Railway Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition

This module focuses on supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) in the railway industry. The principles of SCADA system hierarchy and functions of SCADA components, such as programmable logic controllers, remote and master terminal units, and human-machine interface are discussed and illustrated using real-world examples. Moreover, various wired and wireless communication technologies involving local area networks, metropolitan area networks, and wide area networks are explained, together with Ethernet, synchronous optical network, and multiprotocol label switching. Internet protocol suite, as well as different error detection and correction techniques including blocking coding, cyclic codes, checksum, and forward error correction, are described with examples.

Computer and network security threats and techniques are also covered with practical applications. To enhance students’ understanding and analytical skills, students are required to write a report discussing and evaluating SCADA systems and subsystems of different railway lines in Singapore.