Seamless adaptation of test sequences by the example of the railway simulation laboratory RailSiTe

Abstract

ETCS is a European wide train control and protection system that is right now being tested at the DLR’s test laboratory RailSiTe. Specific test sequences have been created to test industrial onboard components in conjunction with a computer simulation to validate ETCS conformity and interoperability. Test sequences are available in form of test scenarios that are composed of sequential arranged test steps. Currently errors within the sequences or the examined hardware force to run through a test sequence for several times. The master thesis’s aim was to find a possibility to modify these test sequences in a way that already successful tested parts of a test sequence can be skipped. Three possible approaches to adapt a scenario have been evaluated, but only one proved to be feasible to implement, as it is less complex and error-prone. The resulting preliminary software allows resuming a test sequence from any given point and generates a completely new test scenario. The resulting sequences have been tested for comprehensiveness and interoperability with other laboratory software in order to guarantee reliable functionality of the tool. The tool is based on Java technology and can easily be enhanced in functionality because of its modular design as future enhancements are already planned.