iriset

PRESENTATION ON (SSI)
SOLID STATE INTERLOCKING SYSTEM

S.K.NANDA
 INTRODUCTION

SSI System is a microprocessor based

interlocking system similar to conventional PI or
RRI in all aspects of operational requirement, in
which interlocking is achieved by means of
Electronic Equipment in lieu of electro mechanical
relays.

S.K.NANDA
 WHY SSI
Difficulties in conventional relay based interlocking system
 Thousand Electro-Mechanical relays are required
 Hundred Nos of wiring sheets are required
 Wiring is more complicated , it require extensive check of each and every
contracts of electro-mechanical relays.
 It takes more space.
 It consumes more power
 Alteration/Modification/Remodeling of yard , is not easily possible.

S.K.NANDA
 Comparison of PI/RRI and SSI
S Features PI/RRI
1 Time to complete a) Readiness of Relay room is pre-
interlocking logic requisite –Site dependent .
b) Large depending on numbers of
Relays.
2 Testing Procedure Totally manual and hence time
consuming and cumbersome
SSI
a) Logic can be prepared compared, checked.
Tested and kept ready in advance at the
manufacturer’s premise-Site independent .
b) Small as no . of Relays are reduced to approx.
1/3rd
Primarily software based and hence fast

3 Modification during Very cumbersome & major alterations in Flexible-Simple software modification – fast- less
yard remodeling and Relay logic required – Time consuming. disruption to traffic.
signaling changes
4 Safety level High High- Enhanced level of safety attainable with
software.
5 Space & power Large Small
requirement

S.K.NANDA
 The Railway signaling follows simple logic “ to ensure safety”
by Essentials of Interlocking.

1.It shall not be possible to take “OFF”a running

signal unless all pts including isolation are correctly
set, all FP locked & all L.C gates are C & L against Rd
Traffic for the line on which train will travel .

2.After the signal has been taken “OFF” it

shall not be possible to move any Points on
the route , nor release any gate until Sig repl.
3.It shall not be possible to take “OFF” at the
same time, any two signal which leads to confl
4.Where feasible ,Points shall be so interlocked
as to avoid any conflicting movement.

S.K.NANDA
 AVAILABILITY & SAFETY

Needs to ensure high level of availability and safety as any system failure
should not lead to take ‘OFF’ signal even if logic is not being satisfied.
To ensure above the SSI system adopt redundant processing of info &
comparison of results of processing.
The multiple processing can take various shape
1. Multiple processors
2. Logic implemented in several different arguments
3. Independent processing of the inputs.
Different manufacturers use different methods of multiple processing and different
implementation techniques . The input to all such systems and the nature of output
required for such systems continue to be all the same.

S.K.NANDA
 System architecture as per RDSO specificatin
RDSO/SPN/148/98
7.1:-One of the following architecture shall be employed in the system.
 (a) Single Hardware architecture with diverse software. In addition hot
standby processor(s) / system shall be provided with facility of automatic
changeover in case of fault in working system without affecting train
operation.
 (b) Two out of three hardware architecture with identical or diverse hardware

and common or diverse software. In addition hot standby processor(s)/system

shall be provided with facility of automatic changeover in case of fault on
system without affecting train operation.
 (c) Two out of three hardware architecture with identical or diverse hardware

and common or diverse software.

S.K.NANDA
 SSI SYSTEMS
T Y P E S O F S S I S Y S Y E M S A V A IL A B L E G LO B A LY

S IN G L E P R O C E S S O R D U A L P R O C E S S IR M O RE THAN TW O PROCESSOR
TW O (T W O O U T O F T H R E E )

1.M ICRO LOK 1 .S A F E LO C K 1 .G E C S Y S T E M S

U S & S IN D IA R D S O D E S IG N USA

2. VPI 2 .S IM IS E LE CT R A O F A LCA T EL
G R S , UK S IE M E N S G E R M A NY

3 . S IC A S
S IE M E N S

S.K.NANDA
Fail safety is required to be ensured in a S.S. I system in
several levels:
 Solid State Hardware :- Design is done so that a single hardware
failure will be detected & cause the system to give suitable alarms & also
shut down if needed for maintaining safety.
 Other hardware : maintained by feedback & comparison using fail safe
comparator.
 Communication:- Coding of data & using error correcting technique.
 Software : By using different logic with the same input to protect against design
defects and using watch dog timer for protection against drifts during execution of the
software.

