A component-based topology model for railway interlocking systems

Writing interlocking logic is an important part of designing a railway interlocking system. In this paper a new method which increases the efficiency of writing interlocking logic is introduced. That is describing interlocking rules and station topology separately, and producing interlocking logic automatically by associating topology data with interlocking rules using software tools. As interlocking rules remain the same, the work for a new station is to specify the topology data only and the new interlocking logic can be generated automatically. This paper emphasizes on a component-based model used to describe the topology of the station. In this model, a railway station is abstracted as a set of connected components, and route information can be deduced from the topology data. The model of station topology makes the idea of producing interlocking logic automatically possible.