Mark Barrett, CCO at Blu Wireless discusses the first-ever Gigabit train implementation within the UK in this article for IoT Insider
‘The Gigabit Train’ is the concept of a train achieving wireless connectivity of 1Gbps of capacity to passengers with the potential to change the future of rail travel. The Gigabit Train as the next generation communication for rail has been the industry’s holy grail for at least a decade.
The reason for this is that passenger, operator and infrastructure providers’ demand for reliable, high-quality connectivity is continuing to rise, driven by the growth of data-intensive applications and especially the insatiable appetite of passengers for video driven content. As part of their recommendations to UK Government on Future Rail Connectivity in 2018 Ofcom calculated that a typical data rate of 2Gbps per train would be needed to efficiently and effectively meet the passenger needs and to have the required, positive uplift in connectivity and, therefore, rail use.
However, there is a disconnect between such aspirations and current deployments.
The Future Railway Mobile Communications System (FRMCS-5G) is the European railway communication system that will replace the current GSM-R 2G system by 2035. The primary objective is providing improved connectivity for rail operations and spectrum of 5MHz (at 900MHz) and 10MHz (at 1800MHz) has been allocated. However, this is insufficient to deliver Gigabit grade passenger connectivity as above.
In the same 2018 report Ofcom also recommended that only mmWave frequencies (26-70GHz) have the available wireless spectrum to deliver the Gigabit train. Specifically, the license exempt band 57-71GHz is available in the USA, UK and EU and with its 14,000MHz of spectrum to deliver uninterrupted gigabit connectivity to passengers and enhanced high bandwidth services to train operators.
Blu Wireless has developed its ‘LightningBlu’ mmWave wireless solution specifically to meet the needs of the rail industry. Following a period of commissioning this has now been achieved for the first time in the UK on the South Western Railway using Blu Wireless’ mmWave technology.
Why commercial mobile networks are proving insufficient
On most trains nowadays, connectivity is limited in performance, with users either having to use their own mobile phones or utilising the train’s Wi-Fi network. Both, in fact, ultimately connect to the same commercial mobile networks, with the on-train Wi-Fi harnessing the signal and then pushing it out through Wi-Fi access points installed inside the train carriage.
Through a combination of propagation (tunnels, cuttings) and mobile infrastructure deployment adjacent to the UK rail network, trains are only achieving Wi-Fi data rates of between 15 to 30Mbps per train, which then need to serve all passengers; sometimes hundreds of users at a time.
Another downside of these solutions is that they are using licensed spectrum bands, adding significant cost to the implementation of these solutions. Train operators therefore incur millions of pounds per annum of mobile data costs providing this ‘free’ passenger Wi-Fi which in turn is judged as unacceptable by the same passengers!
A further alternative solution to the use of commercial mobile networks is Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites offering data rates of 100-200Mbps (downlink) and 15-20Mbps (uplink) per train. The use of spectrum isn’t required but satellite connectivity does not work in tunnels or cluttered urban settings. It is also relatively costly because of subscription to the Starlink Priority Service, for example.
mmWave technology delivers the Gigabit train
Wireless solutions based on the use of mmWave spectrum are therefore currently the only proven option to deliver gigabit connectivity for rail. One of the key advantages of mmWave is that it utilises the unlicensed frequency band at 57-71GHz enabling uninterrupted connectivity along railway tracks. Being licence-exempt means that no ongoing fees are due to the government to operate at this frequency, and it is available both in the UK, EU, USA and beyond.
Further product developments will also utilise mmWave spectrum to avoid the need for fibre connections for each trackside node, contributing to a 5x lower cost per Mbps per km than a 5G commercial mobile network.
South Western Railway: A new benchmark for passenger connectivity
The first deployment of mmWave technology for rail has recently been successfully completed on the busiest section of Britain’s busiest railway – a 70km stretch of track on South Western Railway’s (SWR) commuter and intercity route into London Waterloo.
An IP-based trackside network ensures train data is passed at up to 10Gbps to and from the Internet. This maintains the exceptionally low latency of the radio network, whilst keeping the active components to a minimum. This is further enhanced by breakout to the Internet at regular intervals to ensure end-to-end traffic management to maintain performance even when at its busiest with every train consuming 1Gbps each rather than sharing it.
The combination of gigabit-grade data rates with cost-effective and low-power operation is instrumental to providing SWR passengers with best-in-class on-train Wi-Fi services. The resilient mmWave technology can support extremely data-intensive applications demanding up to 1Gbps, from today’s HD video streaming to tomorrow’s VR headsets.
Future of connectivity
Reliable, modern rail experiences such as the one created by Blu Wireless on the SWR route are geared towards incentivising public transport more broadly. Gigabit connectivity will increase passenger numbers, enable people to work on trains, for example by joining Teams or Zoom calls, and be more productive, whilst reducing the number of car journeys and the subsequent carbon emissions associated with them.
With improved wireless solutions utilising mmWave spectrum, train services as we know them can be transformed. In addition to passenger connectivity, on-train services both to and from the train can be added onto the mmWave link; CCTV monitoring of the train can be uploaded in real-time to the trackside, along with operations data and potentially even signalling data in the future.
Overall, gigabit connectivity on trains is set to improve rail travel and operations, boosting economies and opening up new business opportunities.
Author: Mark Barrett, CCO of Blu Wireless
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