S.K.NANDA
System architecture of MICROLOK-II

 The SSI system being installed in SECR is conforming to following

architecture:-Para7.1(a) of RDSO/ SPN/ 148/98

Single Hardware architecture with diverse
software. In addition hot standby processor(s) /
system shall be provided with facility of
automatic changeover in case of fault in working
system without affecting train operation.

S.K.NANDA
 Main Hardware of Microlok-II
(i) Card file
(ii) CPU Board
(iii) Power supply/CPS Card
(iv) Vital Input Cards
(v) Vital Output Cards
(vi) Non-vital Input Output cards
(vii) Mixed vital Input Output cards
(viii) Vital cutoff relay.

S.K.NANDA
 Card file:– The card file is having 20 slots of which 2 reserved
for CPU Card and 2 for PS/CPS Card and remaining 16 slots are
for I/P&O/P card (of all type).

CPU Board: It contains 68332 CPU. It is for overall system

monitoring, control, diagnostics and data recording. It perform
the execution of Executive and application software for vital
control, vital I/O management including its communication
functions

S.K.NANDA
 Vital Input Cards(16 I/P): The vital input boards interface various
external circuit inputs back to CPU board. Typical vital input includes ECRs,,
TPR’s CH-INPR, ACPR, N/RWKR etc.

 Power Supply/CPS Cards: This provides power to the operation of

card file circuitry and includes a conditional power supply (CPS) circuit
designed to provide power to energies a vital cut off relay (VCOR). All power
to the vital physical outputs is switched from battery through this relay. The
CPU Board produced a signal to the CPS as long as internal diagnostics are
performed successfully. In the event of failure, the CPU will stop generating
the output signal to the CPS, thus causing VCOR to drop and all powers to vital
outputs will be removed.

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Non-vital Input/Output Cards(32 I/O ): It provides the
necessary I/O interface between the CPU Board and the LCP (or
VDU).
 Vital Output Cards(16 O/P): The vital output board
interface CPU vital outputs to external relay coils. Outputs are controlled by
Software controlled switches that connect battery positive to the output through
VCOR .

S.K.NANDA
 Mixed vital Input/Output Cards(8 I/P & 8 O/P) : This board is intended
for smaller application, that does not require full 16 channels on single board.

Vital cut off Relay (VCOR): It is provided to ensure that the feed
to output cards is removed immediately when a system malfunction or failure occurs.
The VCOR contacts control the supply of battery power to all card file vital O/P. The
VCOR is controlled by CPU board microprocessor , which performs constant
diagnostics on internal circuits and external circuit interfaces. The microprocessor
responds to failure of a safety critical diagnostics by commanding a card file power
supply board to remove the DC supply to the contacts that provide battery power to the
vital O/P board.

S.K.NANDA
 PROGRAMMING:-The wayside control system is designed to be
programmed by the end user. There are two label of programming.

 Executive Software: It is preloaded software and standard for a

Microlok-II system, its function include:
 - Interlocking vital input monitoring, decision-making & commands.
 Monitoring of all vital I/P-O/P channels for intended on/off states.
 - Continuous internal and external diagnostics
 - Processing of user inputs from PC or CPU Board front panel switches.
 - Recording and play back of routine event and error codes.
 - Management of serial data port.
 - Execution of the application software.
Contd………

S.K.NANDA
Application Software: The application logic is station specific and implements
the interlocking control circuit logic. Application software is basically Boolean
logic Programming.

 Boolean logic programming: Using Boolean logic

programming the user can develop application control logic as a direct
translation of standard relay circuit.This makes programming simplex for
anyone who is familiar with signaling relay logic.
 Ladder logic graphic user interface: This programming tool enables
application logic to be developed using the ladder logic approach.It gives the
user the ability to select a preferred programming format for application logic.

