SUSTAINABLE EMBEDDED SYSTEMS FOR TRACTION AND POWER ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

The paper deals with families of embedded systems based on the platform of proprietary HW and SW components. Presented systems are used as control units in traction and power engineering applications (locomotives, trains, trams, power plants). Such systems are intended to have life cycles of more than 20 years. Therefore, they should be functionally sustainable for much longer periods when compared to e.g. consumer or typical industrial embedded system. Apart from product platform, i.e. HW and SW components that the platform consists of, some topics that can help to identify advantages and disadvantages of platform approach are also given. Additionally, problem of frequent obsolescence of electronic components and its impact on sustainable platform is also discussed.