Abstract: A railroad-crossing warning system for protecting pedestrians and motorists from an oncoming train. The warning system has a vehicle detector system for determining whether a vehicle is stuck in an area of the railroad crossing, a train detector system for determining vital train information including the speed and direction of the oncoming train, a display unit for displaying warning messages to the pedestrians and motorists approaching the railroad crossing, and a communication system for communicating the vital train information and the distressed vehicle information to the oncoming train and the display system. The system provides early warning to the operator of the oncoming train to provide more reliable protection for distressed vehicles in the railroad crossing and for motorists and pedestrians approaching the railroad crossing.

Abstract: An intelligent wireless communication base station provides communication between individual base stations over an RF radio channel. A control unit in each base station utilizes this communication to facilitate each base station to gather system data regarding the system arrangement of nearby base stations and to facilitate handovers of mobile wireless personal communicators from one base station to a another base station. This control unit is under stored program control and gathers information concerning set up channels of nearby radio ports, a developed list or table of neighbor base stations and signal strength values of nearby channels. Voice channels may be bridged allowing two personal communicators to communicate with each other through a single base station.

Abstract: A highly reliable early warning system that can provide efficient detection of railway activity and early warning of dangerous railway conditions to train operators and to central dispatch control offices. The warning system has an acoustic sensor circuit coupled to the railway for detecting sound waves resulting from physical vibrations thereon, an acoustic analyzer unit for analyzing the sound waves detected on the railway to identify any suspect conditions thereon and to generate an alarm if such a suspect condition is identified, and an acoustic signal processing unit for storing detected sound waves in a sound file for quick retrieval and analysis. The alarm signal may be transmitted over any communications system to the central control office and to trains traveling on the dangerous track.