S.K.NANDA
Data Logging, Diagnostics and Maintenances

 (a) The user data log records states of certain application logic Boolean bits and
numeric variable that are specified by the user in the application software. Any state
changes of those data items are recorded in the log with a time stamp.
 (b) Extensive diagnostic capability is built into the system for ease of maintenance and
troubleshooting. (1) Critical errors (2) Warning and (3) Events. In addition to various
status indications and display of error codes, the system log will hold time stamped
information concerning critical errors, warnings and events.
 (c) Maintenance Tool: The maintenance tool program is window-based program
designed to interact with the system from a PC via debug serial port. Using this tool,
the user can configures the unit; obtain various system states information for fault
diagnosis and transfer executive and application software.

S.K.NANDA
Operation of SSI:A typical SSI System interfaces with panel/ VDU, field equipment and
adjacent station interlocking to perform the following:

(a) It receives non-vital controls from panel or VDU as physical inputs.

(b) It receives the field vital I/P such as point position, signal aspect status and track
status as physical inputs.
(c) It process vital logic such as route request, point request, cancellation request etc.,
based on the application logic programmed for specific station.
(d) It delivers physical vital O/Ps for signal clearing and point operation.
(e) It receives the updated status from the operated field gears as physical I/P
(f) It processes the non-vital logic for indication purposes.
(g) It delivers physical non-vital indication outputs to the LCP.
(h) It communicate serially with PC for updating CRT layout, Data logging, diagnosis,
train scheduling etc.
(i) It communicates serially with other units in the adjacent stations to share vital inputs
and outputs including block.

S.K.NANDA
SEQUENCE OF OPERATION FOR A ROUTE SETTING
is as follows

MICROLOK-II units receive the route request from the panel/VDU via non-vital board
The application software executes the interlocking logic and delivers the outputs through
vital outputs board to pickup the relay for point operation and signal clearing.
The relay contacts extend the supply to the Point machine in the field.
Once all the relevant points are set, the detection inputs from the field are sensed by the
vital input boards through interface relay.
Interlocking logic checks for point detection, track clear, conflict route etc. If all the
conditions are satisfied, it deliver output through vital output to pick up the relay for signal
clearing.
The relay contacts extended the supply to the signal in the field.
Non-vital logic in the application software in MICROLOK-II unit processes the indication
logic and delivers outputs via non-vital output board for illuminating the panel LED
indications.

S.K.NANDA
 Advantages of SSI (MICROLOK-II):

(i) One single card file to house CPU, vital I/O and Non Vital I/O boards.
(ii) Supports non-vital logic and non-vital I/O boards, therefore no need to separate
panel processor.
(iii) Supports remote control via serial port.
(iv) Allows boards slot interchangeability.
(v) Enhanced I/O capacity (256 vital I/O or 512 NV I/P and 512 Non-Vital output)
(vi) Operates on 68332 Microprocessor at a clock speed of 21 Mhz
(vii) Most of the internal operations use 32-bit address bus.
(viii) 4 flash EPROM’s provide up to 8MB memory, of which 2 MB for executive
software and 2MB for application software.
Contd………

S.K.NANDA
Advantages of SSI (Contd……)

(ix) Flash EPROM’s permit direct handling of software using a laptop PC that
obviates the cumbersome process of burning EPROM and helps in quick modification
of application software and system re-start time.
(x) 4 Serial data port external inter faces.
(xi) One debug serial port for use with a PC.
(xii) Serial links have speed up to 19200 bauds.
(xiii) Application software can include numerical constants and arrays in addition to
Boolean expressions.
(xiv) Built in data logger with 4 SRAMs to store up to 1 MB data.
(xv) User-friendly PC based maintenance tool to change unit’s configuration monitor
status of internal relay for debugging and for maintenance and trouble shooting .

S.K.NANDA
Conclusion: The SSI System implements signaling functions in any combination
from basic to complex through use of application specific hardware configuration

 The Hot standby configuration increases system

availability and helps in improving the MTBF. Hence
with a high level of system availability and safety, (even
under most failure condition) reducing the probability of
the unsafe manual working procedures begin used.
The functional capabilities and flexibility of the SSI
System makes it ideal choice for a wide variety of
wayside signaling and control applications.

S.K.NANDA