https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2163988
CATE is facilitating fast and flexible data collection for a DAS deployment monitoring a High-speed rail line. Working with Focus Sensors, Thales Ground Transportation Systems UK Limited, and Network Rail High Speed, MST’s Compression At The Edge (CATE) system is part of an ongoing deployment that will monitor rail traffic and infrastructure in SE UK. The CATE system is being used as one of the key challenges of the deployment is the requirement to transmit DAS data from the field over a band-limited 4G connection, to cloud servers for further processing and analysis.
The CATE installation consists of:
On-site: A single unit providing real-time data compression of 20000 channels and data upload. The on-site system can store 3 weeks of continuous data, allowing users the ability to go back in time to retrieve data segments of interest. The system is managed 100% remotely.
In the Cloud: A data server providing permanent storage for compressed uploaded data and serving data for analysis and processing.
Users access the data via the CATE API, which is provided with complete documentation as well as open-source clients such as cate-numpy. Using the API analysts can:
- Query for available segments
- Download data for further processing
- Request data to be uploaded from the onsite server (for example, recordings whilst trains are passing fibre segments)
We believe the CATE system is solving one of the key limitations of DAS monitoring, namely the difficulty in getting DAS data out of the field and to locations where it can be analyzed and turned into decisions. So obviously we are excited about the results generated from this project and how they can be used to improve transport infrastructure.
