Computer implemented method for determining railway vehicle movement profile type of a railway vehicle movement profile and controller of a track circuit system

1. A computer implemented method for determining railway vehicle movement profile type of a railway vehicle movement profile, wherein the railway vehicle movement profile comprises a sequence of measured transmitted currents of a transceiver of a track circuit with respect to the time, comprising

obtaining a railway vehicle movement profile;

normalizing the railway vehicle movement profile;

extracting one or more features from the normalized railway vehicle movement profile;

determining the distance of the extracted features with respect to each centroid of a railway vehicle movement profile type determined in a classification process; and

assigning the railway vehicle movement profile to the railway vehicle movement profile type with the closest centroid.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the extracted features are one or more of the group selected of: Minimum of the first derivative, Maximum of the first derivative, Minimum of the second derivative, Maximum of the second derivative, Range of the first derivative, Range of the second derivative, Median of the first derivative, Median of the second derivative, Mean of the first derivative, Mean of the second derivative, Standard deviation of the first derivative, Standard deviation of the first derivative, Percentage of the first derivative being negative, Percentage of the second derivative being negative, and/or ABC surface value, wherein the features are calculated from the normalized railway vehicle movement profile.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, prior to normalizing step, the railway vehicle movement profile is smoothed.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the smoothing is performed using one or more filters selected of the group of an exponential filter, a Savitzky-Golay filter and a Hodrick-Prescott Filter.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the extracted features are one or more of the group selected of: Minimum of the first derivative, Maximum of the first derivative, Minimum of the second derivative, Maximum of the second derivative, Range of the first derivative, Range of the second derivative, Median of the first derivative, Median of the second derivative, Mean of the first derivative, Mean of the second derivative, Standard deviation of the first derivative, Standard deviation of the first derivative, Percentage of the first derivative being negative, Percentage of the second derivative being negative, and/or ABC surface value, wherein the features are calculated from the normalized smoothed railway vehicle movement profile.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the classification process for determining the centroids comprises:

obtaining a plurality of reference railway vehicle movement profiles for each railway vehicle movement profile type, wherein for each reference railway vehicle movement profile the railway vehicle profile type is known;

normalizing each of the reference railway vehicle movement profiles; and

extracting one or more features for each of the normalized reference railway vehicle movement profile;

determining for each railway vehicle movement profile type the centroid of the extracted features.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the plurality of railway vehicle movement profiles comprise an accelerating railway vehicle, a railway vehicle with a constant speed and a decelerating railway vehicle.

8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein obtaining a plurality of reference railway vehicle movement profiles for each railway vehicle movement profile type includes simulating the respective railway vehicle movement profiles based on the characteristics of the track on which the railway vehicles moves.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the characteristics of the track include the lengths and the rail resistance.

10. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the extracted features of the normalized reference railway vehicle movement profiles are one or more of the group selected of: Minimum of the first derivative, Maximum of the first derivative, Minimum of the second derivative, Maximum of the second derivative, Range of the first derivative, Range of the second derivative, Median of the first derivative, Median of the second derivative, Mean of the first derivative, Mean of the second derivative, Standard deviation of the first derivative, Standard deviation of the first derivative, Percentage of the first derivative being negative, Percentage of the second derivative being negative, and/or ABC surface value.

11. Method for calibrating a track circuit system, wherein the track circuit system includes a transceiver being connected to a pair of rails of a railway track and a controller receiving from the transceiver measured transmitted currents of a track circuit, the method comprising:

retrieving, by the controller, a plurality of railway vehicle movement profiles based respectively on a sequence of measured transmitted currents of the track circuit with respect to the time;

for each of the railway movement profiles, determining the railway vehicle movement profile type according to the method of claim 1 ;

retaining railway vehicle movement profiles of railway vehicles with a constant speed; and

calibrating, by the controller, the track circuit system based on the retained movement profiles.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the calibrating of the track circuit system uses a dynamic time warping process to estimate the transmitted current with respect to the railway vehicle location relationship.

13. Method for determining the position of a railway vehicle using a track circuit, wherein the track circuit system includes a transceiver being connected to a pair of rails of a railway track at a feed in point and a controller receiving from the transceiver measured transmitted currents of a track circuit, wherein the method comprises:

calibrating a track circuit system according to the method of claim 11 ;

retrieving a railway vehicle movement profile based on a measured sequence of measured transmitted currents of the track circuit with respect to the time;

determining the distance of the nearest axle of the railway vehicle with respect to a feed in point on the rail; and

determining the position of the railway vehicle based on the distance.