A survey on future railway radio communications services: challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Radio communications is one of the most disruptive technologies in railways, enabling a huge set of value-added services that greatly improve many aspects of railways, making them more efficient, safer, and profitable. Lately, some major technologies like ERTMS for high-speed railways and CBTC for subways have made possible a reduction of headway and increased safety never before seen in this field. The railway industry is now looking at wireless communications with great interest, and this can be seen in many projects around the world. Thus, railway radio communications is again a flourishing field, with a lot of research and many things to be done. This survey article explains both opportunities and challenges to be addressed by the railway sector in order to obtain all the possible benefits of the latest radio technologies.

Wireless Communications in Smart Rail Transportation Systems

“…Voice calls need higher data rates (i.e., 64 kb/s depending on the codec). A good reference for maximum jitter could be 30 ms [19]. Therefore, in order to support these services, it is important to keep data connectivity at the highest priority level.…”

Wireless Communication Systems for Urban Transport

“…rκcκnt papκr [23] idκntiiκs thκ most rκlκvant opκn issuκs on channκl modκling in railway κnvironmκnts (modκling thκ inluκncκ oλ vκhiclκs, not only λor train-to-waysidκ channκls but also λor train-to-train, vκhiclκ-to-vκhiclκ and intravκ-hiclκ . In thκ train-to-train channκls thκ modκling oλ nonstationary scκnarios is still an opκn issuκ [24]. In thκ antκnna iκld, thκ most rκlκvant aspκct is how to dκsign MIMO antκnnas λor thκ onboard, with 4 × 4, 8 × 8 sκtups and also to intκgratκ thκm appropriatκly in thκ car body shκll.…”

FSO G2T communications in tropical climate: An overview

“…There are three categories railway communications according to J. Moreno and L. De Haro [26].They are safety related services; Operational (Non-safety Related); and passenger-centric. Each category has a different class of requirements.…”

“…Opportunities to improve current systems include virtual coupling, where shorter travel distance between trains (shorter than breaking distance) to deliver higher capacity and pave the way to Vehicle to vehicle (V2V) technologies. However, railway environment is hostile with vibrations, high temperatures, electromagnetic interferences and limited access for maintenance [26] [27].…”