Situation in the Future – Challenges to solve:

Heterogeneous System

• Different operators
  Different vendors of
  - mobile units (MU)
• Different needs and features on freight cars and locomotives
• Different limitations from the hardware

Extendability

• For new needs and features
• Concurrent deployment not possible!
  - Dynamic extendability required
  - “Simple” versioning not adequate

How can we solve all this?

Generic Protocol

• Communication layer based on XML
• Communication settings
• Reporting and query
• Configurable mobile unit (MU) behavior–Event–Action–Modes
• Configurable periphery as a bridge between “real” and generic world

Goals

• Mind the semantic gap - protocol as precise as possible
• Support of future needs - Extendability
• A subset of the generic protocol shall be adequate for all use-cases

Focus and next steps

• Definition of user requirements 
• Definition of security and interoperability requirements
• …

The final definition of the focus and next steps will be done by the members of the interoperabilitycommittee optiXML in collaboration with the members of the user board optiXML in coordinationwith the OPTA Board of Directors.