Initial Situation
Safety-critical railway components are expensive because they require specialized hardware and their development is subject to strict regulations. The TARO project therefore investigated whether a distributed system could be built on standard computers in such a way that safety-critical logic can be executed reliably and traceably. A private blockchain was one possible architectural component.
The Contribution of SCS
SCS developed a concept in which the safety-critical interlocking logic is executed as a smart contract on a private blockchain. A prototype and a simulator were used to practically investigate the architecture, functionality, and performance of the approach.
Result
The concept, blockchain prototype, and simulator showed that the developed reservation principle is technically feasible. Performance measurements resulted in sufficient performance for regional railway applications. The concept and demonstrator were discussed with experts from ÖBB Infrastruktur AG and other project partners. However, the path to productive use is not yet complete. A central open question remains the certification of blockchain technology for safety-critical applications. The demonstrator provides a technical basis for further investigation of private blockchain systems in reliable railway applications.
Concept, Prototype, Simulator
Three building blocks for testing the approach.
Regional Railway
Sufficient performance in measurements.
Certification Pending
Key next step before productive use.
