New electronic interlocking card

The project aims to design, program and validate the various hardware and firmware platform of various programmable logic devices of the new PCBs for the Electronic Interlocking, critical security element, contemplated within the CENELEC - SIL4 (Safety Integrity Level) 4, maximum security function) that aims to measure and tabulate the degree of integrity of the safety functions, and that is responsible for the general control of the devices (and their own electronic cards) of railway signaling input and output.

The Electronic Interlocking is a physical space in the form of a Rack cabinet, inside which houses various types of electronic cards, dedicated exclusively to perform a specific task and that interface with all the devices and devices that are present on the track [traffic lights (responsible for emitting traffic control signals), needles (engines that control the tracks that allow the train to change its direction between one track or another), beacons (device that emits electromagnetic signals that allows communication between the track and the train), among others], allowing its correct operation.

Each card is composed of microprocessors, programmable logic devices (FPGA), ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter) devices, DC-DC converters, etc., which support various communications protocols, serial and Ethernet. They are of character multifunctional, that is, the same card allows a different number of functionalities that implies greater modularity, which allows to reduce costs, production efforts and validation.

With respect to the latter, after the design and production of the PCB cards, unit tests of validation of the hardware prototypes are carried out, where the design specifications and functionalities are checked; In addition, test standards are used to validate the serial production of the hardware. Regarding firmware, Bench Test is carried out to verify the suitability of its design and development.