Safetran Systems, now part of Siemens Rail Group, headquartered in Louisville, KY, is the largest supplier of crossing systems to US railroads. Safety is of course a key issue for the railroads, and level crossing systems are governed by a tight set of regulations.  In 2003, when Safetran needed a reliable wireless system for communications between their wayside equipment, they turned to Afar Communications and tested our PulsAR-24027 Wireless Ethernet Bridge . They put our radio through stringent environmental testing including shock and vibration levels required for operation onboard locomotives. 

To address their specific needs we developed a wireless Linear Network topology using our radio dual antenna port.  Siemens  now deploys the radios 1 to 4 miles apart along the track, with each radio having direct communications with only two neighbors.  Our software automatically routes all packets in the appropriate direction, and through multiple hops when required, to the correct destination.  The radios implement multiple priority queues, with the highest "vital" priority allocated for the mission critical packets used in the control of the gate crossings.