Towards Intelligent, Programmable, and Open Railway Networks

The virtualization and automation of network functions will be key features of future high-speed railway networks, which have to provide dependable, safe, and secure services. The virtualization of railway network functions will enable functions such as train control, train integrity protection, shunting control, and trackside monitoring and maintenance to be virtualized and to be run on general-purpose hardware. Network function virtualization combined with edge computing can deliver dynamic, low-latency, and reliable services. The automation of railway operations can be achieved by embedding intelligence into the network to optimize the railway operation performance and to enhance the passenger experience. This paper presents an innovative railway network architecture that features distributed intelligence, function cloudification and virtualization, openness, and programmability. The focus is on time-tolerant and time-sensitive intelligent services designed to follow the principles of service-oriented architecture. The interaction between identified logical identities is illustrated by use cases. The paper provides some details of the design of the interface between distributed intelligent services and presents the results of an emulation of the interface performance.