Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Safe4RAIL-2 (Safe architecture for Robust distributed Application Integration in roLling stock 2) Reporting period: 2020-04-01 to 2021-07-31 Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project Safe4RAIL-2 is a project aimed at improving the safety and efficiency of the European railway system. Safe4RAIL-2 has taken as its baseline the results from previous projects, such as Safe4RAIL, where the main technologies and reference architectures were established, and has used them for building functional prototypes to be tested in the Technology Demonstrators (TD) of the Innovation Programme 1 (IP1) of Shift2Rail. These demonstrators have been set up in cooperation with CONNECTA-2 project, whose consortium is formed by leading manufacturers and railway operators in Europe.Safe4RAIL-2 has three main objectives:1. To increase the accuracy of data management in the communications inside the train. For this purpose, Time Sensitive Network (TSN) technology have been integrated in the communication devices of the train.2. To develop wireless solutions in order to remove the wiring of the internal communications of the train. LTE Device-to-Device (D2D) communications have been integrated in the train backbone, adding flexibility to the configurations of the trains. The suitability of wireless TSN technology for the internal communications of the train has also been demonstrated.3. To cut the development time of new applications for trains. For this purpose, abstraction middlewares (called Functional Distribution Framework) as well as simulation and verification environments have been used. This will reduce drastically the time and costs of application development.The project has developed hardware and software components to meet the previous objectives. The following conclusions have been obtained for future work:1. The integration in the demonstrators has highlighted the importance of having configuration tools for TSN devices, which will be addressed in future research initiatives.2. The implementation of the LTE-V2X physical layer could not be completed due to its complexity, and will also be tackled in future research initiatives.3. The integration process in CONNECTA-2 demonstrators has shown that adding new communication protocols (OPC-UA and TRDP) on AUTOSAR Adaptive Platform has been more complex than expected. Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far In the first period of the project all specification and design phases were completed. The achieved milestones (MS) are detailed below:- MS1 - Requirements fixed: requirements have been completed for Drive-by-Data devices and HVAC subsystem integrated on FDF and SF, as well as an interim version of the requirements for wireless devices.- MS2 - Internal and external communication and data-management strategies have been released, as well as the project handbook for quality assurance.- MS3 - Wireless requirements and State-of-the-art completed: a final version of the requirements for wireless devices has been completed, as well as state of the art reports of wireless technologies for Wireless Train Backbone (WLTB) and Wireless Consist Network (WLCN).- MS4 - Designs of network devices, LTE equipment and HVAC subsystem completed: designs of DbD network devices and wireless equipment have been completed, as well as the implementation of the HVAC subsystem and first interoperability tests of ETBNs for safe train inauguration.- MS5 - A risk assessment strategy has been fixed, and interim results on communication, dissemination, exploitation and standardisation have been made available.In the second period, project activities have been focused on the development of prototypes for the three technological domains of Safe4RAIL-2, and on completing their integration in the demonstrators of CONNECTA-2 project. The following milestones have been achieved in this period:- MS6 – First prototypes of network devices, LTE equipment and HVAC function have been completed for integration in the demonstrators- MS7 - Network devices, LTE equipment and HVAC subsystem have been integrated in CONNECTA-2 demonstrators. This milestone has included also the completion of the analysis on challenging scenarios for the Wireless Train Backbone (WLTB) and merging of this WLTB with the Train-to-Ground (T2G) link.- MS8 – A preliminary analysis has been completed on advanced wireless technologies for the train. This analysis has included integration of on-board communication systems, Wireless Drive-by-Data, 5G and Virtual Coupling- MS9 – Support to CONNECTA-2 demonstrators and interoperability tests have been completed, and a final analysis has been delivered on Wireless DbD, 5G and Virtual Coupling. A final report on Wireless Consist Network has also been provided.- MS10 - Release of final reports on communication, dissemination, exploitation and standardisation.The project has produced results that correspond to a Technology Readiness Level from TRL 2 to 5, which implies that the project results can be demonstrated partly in a lab environment (wireless devices) and partly in simulated real environments (TSN devices and HVAC on FDF). Public results are available on the project website, in section 'Deliverables'. In order to perform full exploitation of the project results, they must be further developed to an actual system completed and qualified through test and demonstration, what will be done in the upcoming research initiatives. The project has been successfully disseminated in various press releases and magazine articles, by means of different communication channels and dedicated project newsletters. Two podcast series could be highlighted – one focusing on the technical WPs, and the other elaborating opportunities with project external experts – that gained interest on social media channels. Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far) These are the advances and impacts in the three research areas of the project:1. The consortium has implemented, for the first time in the railway sector, the Time Sensitive Network (TSN) technology, which has mechanisms to create, distribute, synchronise and operate systems in real time, increasing in this way the safety of the different train systems.2. Safe4RAIL-2 has developed a wireless solution for the bus of the train that removes the current physical connections, which reduces maintenance costs and gives greater flexibility to operations such as the connection and disconnection of wagons. A demonstrator combining wired and wireless TSN technologies has also been built as a suitable solution for the internal communications of the train.3. Another output of the project has been the integration of train applications on the Functional Distribution Framework (FDF) middleware and on simulation and verification environments (Simulation Framework, SF). This will allow train subsystem providers to develop applications using common interfaces and to test the applications prior to their installation in trains, something that today can only be certified by physically installing the actual developments inside the train. Within Safe4RAIL-2, a demonstration of these technologies has been made for a Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system. Generic train picture for dissemination activities Work-Package Structure Project Logo
