allows computers to talk to each other). It differs from an ​ethernet hub​: While a hub
will send incoming data ​packets​ to all ​ports​, a switch understands the packets' addressing scheme
and will send any data packet only to its destination port, thus limiting the number of collisions
(data sent at the same time).

Fig . Ethernet switch

Advantages of Ethernet Switch over SDH-

● Bandwidth Efficiency
● Finer Granularity
● Protection Bandwidth
● Flexible Topologies
● Ubiquitous Connectivity
 ● Operational Simplicity
● Lower Cost
● Future Proof Investment Protection
​INTERNET PROTOCOL ADDRESS

Fig . IP Address
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a logical numeric address that is assigned to every
single computer, printer, switch, router or any other device that is part of a TCP/IP-based
network.
The IP address is the core component on which the networking architecture is built; no network
exists without it. An IP address is a logical address that is used to uniquely identify every node in
the network. Because IP addresses are logical, they can change. They are similar to addresses in a
town or city because the IP address gives the network node an address so that it can communicate
with other nodes or networks, just like mail is sent to friends and relatives.
IP address for railways starts from 10. Example – 10.56.0.0
In Railways all packet data transmission is done on IP protocol. In these networks, virtual
connection is established between the client and server and data transmission takes place in
packets. For delay to be within limits , maximum of 3 router hops is permitted in the primary path
between the client and the server. In the alternate routed paths, the router hops should be limited
to a maximum of 5. All new networks should preferably be IP based.
The numerals in an IP address are divided into 2 parts:

● The network part specifies which networks this address belongs to and
● The host part further pinpoints the exact location.
HOW IP ADDRESS WORKS
IP is designed to work over a dynamic network. This means that IP must work without a central
directory or monitor, and that it cannot rely upon specific links or nodes existing. IP is a
connectionless protocol that is datagram-oriented., so each packet must contain the source IP
address, destination IP address, and other data in the header to be successfully delivered.
Combined, these factors make IP an unreliable, best effort delivery protocol. Error correction is
handled by upper level protocols instead. These protocols include TCP, which is a
connection-oriented protocol, and UDP, which is a connectionless protocol.

STATIV V/S DYNAMIC IP ADDRESS

An IP address can be static or dynamic. A ​static IP address​ will never change and it is a
permanent Internet address. A ​dynamic IP address​ is a temporary address that is assigned each
time a computer or device accesses the Internet.
The four numbers in an IP address are used in different ways to identify a particular ​network​ and
a ​host​ on that network. Four regional Internet registries -- ​ARIN​, ​RIPE
NCC​, ​LACNIC​ and ​APNIC​-- assign Internet addresses from the following three classes:
Class A​ - supports 16 million hosts on each of 126 networks
Class B​ - supports 65,000 hosts on each of 16,000 networks
Class C​ - supports 254 hosts on each of 2 million networks
The number of unassigned Internet addresses is running out, so a new classless scheme
called ​CIDR​ is gradually replacing the system based on classes A, B, and C and is tied to
adoption of ​IPv6​. In IPv6 the IP address size is increased from 32 bits to 128 bits.

IPv4

Fig. IPv4

An IPv4 address consist of four sets of numbers from 0 to 255, separated by three dots. For
example, the IP address of TechTerms.com is 67.43.14.98. This number is used to identify the
Tech Terms website on the Internet. When you visit http://techterms.com in your ​web browser​,
the ​DNS system automatically translates the domain name "techterms.com" to the IP address
"67.43.14.98."
There are three classes of IPv4 address sets that can be registered through the ​Inter NIC​. The
smallest is Class C, which consists of 256 IP addresses (e.g. 123.123.123.xxx — where xxx is 0
to 255). The next largest is Class B, which contains 65,536 IP addresses (e.g. 123.123.xxx.xxx).
The largest block is Class A, which contains 16,777,216 IP addresses (e.g. 123.xxx.xxx.xxx).

The total number of IPv4 addresses ranges from 000.000.000.000 to 255.255.255.255. Because
256 = 2​8​, there are 2​8 x 4​ or 4,294,967,296 possible IP addresses. While this may seem like a large
number, it is no longer enough to cover all the devices connected to the Internet around the
world. Therefore, many devices now use IPv6 addresses.

