TRAINS

The objective is to offer railroad passengers and train personnel wireless and high-quality Internet services, such as business information and infotainment. This project also includes detailed user studies, so that the technological solutions will conform to their wishes. As a final step, this project will investigate the various application scenarios, on the basis of results and the expected profit.Onboard communication

This activity will focus on the network aspects involved when a user interacts with the onboard (wired) network through a wireless access point. This user can either be a regular passenger or the train personnel both moving freely throughout the train. Mobility management and Quality of Service mechanisms will be developed for onboard communication. Train specific aspects (e.g. linear structure, frequent reconfigurations of the train composition, etc.) will be taken into account to develop an efficient solution.

Satellite communication

The link in between the satellite and the train is continuously changing:

• The mobile nature of the train makes that the transmission path varies in length, depending on the position of the train within the satellite footprint.
• Objects along the rails (e.g bridges, tall buildings, tunnels, ...) obstruct the line of sight in between satellite and terminal located on the train. This causes interruptions of the physical and data link layers. This activity will minimize the impact of the above aspects and will maximize the QoS towards the end-user.

Trackside communication

The TR@INS-project will research a solution, based on Pico-cells using the 802.11a/b/g technology, combined with a fast handover protocol between the cells, allowing seamless handover at 300 km/h for 100m diameter cells for transport of various multimedia services. Fast handover between Pico-cells in a linear (one-dimensional problem) and a meshed constellation (two-dimensional problem) will be assessed. A high fan-out IP configurable module will be developed for connecting the access points and the trackside network.

Heterogeneous train communication technology interworking

The TR@INS-project focuses on network solutions for interworking between different wireless access technologies. On its trajectory, a train will access different complementary wireless technologies:

• Connection by satellite, where trackside communication is lacking;
• While in a station, connectivity is switched to the station hotspot;
• When entering the train, the passenger will be disconnected from the station hotspot and connected to the onboard network, and vice versa when leaving the train.

User studies and techno-economical evaluations

The critical success factors from earlier mobile Internet projects will be studied in depth. Surveys focusing the potential individual users and the organisations for whom they work, provide information on the adoption rate, needs, features and conditions under which a successful introduction can be realized. Given various business scenarios, both from a technology and a user perspective, research driven techno-economical studies that take into account all critical success factors will be conducted. The economical potential and viable future use cases of wireless in-train infotainment will be assessed.

Leaflet: Dutch, English