DCL Segment Product Bulletin

The DCL segment provides the host processor with important telemetry information.  It includes different types of version information, location data, current statuses, and name data of devices and software located at an AEI site. All standard S-9203A reports must contain at least one DCL segment containing the GPS coordinates stated on the site’s FCC/DOC license. Also, one DCL segment should be used for each trackside sensor used to generate the standard S-9203A consist, such as antennas, transducer, presence system, processor, etc. This document explains how to set up the DCL segments on the APU102.

Enabling the DCL Segment 

Enabling or disabling the DCL segment in the APU102 S-9203A consist is the same as any other segment. DCL can be enabled by adding a line to the T94 configuration file that is used at the site.  For session 1, the file name in use can be found by displaying the parameters at Session1.T94:

Displaying Session1.T94    T94FormatFile = RRT94.CFG   HeaderFile =    TrailerFile =

If the user does not have a local copy of the T94.CFG file, then a copy can be attained by downloading it from the site using the ZSEND command.  The T94.CFG file can then be opened in any text editor and the line DCL 0 can be added to enable all fields of the DCL segment:

ENGLISH UNITS OF MEASURE ELEMENT SEPARATOR "*" SEGMENT SEPARATOR "\r\n" AEM 0 RRE 0 DCL 0 EOT 0 EOC 0 RTD 0 TDM 0

The order of the segments in the file doesn’t matter.

Setting up DCL Segment Parameters

The DCL segment can be broken up into two different parameter sets that fall along Asset Code lines.  

CPU0 asset code

Parameters for asset code CPU0 (which represents the APU102) can be found by editing the parameters using the EP command.   Those parameters are located at DCLSegment.APUAssetInformation.

DCLSegment.APUAssetInformation parameters
CPU0Enabled	Enables the creation of the CPU0 asset code DCL segment.  It is still necessary to include the DCL segment in the T94 config file.
SiteConfiguration	Identifies the track configuration at the site. X = Unknown S = Single D = Double T = Triple or more
GPSLatitude	GPS latitude in decimal format or blank if unknown (15 characters)
GPSLongitude	GPS longitude in decimal format or blank if unknown (15 characters)
VendorIdentifier	Freeform vendor-specific identifier or serial number or blank if not present (25 characters)
DCLOther	Freeform field typically used to identify vendor or device specific  configuration details or blank if not present (40 characters)

All remaining asset codes

Parameters for asset codes (ANT0, HUT, TRD0, PRES, LIC, etc.) are set in an INI file with the name DCLPARMS.INI.  This INI file uses the standard format of a Windows INI file.  An example on antenna properties in this format is below:

[ANT0] Enabled =1 AssetManufacturerName =KATHREIN AssetModel =HP9-915 Parapanel AssetVersion = GPSLatitude =39.224294 GPSLongitude =-94.320840 VendorIdentifier =LF429-21344-008 Other =Near side

This INI file can be created and edited locally and uploaded to the site using the ZREC command.  Sections can be added manually as asset codes (ANT0, TRD0, etc.) and then the fields for each asset can be added manually as well (GPS location, manufacturer name, model, etc.).

Alternatively,  a user can create and edit it at the site using the EP command just like every other APU102 parameter previously.  Once the DCL parameters are accessed within the parameter editor (DCLSegment.OtherAssets), a “stub” DCLPARMS.INI file will be created with blank entries for all the fields of for the following asset codes: ANT0, ANT1, HUT, TRD0, PRES, and LIC.  An example of editing these parameters at the site is below:

Editing DCLSegment.DCLPARMSLDotINI.ANT0 -   Ctrl-B MOVES BACKWARDS AND Ctrl-U PRINTS HELP   Enabled = 1 >   AssetManufacturerName = KATHREIN >   AssetModel = HP9-915 Parapanel >   AssetVersion =  >   GPSLatitude = 39.224294 >   GPSLongitude = -94.320840 >   VendorIdentifier = LF429-21344-008 >   DCLOther = Near side >

A combination of the above methods can also be used.  For example, a user could access the parameter editor to create the empty DCLPARMS.INI file on the APU102 and then download it using the ZSEND command to edit it locally.

There are a few important things to note when considering creating and editing the DCLPARMS.INI file:

• DO NOT create a CPU0 section. The parameters used to populate the CPU0 DCL segment is located in the parameter editor at DCLSegment.APUAssetInformation. If a CPU0 section is added to DCLPARMS.INI, it will be ignored.
• Although ANT0, ANT1, CPU0, and TRD0 are created automatically, higher numbered asset codes are supported if manually entered (ANT3, CPU1, TRD1, etc.)
  
• Although each individual asset code in the DCLPARMS.INI has an enabled parameter, the DCL segment must also be enabled in the T94 configuration file in addition to setting enabled to 1.
  
• Although using the INI file is a new way to create and store parameters on an APU102, dumping and loading of all the DCL segment parameters is still supported.