Gbit module promises to digitise rail vehicles
Claimed to be the first modular industrial connector designed to meet the growing need for high-speed communication based on the Cat 7A cabling standard on-board rail vehicles, the Han Gigabit module has been released by Harting.
WiFi usage, new developments in passenger information systems, and the use of additional sensors and assemblies for electronic monitoring and control have accelerated the digitisation of the railway sector. There is a growing volume of data and the growing demand for communication on board trains, rail vehicles need powerful networks and interfaces that fit the specific requirements of the rail market, observes Harting. A key requirement is high transmission speed and railway operators have decided on Cat 7A as a standard, allowing transmission in the frequency range up to 1GHz.
The Han Gigabit module is the first matching modular connector to meet this requirement, says Harting. It is claimed to offer signal integrity that is significantly better than the previous Cat 6A standard. Shielding against interference also improves, as Cat 7A cables consist of four individually screened wire pairs which are surrounded by another screen braid.
The Han Gigabit module enables Cat 7A transmission in the train carriage area and offers advantages for interference resistance and frequency range. The interface is shock and vibration resistant according to DIN EN 61373, Category II, which makes it suitable for extreme loads in the railway environment.
Harting also points out that the module is also future-proofed, allowing the installation of an Ethernet backbone for future facilities, upgrades and conversion of rail vehicles.
Harting also supports flexible data exchange on the train with unmanaged switches and patch cables. In a chain of sensors, antennae, RFID readers and Harting’s Mica industrial computer platform – which serves as an edge computer for filtering, aggregating and compressing the sensor data – ambient data can be recorded wirelessly in the periphery and digitally processed for control purposes. The Mica platform translates the sensor data from the RFID reader and makes it available to other participants in the bus system in both filtered form and reduced to the required extent.
