System and method for communicating data in a vehicle system

A method comprising:

• communicatively coupling at least a source vehicle and a separate linked vehicle that are mechanically linked with each other in a vehicle system to travel together along a route, the source vehicle and the separate linked vehicle communicatively linked with each other through a system network of the vehicle system;
• receiving a local data packet from an operational component of the source vehicle, wherein the local data packet is in a first packet format;
• and
• transforming the local data packet into an in-tunnel data packet having a second packet format that differs from the first packet format and that is configured to be communicated through the system network to the linked vehicle.

A method comprising:

• communicatively coupling at least a source vehicle and a separate linked vehicle that are mechanically linked with each other in a vehicle system to travel together along a route, the source vehicle and the separate linked vehicle communicatively coupled with each other through a system network of the vehicle system;
• receiving an in-tunnel data packet at the linked vehicle, the in-tunnel data packet being sent from the source vehicle of the vehicle system;
• and
• transforming the in-tunnel data packet into a local data packet by changing a packet format of the in-tunnel data packet, the local data packet having a first packet format and the in-tunnel data packet having a second packet format that differs from the first packet format, the local data packet configured to be communicated within the linked vehicle to a target operational component, the in-tunnel data packet configured to be communicated between the source and linked vehicles.

A method comprising:

• communicatively coupling first and second linked vehicles that are mechanically linked with each other in a vehicle system to travel together along a route, the first and second linked vehicles being communicatively coupled through a system network of the vehicle system, the first and second linked vehicles having first and second vehicle networks, respectively;
• communicatively coupling the first vehicle network to a first operational component disposed on-board the first linked vehicle;
• communicatively coupling the second vehicle network to a second operational component disposed on-board the second linked vehicle, the first operational component a common network address and the second operational component having the same common network address;
• and
• assigning first and second in-tunnel addresses that correspond to the first and second operational components, respectively, wherein the first and second in-tunnel addresses are different from each other such that router transceiver units disposed onboard the first and second linked vehicles communicate data between the first and second operational components using the respective first and second in-tunnel addresses.