IPv6

Fig. IPv6

The IPv6 address format is much different than the IPv4 format. It contains eight sets of
four ​hexadecimal​ digits and uses colons to separate each block. An example of an IPv6 address
is: 2602:0445:0000:0000:a93e:5ca7:81e2:5f9d. There are 3.4 x 10​38​ or 340 undecillion) possible
IPv6 addresses, meaning we shouldn't run out of IPv6 addresses anytime soon.

.
DTMF

Dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF) is a telecommunication signaling system using the

voice-frequency band over telephone lines between telephone equipment and other communications
devices and switching centers.DTMF was first developed in the Bell System in the United States, and
became known under the trademark Touch-Tone for use in push-button telephones supplied to
telephone customers, starting in 1963. The Touch-Tone system using a telephone keypad gradually
replaced the use of rotary dial and has become the industry standard for landline and mobile service.
Other multi-frequency systems are used for internal signaling within the telephone network. Prior to the
development of DTMF, telephone numbers were dialed by users with a loop-disconnect (LD) signaling,
more commonly known as pulse dialing (dial pulse, DP) in the U.S. It functions by interrupting the
current in the local loop between the telephone exchange and the calling party's telephone at a precise
rate with a switch in the telephone that is operated by the rotary dial as it spins back to its rest position
after having been rotated to each desired number. The exchange equipment responds to the dial pulses
either directly by operating relays, or by storing the number in a digit register recording the dialed
number. The physical distance for which this type of dialing was possible was restricted by electrical
distortions and was possible only on direct metallic links between end points of a line. Placing calls over
longer distances required either operator assistance or provision of special subscriber trunk dialing
equipment. Operators used an earlier type of multiplex-frequency signaling.

Multiplex-frequency signaling (MF) is a group of signaling methods that use a mixture of two pure tone
(pure sine wave) sounds. Various MF signaling protocols were devised by the Bell System and CCITT. The
earliest of these were for in-band signaling between switching centers, where long-distance telephone
operators used a 16-digit keypad to input the next portion of the destination telephone number in order
to contact the next downstream long-distance telephone operator. This semi-automated signaling and
switching proved successful in both speed and cost effectiveness. Based on this prior success with using
MF by specialists to establish long-distance telephone calls, dual-tone multi-frequency signaling was
developed for end-user signaling without the assistance of operators.

The DTMF system uses a set of eight audio frequencies transmitted in pairs to represent 16 signals,
represented by the ten digits, the letters A to D, and the symbols # and *. As the signals are audible
tones in the voice frequency range, they can be transmitted through electrical repeaters and amplifiers,
and over radio and microwave links, thus eliminating the need for intermediate operators on
long-distance circuits. The DTMF telephone keypad is laid out as a matrix of push buttons in which each
row represents the low frequency component and each column represents the high frequency
component of the DTMF signal. The commonly used keypad has four rows and three columns, but a
fourth column is present for some applications. Pressing a key sends a combination of the row and
column frequencies. For example, the 1 key produces a superimposition of a 697 Hz low tone and a 1209
Hz high tone. Initial pushbutton designs employed levers, enabling each button to activate one row and
one column contact. The tones are decoded by the switching center to determine the keys pressed by
the user.
 AXLE COUNTER
An axle counter is a device on a railway that detects the passing of a train between
two points on a track. A counting head (or "detection point") is installed at each
end of the section, and as each train axle passes the counting head at the start of the
section, a counter increments. A detection point comprises two independent
sensors, so the device can detect the direction and speed of a train by the order and
time in which the sensors are passed. As the train passes a similar counting head at
the end of the section, the system compares count at the end of the section with that
recorded at the beginning. If the two counts are the same, the section is presumed
to be clear for a second train.

