System, method, and apparatus for generating vital messages on an on-board system of a vehicle

A system for generating vital messages on an on-board system of a vehicle, comprising:

• a plurality of processors arranged in the vehicle and configured to generate a plurality of vital messages, each processor of the plurality of processors configured to generate at least one vital message of the plurality of vital messages based at least partially on safety-critical data available to that processor, wherein the plurality of vital messages comprises at least a first vital message, a second vital message, and a third vital message;
• and
• at least one separate processor configured to generate a final vital message by combining at least two vital messages of the plurality of vital messages by:
• combining the first vital message with the second vital message using a first logical operator to generate a first binary string;
• combining the first vital message with the third vital message using the first logical operator to generate a second binary string;
• combining the second vital message with the third vital message using the first logical operator to generate a third binary string;
• and
• combining the first binary string, the second binary string, and the third binary string using a second logical operator to generate a final binary string.

An apparatus for generating vital messages on an on-board system of a vehicle, comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium including program instructions that, when executed by the on-board system, cause the on-board system to:

• generate a plurality of vital messages with each processor of a plurality of different processors of the on-board system based on train data available to each processor;
• transmit the plurality of vital messages from the plurality of different processors to a separate processor;
• generate, on the separate processor, a final vital message from at least two vital messages of the plurality of vital messages;
• determine that the final vital message is valid if the final vital message matches at least two vital messages of the plurality of vital messages;
• and
• transmit the final vital message to a remote system if the final vital message is determined to be valid.

A computer-implemented method for generating a vital message on an on-board system of a vehicle, comprising:

• inserting an identifier into each message of a plurality of messages, wherein at least a first portion of each identifier uniquely identifies a processor of a plurality of processors that generated the message, and wherein at least a second portion of each identifier is identical among all identifiers;
• combining, with at least one processor, the plurality of messages into a final message comprising a combined identifier;
• determining, with at least one processor, if the combined identifier comprises the second portion of each identifier;
• and
• determining, with at least one processor, that the final message was generated based on at least two messages from at least two processors if the combined identifier comprises the second portion.

A system for generating and validating a vital message, comprising:

• at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium including program instructions that, when executed by an on-board system of a vehicle, cause the on-board system to:
• receive a plurality of messages, each message of the plurality of messages comprising an identifier, wherein at least a first portion of each identifier uniquely identifies a processor of a plurality of processors that generated the message, and wherein at least a second portion of each identifier is identical among all identifiers;
• and
• combine the plurality of messages into a final message comprising a combined identifier;
• at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium including program instructions that, when executed by a remote system, cause the remote system to:
• determine if the combined identifier comprises the second portion of each identifier;
• and
• determine that the final message was generated based on at least two messages from at least two processors if the combined identifier comprises the second portion.