GSM-R vs LTE 4G at Innotrans 2016

Frequentis

At this year's Innotrans, the Frequentis stand had a promotion of the company’s BIC (Bearer Independent Communication) system being installed in Finland, where GSM-R radio is being replaced by a TETRA system as part of the emergency services radio networks. The work involves the enhancement of those networks for better coverage and the provision of additional facilities such as Group Call.

The intention is that the Frequentis control terminals will allow the presentation of information to the controllers to be identical to that which exists at present, thus making changeover easy.

Nokia

Nokia held a press briefing to describe the trial on Paris Metro Line 14 using an LTE 4G radio link to provide all the communications requirements from shore to train, including safety critical applications. The trial, which is known as SYSTUF (System Transport Urban Future) and would replace six existing systems, was successful and included CBTC, on-board CCTV, passenger information, clock synchronisation, operational voice communications and remote maintenance diagnostics, all on the one radio bearer.

Only one train was involved in the trial, and it was not in passenger service. The system operated in the 2.6GHz frequency band with a 20 MHz bandwidth. For ongoing roll out, an agreed spectrum allocation will be required.

Ericsson

Ericsson is also looking at the use of LTE 4G for railway communications. Working with Icomera to provide passenger communication facilities on all DB trains, the project is being expanded to provide better radio links for all services. Under the banner ‘LTE for Rail’, the plan is to adapt public LTE 4G products for rail use.

New standards will be needed to ensure interoperability between suppliers once LTE becomes an agreed way forward, and this will involve the UIC FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) group. Its vision is to create an Internet of Things for the rail industry, which will require Ericsson and others to work together so as to agree the fundamental spectrum and streaming requirements.

Kapsch

As a provider of GSM-R infrastructure, Kapsch has an ongoing commitment to supply equipment until at least 2030, a fact that will give welcome assurance to many railways. However, Kapsch is also mindful that migration away from GSM-R to a different technology has to happen and is studying how it can best serve the railways with migrating existing systems to an LTE backbone.

Huawei

Representing the Chinese effort to design and provide control and communication systems for the global rail market, Huawei can boast of continuing success with GSM-R production. Looking to the future, the company is now developing digital command systems for the full automation of metro operations.

Huawei’s system will include LTE 4G as the radio bearer to support CBTC, live streaming of TV for UTO (Unattended Train Operation), PIS, train monitoring and other services, all contained within a new style of command and control centre.

The Guangdong-based company also has a vision of cloud computing offering the opportunity for rail to retain the same software packages on a single hardware platform, thus yielding significant power savings.