This is carried out by safety-critical centrally located computers, called

"evaluators", with the detection points located at the required sites in the field. The
detection points are either connected to the evaluator via dedicated copper cable or
via a telecommunications transmission system. That allows the detection points to
be located significant distances from the evaluator, and is useful when using
centralised interlocking equipment, but less so when signalling equipment is
situated beside the line in equipment cabinets.
 Applications

Railway signalling

The most common use for axle counters is in railway signalling for track vacancy
detection. It is a form of block signalling, which does not permit two trains to be
within the same section of track (block) at the same time. Block signalling
decreases the chance of collision, because dividing the track into blocks ensures
there is always enough space between trains to allow one to stop before it hits one
in front.
 Railway crossings

Axle counters are also used to switch on and switch off warning equipment at level
crossings, closing the crossing to pedestrian and motor vehicles when the presence
of a train is detected, and allowing them to open when the train has passed over the
crossing.
 Switch protection in rail yards

Axle counters are used in rail yards to detect train cars as they are sorted. Axle
counters are placed on the track before each switch and on each track that exits the
switch. Rail yard management software uses occupancy data from the axle
counters to lock switches and prevent cars from being routed to tracks that are
occupied by other cars.

Installation

One method of mounting an axle counter is drilling through the rail, but that is seen
as time-consuming, as well as possibly damaging the rail. However. it does
eliminate the need for levelling, which can help reduce maintenance costs.

Another installation method is to use a rail mount, which clamps to both sides of
the rail from underneath. That is probably quicker and easier to mount in the right
conditions, but can mean more frequent checks to ensure correct positioning is
maintained.

Components of the system

The main components of the system are:

(a) Outdoor equipment (detection points in the track area)

(b) Information transmission equipment (cables)

(c) Indoor equipment (evaluation, indication & resetting)

Advantages

The advantages of Axle counter that-

(a) It does not require wooden sleepers (where concrete sleepers are not available)
except for short track circuits to suppress the counts due to movement of insulated
trolleys.
(b) An axle counter system can cover a very long section up to 15 Kms.

(c) It does not get affected either by flooding of track or poor maintenance of
tracks unlike the track circuit, which is highly susceptible to these conditions.

(d) It does not require insulating rail joints thus, rails can be continuously welded.
This reduces track maintenance cost, low wear and tear of tracks and vehicles and
to increase traveling comfort.

(e) Efficiency and safe working of axle counters does not depend up various track
parameters and climate condition such as length, ballast condition, drainage, stray
voltage and currents, track feed voltage and lead cables, etc. like track circuits.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of axle counter are-

(a) The quality of the electrical signal transmitted by the rail is dependent on the
insulation resistance of the ties and the ballast. Causes leakage currents (if
insufficient).

(b) This resistance is a limiting factor for the maximum length of the track circuit.
 TRACK CIRCUIT
A track circuit is a simple electrical device used to detect the presence or absence
of a train on rail tracks, used to inform signallers and control relevant signals.

Principles and operation

The basic principle behind the track circuit lies in the connection of the two rails
by the wheels and axle of locomotives and rolling stock to short out an electrical
circuit. This circuit is monitored by electrical equipment to detect the absence of
the trains. Since this is a safety appliance, fail-safe operation is crucial; therefore
the circuit is designed to indicate the presence of a train when failures occur. On
the other hand, false occupancy readings are disruptive to railway operations and
are to be minimized.

Track circuits allow railway signalling systems to operate semi-automatically, by

displaying signals for trains to slow down or stop in the presence of occupied track
ahead of them. They help prevent dispatchers and operators from causing
accidents, both by informing them of track occupancy and by preventing signals
from displaying unsafe indications.

Basic Circuit

A track circuit typically has power applied to each rail and a relay coil wired across
them. When no train is present, the relay is energised by the current flowing from
the power source through the rails. When a train is present, its axles short (shunt)
the rails together; the current to the track relay coil drops, and it is de-energised.
Circuits through the relay contacts therefore report whether or not the track is
occupied.

Each circuit detects a defined section of track, such as a block. These sections are
separated by insulated joints, usually in both rails. To prevent one circuit from
falsely powering another in the event of insulation failure, the electrical polarity is
usually reversed from section to section. Circuits are powered at low voltages (1.5
to 12 V DC). The relays and the power supply are attached to opposite ends of the
section to prevent broken rails from electrically isolating part of the track from the
circuit. A series resistor limits the current when the track circuit is short circuited.

