11.3 Gbps Wireless Train-to-Ground Connectivity is True Now
PPC-10G 70/80 GHz wireless radios were successfully tested for train-to-ground connectivity at real railway conditions on high-speed railway line. The max aggregated throughput at two wireless channels from the head and back of the specialized communications testing carriage reached 11300 Mbps.
Download 11.3 Gbps wireless Train-to-Ground connectivity test report with logs
The company reported the successful testing of the PPC-10G-Rail “train-to-ground” communications system on a rail line along 3 sections of the track.
This train-to-ground communication system is designed to solve the problem of providing high-speed trains with a broadband Internet connection on straight sections of the railway. In the experiments, the test track section of 6.3 km was included three passes at a distance of 2,300, 1,300, and 2,700 m between base stations. The base stations were equipped with compact 30 cm diameter antennas and were located on contact wire supports at a height of about 5 m from the railhead.
For minimizing the cost of the project, PPC-10G-Rail base stations could be deployed within 2 km distance from each other or even longer. Such distance is probably the longest in the industry consider various publicly available reports. The other factor for lowering project cost is PPC-10G base stations ability for installation at existed contact wire supports (masts) along the tracks with minimum efforts and using cheap mounting sets.
The results of the train-to-ground communication tests held in the year 2020 on the railway line were preceded by tests in the year 2019. At those tests, it was shown a possibility for 10 Gbps connection to a moving train from the contact wire supports at real railway conditions using 70/80 GHz E-band equipment. The distances between base stations at initial tests were 370, 500 and 600 m.
For testing the connection on the move, the railway operator has provided a communication laboratory carriage with the locomotive. On the roof of the laboratory carriage in both directions, forward and in the opposite direction, sets of PPC-10G-Rail radios with small horn antennas were installed. A series of passes were carried out along the test section of the railway in both directions and with a change of the track (passes at the first and second main tracks).
The following test results were confirmed at the report signed by the group of the railway operator’ officials:
- A stable data exchange rate from any base station was protocoled at 5650 Mbps, while the total data transfer rate was 11300 Mbps (taking into account communication in both directions as 2x 5650 Mbps).
- The minimum data transfer rate for all tests was no worse than 2800 Mbps per channel (the total bandwidth to train was no worse than 5650 Mbps consider connection into both directions).
- The maximum distance between base station to provide any train-to-ground connection was 4 km, with confirmed recommended distance between base stations about 2 km.
- The network architecture works stably on straight sections of the track in conditions of line of sight between base stations and train radios. An essential condition for the stability of the connection is the straight-line profile of the track without curves, significant differences in heights (descents and ascents), which is generally typical for the structure of high-speed railways.
Contact ELVA-1 team for any inquiries regarding multi-gigabit Train-to-ground connectivity tests and deployment.
Read also: field experiment on 10 Gbps 70-80 GHz connectivity V2X / V2N car to network.