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DEUTA Technology for ETCS Baseline 3

Safe display and input of data - today already up to SIL 3!

The new UNISIG ERTMS/ETCS Subset-091, Issue 3.30 as part of ETCS Baseline 3 requires safe display and input areas on a touch panel.

DEUTA as sole provider worldwide offers the combination of highly-available redundant displays, safe SIL 3 display and SIL 2 input through its IconTrustSelect technology.

IconTrust & SelectTrust - the technology

IconTrust detects representation errors of the unsafe PC system and differentiates between the safety-related input areas on the TFT. The contained SelectTrust function checks the activation or release of the touch area, or the single or continuous transmission of the activation. The technology thus complies with the requirements of Subset-091 with a safe, flexible and cost-efficient solution.

TSI-compliant application software

The DMI forms the stable basis for the safety functions and is an essential part for vehicle interoperability. 

In the ERA ERTMS 015560 Vers. 3.4.0, the input and output behavior of the DMIs for ETCS Baseline 3 is strictly standardized. The DEUTA software designers are acutely aware of the requirements down to the pixel and develop standard-compliant applications for their multifunctional terminals -from design to SIL validation for PZB and ETCS.

The software designers consider the safety-related input and output areas on the TFT panel and map the design architecture. 

Upon request you can use the evaluated DEUTA software protocols or we will implement your specified protocol.

Subset 091

As part of ETCS Baseline 3, the Subset-091 defines the European-wide uniform standardization of the ETCS application, whereby for the first time the safe display and input of information is prerequisite for compliance with ergonomic and safety-oriented specifications.

For the producers of Driver Machine Interfaces for ETCS vehicles this means that their terminals must comply with a Safety Integrity Level of at least SIL 2 on the basis of a Tolerable Hazard Rate of 7.4* 10-7. Railway vehicles and train protection producers justifiably expect SIL 3 from DMI producers already now in order to comply with higher safety requirements in future.

Safe display and touch input

For the safe entry and display of data you have to consider the following:


  • Errors and obsolescences in modern complex computer cores, caches, graphic units, etc. need to be mastered.

  • Errors have to be assessed in operating systems and complex software and checked and documented with great expenditure. Changes make elaborate verifications and impact analyses necessary.

  • The position of the touch input must be safely acquired: the input unit must be diagnosed. If not all error states can be diagnosed and a higher safety level is required, then position acquisition must occur redundantly.

  • The project-specific expertise expenditure (time and money) should be kept as low as possible.

  • The safely imaged representation at the input position is required. It has to be assured that the representation is appropriate for the triggered input function. For that reason, a safe display is always necessary for a safe input.

  • Input safety for operating systems depends on the safety function:
        o safe starting of an actuator which can generate a danger
        o safe stop / safe release
        o emergency stop function

SIL 3 - The cost side

A SIL 3 DMI of the latest generation does not generally cost more than a SIL1 terminal. For the macroeconomic assessment, not only the acquisition costs of the DMI but also the future security and the follow-up costs must be considered. The safe IconTrustSelect module operates independently of the DMI.  Obsolescences in the DMI have no effect on the SIL expertise. As a result, the life cycle costs remain low.

DEUTA Trust Terminals

DEUTA Trust terminals offer you the following advantages:

  • generic certification up to SIL 3
  • safe input and output
  • software and hardware from a single source
  • integrated Trust technology
  • cost-efficient validation
  • easy assessment of application changes
  • many successful project references with component and system certification