Electrical Joints
They are following types-

(a) S Bond Joint – they allow to separate two adjacent circuits and be arranged in
two symmetrical equivalent configuration.
(b) Alpha or Terminal Bond Joint – they allow to delimit the track circuit at a
boundary with an insulated Rail Joint. The traction current can continue on the next
track circuits by flowing through the terminal bond.
(c) Double Alpha (terminal) joints – they allow to delimit the track circuits at a
boundary with an insulated Rail Joint rails.
 Failure modes and prevention

Failure modes that result in an incorrect "track clear" signal (known usually in the
US as a "false clear") may allow a train to enter an occupied block, creating the
risk of a collision. Wheel scale and short trains may also be a problem. They may
also cause the warning systems at a grade crossing to fail to activate. This is why in
UK practice, a treadle is also used in the circuitry.

Wheels and brakes

Railway wheels are made from steel and provide a good short circuit from rail to
rail (shunt resistance).

Longer trains with more wheels have better conductivity. Short trains or single
engines can be a problem. Trains with a single Budd railmotor, which are also
lightweight, and with discbrakes, had some problems when they stopped, and had
to make a double stop to ensure good contact with the rails.[citation needed]

Cast iron brake shoes tend to clean the wheels of non-conductive debris (such as
leaves and sand-based traction compounds), while disc brakes do not. As a result,
some disc-braked vehicles have "scrubber pads" cleaning the wheels to aid in
proper track circuit operation.[citation needed]

Relays

Track circuit relays, referred to by signal maintainers as "vital relays," are specially
designed to reduce the chance of wrong-side failures. They may, for example, have
carbon-silver contacts to reduce the likelihood of the wrong contacts welding shut
after power surges and lightning strikes.
 Circuit failures

The circuit is designed so the vast majority of failures will cause a "track occupied"
indication (known as a "Right Side" failure in the UK). For example:

A broken rail or wire will break the circuit between the power supply and the relay,
de-energizing the relay. See exception below.

A failure in the power supply will de-energize the relay. A short across the rails or
between adjacent track sections will de-energize the relay.

Siding turnout

It is sometimes convenient to wire the detectors of a set of points through the track
circuit over those points. This can be done in one of two ways:

(i) a contact of the points detector can shunt the track circuit when the points are
reverse, putting the signals to red, however this is not failsafe.

(ii)the track circuit can be split with extra blockjoints and the detectors in the
points complete the track circuit when the points are normal and the signal is
entitled to receive a green light. This is partially fail-safe.

(iii)a second relay can be installed on the turnout, with its contacts wired in series
with the main relay. This is fail-safe but expensive.
TRAFFIC CONTROL

Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signaling that originated in North America. CTC
consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train
crews themselves. The system consists of a centralized train dispatcher's office that controls railroad
interlockings and traffic flows in portions of the rail system designated as CTC territory. From the 1850s
until the middle of the twentieth century, train orders were telegraphed in Morse code by a dispatcher
to a local station, where the orders would be written down on standardized forms and a copy provided
to the train crew when they passed that station, directing them to take certain actions at various points
ahead. The development of Direct Traffic Control via radio or telephone between dispatchers and train
crews made telegraph orders largely obsolete by the 1970s.

CTC makes use of railway signals to convey the dispatcher's instructions to the trains. These take the
form of routing decisions at controlled points that authorize a train to proceed or stop. Local signaling
logic will ultimately determine the exact signal to display based on track occupancy status ahead and the
exact route the train needs to take, so the only input required from the CTC system amounts to the go,
no-go instruction. A railway signal is a visual display device that conveys instructions or provides
advance warning of instructions regarding the driver’s authority to proceed. The driver interprets the
signal's indication and acts accordingly. Typically, a signal might inform the driver of the speed at which
the train may safely proceed or it may instruct the driver to stop.

Signals are used to indicate one or more of the following: That the line ahead is clear (free of any
obstruction) or blocked. That the driver has permission to proceed. That points (also called switch or
turnout in the US) are set correctly. Which way points are set. The speed the train may travel. The state
of the next signal. That the train orders are to be picked up by the crew.

Signals can be placed: At the start of a section of track.On the approach to a movable item of
infrastructure, such as points or switches or a swing bridge. In advance of other signals. On the approach
to a level crossing. At a switch or turnout. Ahead of platforms or other places that trains are likely to be
stopped. At train order stations.