Abstract
Advances in sensor technologies, remote authentication, and high bandwidth data networks mean that Remote Condition Monitoring (RCM) systems are now an essential 'Internet of Things' (IoT) resource for the efficient operation of railway infrastructure. However, the full potential of the big data generated by these systems has yet to be realized. RCM data within the industry is typically collected and used in silos, with limited possibility of exploitation across system boundaries. In 2013, the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), on behalf of the GB Rail industry, established a cross-industry research program, T1010, which aimed to build stronger cooperation between stakeholders and enable sharing of RCM data. Building on the outputs of T1010, this work explores the use of blockchains and smart contracts in the automation, in an auditable and tamper-proof way, of commercial agreements for RCM data transfers in rail. By removing the limitations of paper-based agreements, we aim to enable innovation in shared business processes and stimulate the market for RCM data in rail. Leveraging existing smart contract-based schemes for trading and sharing IoT data over blockchain networks, we identify suitable methods for the enforcement of agreements, and ensure fair cost attribution between stakeholders, without a Trusted Third Party. The outline of a blockchain-based RCM data audit framework is presented, appropriate data access agreements and accounting models are specified in detail, and three permissioned blockchain platforms (Hyperledger Fabric, Sawtooth, and Iroha) have been analysed for their suitability for implementation. Finally, the paper outlines planned future work around validation of the tools based on two industrial use cases: monitoring systems for unattended overhead line equipment and axle bearings.
Highlights
The pursuit of higher quality services in the railway sector is a continuous process, and the availability in recent years of affordable, reliable, digitally enabled additions to traditionally mechanical-based infrastructure systems has provided a fruitful avenue for advancement
In countries such as the UK, where the vast majority of the mainline rail infrastructure is maintained by a single Infrastructure Manager (IM), sensors that are mounted on assets belonging to one stakeholder but are being used to monitor assets related to another will, by definition, fall into the train monitoring infrastructure or infrastructure monitoring train quadrants; an example of this would be sensors mounted on the tracks that are used to detect wheel flats on the rolling stock [2]
As sensors attached to fixed and mobile assets are increasingly used to inform the operational decision making of the industry, it is becoming critical that the business processes that distribute the costs and benefits of such systems across stakeholders within the industry are aligned in a way that is fair to all parties
Summary
The pursuit of higher quality services in the railway sector is a continuous process, and the availability in recent years of affordable, reliable, digitally enabled additions to traditionally mechanical-based infrastructure systems has provided a fruitful avenue for advancement. In order to address this issue, it is widely recognised within GB rail that either closer collaborations must be established between stakeholders to enable more effective cross-interface business cases to be developed or there must be a trusted audit process that can enable costs of data collection to be fairly attributed based on business benefits accrued by individual stakeholders. To investigate these issues the Rail Safety and. Due to the censorship-resistant and tamperproof digital networks of distributed trust created by this revolutionary technology, blockchain-driven technologies help
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