System Introduction
With urban population swelling and vehicles increasing, traffic congestion becomes the order of the day in many cities. Many countries aims to build better rail transit, hoping that a multi-tired traffic network covering both ground and underground would alleviate jams on the road. Indeed, the development of rail transit improves urban traffic and facilitates the daily commuting for city dwellers. Yet at rush hour, the long queues at ticket counters of subway stations are still a nuisance to passengers. The use of TVM (Ticket Vending Machine) gets it cracked. The machines reduce the labor costs significantly and serve the passengers more efficiently.



System Principles
The subway TVMs are an integral part of AFC (Automatic Fare Collection) system. Similar to automatic vending machines, they dispense the tickets according to passengers’ instructions automatically rather than manually. Subway TVMs are made of ticket dispensing units, notes and coins identification units, change dispensing units and passenger operation units etc. They support dispensing change both in coins and notes, ticking paper or magnetic tickets, batch ticket dispensing, retrieving money and tickets in case of a leftover. Their interfaces are user-friendly and icons visible, all of which curtails ticket purchasing time and makes them popular with passengers.

With touch screens, passengers can enquire about the fares or ascertain the number of tickets, and then enter such information into TVMs direct. Then, the main controllers of TVMs are responsible for processing the input, routing commands, validating, writing-in, checking IC ticket card and dispensing tickets accordingly. The notes and coins identification units are capable of telling the money of various denominations, and the change dispensing units giving change accurately.

System Structure




System Configuration
The core platform of TVM is industrial PCs whose reliable running determines whether TVMs can function normally and how fast passengers are able to purchase tickets. The EVOC special-purpose ERC-1004 is a low-power fan-less embedded PC which is designed for use in the main control units of subway AFC terminals. With compact architecture design, reasonable internal layout as well as I/O and expansion connectivity, it is ideal to be used in the main control unit for TVMs of subway AFC system.

Features:
   Intel® Atom™ N455
   12 x serial port, 6 x USB port, 16 x digital I/O port
   supports VGA+LVDS dual-display
   supports onboard 1G DDR3
   supports +12V/24V DC input
Configuration:
   Dimensions: 105mm (H) x 260mm (W) x 200mm (D)
   Processor: Intel® Atom™ N455 CPU
   Memory: onboard 1GB memory
   Storage: 2 x SATA hard disk drive bay, 1 x CF card slot (CF cards are optional)
   Supports 1 x PCI-104

   Video Port: 1 x VGA port, 1 x LVDS port
   Keyboard/mouse Interface: 1 x PS/2 interface
   COM Port: 10 x RS-232 port, 2 x RS-232/422/485 port
   LPT Port: 1 x parallel port
   USB Port: 6 x USB2.0 port

   Network Port: 1 x 10M/100/1000Mbps RJ45 port
   Digital I/O: 16 x digital I/O port (8DI+8DO)
   Audio Port: 1 x Mic-in, 1 x Line-in, 1 x Speaker-out
   Expansion Port: 1 X PCI-104
   Operation Temperature: -20℃～+65℃

   Storage Temperature: -40℃～+75℃
   MTBF: ≥50000 hours
   Operating System: supports DOS, WINCE, LINUX, XPE
   Power Supply: DC 12V/24V input

System Evaluation
In addition to its suitable dimensions, ERC-1004 offers 12 serial ports for better expandability, in light of the special requirement of TVMs. It also supports VGA and LVDS dual-display. Moreover, it features 1G DDR3 which enables data storage in case of a power outage. This feature helps to protect charging-related information and greatly facilitates the subway AFC system administration.