Method, system, computer-readable medium comprising software code for estimating parameters of railway track circuits, and related track circuit

A system for estimating one or more actual electrical parameters of a track circuit, comprising:

• a transmitter of the track circuit;
• a receiver of the track circuit;
• a track section of the track circuit which is interposed between said transmitter and said receiver and is suitable to transmit signals output by said transmitter to said receiver;
• and
• a controller,
• wherein said transmitter is configured to transmit over said track section towards said receiver at least one signal comprising at least one data packet part, and
• wherein said controller is configured to:
• decode the at least one signal received at said receiver to determine the at least one data packet part received;
• simulate one or more signals by varying an actual value input for one or more parameters of a set of electrical parameters of the track circuit, each simulated signal corresponding to an actual set of values input for the set of electrical parameters;
• compare each simulated signal generated with the at least one signal received at said receiver until finding at least a part of a simulated signal that substantially matches a corresponding part of the signal received at said receiver;
• and
• estimate as the actual electrical parameters of said track circuit the actual set of values of the electrical parameters corresponding to the simulated signal that matches the at least one signal received at said receiver.

A track circuit for a railway line, comprising at least:

• a plurality of rails coupled to form a track section having a predefined length;
• a transmitter coupled to said track section at a first end of said track section and a receiver coupled to said track section at a second end of said track section, the transmitter configured to transmit over said track section towards the receiver at least one signal comprising at least one data packet part, and the receiver configured to receive the at least one signal output by the transmitter and transmitted via the track section;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• decode the at least one signal received at said receiver to determine the at least one data packet part received;
• simulate one or more signals by varying an actual value input for one or more parameters of a set of electrical parameters of the track circuit, each simulated signal corresponding to an actual set of values input for the set of electrical parameters;
• compare each simulated signal generated with the at least one signal received at said receiver until finding at least a part of a simulated signal that matches a corresponding part of the signal received at said receiver;
• and
• estimate as the actual electrical parameters of the track circuit the actual set of values of the electrical parameters corresponding to the simulated signal that matches the at least one signal received at said receiver.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising software code stored therein which, when executed by a processor, execute or make execute a method comprising:

• outputting by the transmitter, over the track section and towards the receiver, at least one signal comprising at least one data packet part;
• decoding the at least one signal received at the receiver to determine the at least one data packet part received;
• simulating one or more signals by varying an actual value input for one or more parameters of a set of electrical parameters of the track circuit, each signal generated corresponding to an actual set of values input for the set of electrical parameters;
• comparing each simulated signal generated with the at least one signal received at a receiver until finding at least a part of a simulated signal that matches a corresponding part of the signal received at a receiver;
• and
• estimating as the actual electrical parameters of the track circuit the actual set of values of the electrical parameters corresponding to the simulated signal that matches the at least one signal received at a receiver.