By Stephanie Kinch, Wi-Fi NOW Staff Writer
When it comes to providing WiFi, trains are some of the trickiest places. High speeds, reflective metal surfaces, tunnels, and differing elevation affect signal strength and speed.
That’s where ‘FiberinMotion’ comes in: RADWIN’s new train-to-ground communication system serves up a whopping 500 Mbps for trains travelling at speeds of up to 350 km/h. The system is already in place in Moscow’s metro and is being installed within the Amtrak train system and Boston’s MBTA in the US.
“There has been a sea change in public transport operators’ mindsets in the past few years,” says Nir Hayzler, Vice President of Strategic Industries Business at RADWIN. “The industry today sees excellent personal connectivity for passengers as a necessity and understands the return on investment.”
Tsunamis, mines, & other harsh terrain
RADWIN is no stranger to delivering connectivity in difficult environments. For 20 years, the company has provided wireless and mobility systems in some of the world’s most hard-to-reach places – like off-shore oil platforms, mines, and remote utility sites.
After the 2004 tsunami, the company donated 1,000 broadband units to help reconstruct Thailand’s communications network. In 2010, when 33 men became trapped in a San José Copper-gold mine, RADWIN established an on-site communication system for rescue teams.
RADWIN started working on train-to-ground systems five years ago when a rail operator in the Ukraine asked the company to develop a system for broadband train-to-ground connectivity to accommodate increased traffic for the Euro 2012 Football Championships.
Making a difference: A dedicated track-side network
The result was RADWIN’s ‘FiberinMotion’, a dedicated track-side network of base stations that connect to onboard radio units, which in turn serve up Internet connectivity on board. This approach differs from other systems that are based either on cellular aggregation or on satellite, both of which primarily rely on third party networks.
“Other technologies cannot guarantee connectivity service levels, especially in challenging conditions such as in tunnels, or with a large volume of passengers and trains,” says Hayzler. “With us, operators are guaranteed a consistent, high level of service to customers for the entire journey.”
Not just for passengers
The technology isn’t just for passengers. It can also used to deliver live security footage from inside the train and to connect to sensors in the engine car. If there’s an emergency on board, responders no longer need to rely on voice to get all the details – they can see it via live HD video streamed to the network operations center (NOC) via the train-to-ground network service.
Hayzler says that in the past, such systems were kept on separate networks from the onboard Internet for security reasons. With enhanced security and quality of service, rail operators are now willing to consider a single, multi-service system for serving many onboard applications. This also cuts costs.
Faster trains, faster Wi-Fi
As the railroad industry increasingly focuses on faster trains, RADWIN is zooming in on another type of speed: Faster throughput. ‘FiberinMotion’ today boasts speeds of up to 500 Mbps but Hayzler says connectivity needs keep growing.
“There is always an appetite for higher throughput,” he says. “As video streaming and features like Facebook Live gain more traction, the need for 1 Gig of speed is coming – and we aim to provide that.”
/Stephanie
Here’s a look at RADWIN technology in action:
