Service advancement strategy in analyzing the future of LTE-R for next-generation smart trains

Abstract

This research investigates and presents selected issues and aspects related to the railway mobile network (GSM-R) analysis and its shortcomings. Research studies show that millions of South Africans commuters are dependent on trains for daily movement activities, which significate contribute towards economic growth. Over the two decades, the exponential growth in wireless broadband service indicates the need for GSM-R improvement so that it can support the modern IP based protocol. The principle of implementing the digital network in railway already demonstrated significate improvement in the railway environment, especially in communication and signalling. Train traffic and train communications are the most critical aspects of railway scenarios due to safety and reliability. Both features form fundamental content to this research thesis. The exponential increase in Internet protocol (IP) based services and higher bandwidth requirements in modern technology applications have pushed the current Global system mobile for railway (GSM-R) technology to its maximum capacity as such the (GSM-R) platform is going to obsolete soon. There is a great need for the development of improved IP based networks for the future of the next generation network for fast smart trains to meet desired higher data low latency while improving quality of service (QoS). The focus of the research study is on modelling of an effective sharing method between public LTE and LTE-R without addition mobile infrastructure by utilizing train access unit (TAU), the main purpose is for public network (LTE) to handle railway emergency service including drop calls to improve quality of service (QoS). The second focus is an improvement of signal reception by spreading signals over wide spectrum range by utilizing Orthogonal variable spreading factor (OVSF) technique where LTE-R is not deployed as noted that this technique is deployed in the 3G network. The proposed scheme has adopted features in modern evolution communication and both scenarios were investigated modelled and simulated with comparison results showing better improvement in proposed conditions, there are many challenges in high-speed railway such as handover procedure and Doppler shift due to the velocity of the moving train.LTE-R has provided many solutions such as seamless handover, capacity availability as well as enhanced performance in both uplink and downlink. Digital evolution for railway GSM-R has been deployed in most developed countries in Europe and also expanded into Africa, there is a greater need for the seamless network to be developed due to an increased number of packet based services. Urban rail is the backbone of public transport in South Africa which is the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA). PRASA, and is the parent operator. Currently, PRASA has implemented digital railway network (GSM-R) to meet a high standard in railway. Modem demand and challenges require a cost-effective system to support IP orientated systems due to an increased number of packet-based services in the railway sectors.