Infotec - Rail Electronic Customer Information Displays

Infotec is the market leader in the design, manufacture and supply of electronic customer information displays to the UK rail industry. It is one of the few UK display companies in the sector that designs, manufactures, tests and distributes its own products, enabling it to achieve highly competitive pricing and provide a high level of flexibility to meet particular customer needs where required.

Rail LED and TFT passenger information displays

The ISO 9001:2000-registered company produces an innovative range of IP66-rated, IP-addressable LED, CRT, TFT and LCD passenger information displays for all environments featuring full remote programming, self diagnostics and asset management. They can handle all industry standard protocols over WAN, LAN, Ethernet, internet, wireless or serial communications.

Rail passenger-information display control electronics

Infotec has invested heavily in the 'D' series 32-bit control system used in almost all of its displays. The 'Olympus' controller offers TCP/IP, ten-base T Ethernet and RS485 connections as standard. Several rail industry standard protocols can be automatically recognised, making the displays even more 'system independent'.

Rail passenger-information display communications equipment

To complement its displays Infotec offers a range of simple-to-implement communication devices. The primary unit, IPH3, acts as a terminal server, converting the incoming Ethernet signal into RS485 signals for retransmission to the displays.

The IPH3 unit is unique, enabling multiple hosts to connect to the displays to interrogate and upgrade them using free Infotec IRIS/delve software which will run on any network-connected PC.

Rail passenger-information display communications control

Displays are provided with a range of standard control and communications features that reduce the risks and simplify methods involved in their installation, communication, monitoring and re-configuring.

Rail LED and TFT display controllers

The integrated Infotec display controllers allow 'data only' protocols to be received, recognised, displayed and animated using the Scripting language. In addition to displaying service information, Infotec displays can be accessed simultaneously by several users for re-configuration, health monitoring and firmware upgrades without interrupting the standard display data.

Rail passenger-information display support structures

Most displays provided by Infotec use support structures designed, strength-calculated and manufactured in-house. Infotec's range includes:

• Gallows' posts
• Girder-mounted canopy brackets
• Interface structures to existing CRT brackets
• Wall cantilever brackets
• Wall-fixing brackets

Infotec offers a full site survey, design, drawing and strength calculation service for the creation of bespoke interface brackets where standard designs cannot be used.

Project management for rail customer information systems (CIS)

Infotec's project managers have many years of experience in specifying, designing and installing customer information systems (CIS). Using this service ensures customers get the displays they expect, installed effectively and efficiently.

Rail LED and TFT display content management system

Mobile phone technology and GPRS make it possible to deliver data to displays and uPA devices beyond the reach of normal CIS control systems. For this a display management system is needed. Lower-cost, larger-format TFT displays can also be used to display 'softer' information alongside CIS information.

To do this a content management system is required. Infotec has developed its advanced information management (AIM) system to undertake both of these roles.

Based on a hosted server, the AIM controls the content and delivers it to displays over the GPRS mobile phone data system, a local LAN/WAN, or the Internet using ADSL. AIM communicates with any installed Infotec display type currently in service. If these connections can be made then diagnostic and functional monitoring not currently available can take place.

Content is managed in an internet-accessible manner, intuitively allowing images and information to be controlled, ordered and timed remotely. AIM makes it possible to add ticker displays to LED and TFT displays from news, weather and other relevant sources. Similarly, pages from other websites, such as those of integrated transport operators, can be shown.