The FINANCIAL — Huawei on March 29 announced that Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) over Long Term Evolution (LTE) joint solution validation on which Huawei and Siemens collaborated passed the interoperability testing in France at the end of 2015. During the testing, multiple types of service, including CBTC, Passenger Information System (PIS), and Closed-circuit Television (CCTV), were carried using one radio technology – LTE, laying a solid foundation for commercial rollout of CBTC over LTE service.
As a train to ground communication bearer technology for CBTC service, LTE enjoys a number of advantages against other options, such as large data bandwidth, high-speed mobility, Quality of Service (QoS) assurance for multiple services, and outstanding anti-interference performance. While ensuring reliable transmission of mission-critical CBTC service, LTE can fully meet the transmission requirements of various other services, such as onboard CCTV and PIS. Siemens, the CBTC technology giant fully recognizes the strengths of LTE, and actively promoted cooperation with Huawei to carry out joint innovations and practice in railway transport services, according to Huawei.
The collaboration between Huawei and Siemens started in March 2015, when the two companies discussed technical solutions and confirmed preliminary plans and schedule for cooperation in Huawei’s Shanghai-based wireless R&D center. In June 2015, the two companies set up a joint project plan, and a project team defining solution architecture and feasibility of testing in France. In November 2015, with technical guidance and onsite support from Huawei, Siemens France quickly completed successfully a large number of laboratory tests, where CBTC, PIS, and CCTV services were successfully carried over an integrated Airlink LTE solution. The next step for this joint solution would be the on-site dynamic test, which will take place in the coming month.
Siemens as world leader in CBTC developed an IP-based, secure and reliable continuous bi-directional track to train data communication which is a fundamental requirement of a CBTC system.
To meet the requirements of railway customers and passengers for safe operation, agile dispatch, and convenient transport, Huawei has developed the urban rail LTE-M solution based on 3GPP standards, provides a secure, reliable, open, and stable wireless platform for urban rail train-to-ground communication. This platform carries critical service CBTC to ensure safe train operation. Besides, it provides trunking voice dispatch and broadband data services, such as real-time PIS and CCTV, to enable refined operation of urban rail service. In addition, the ultra-long distance coverage performance reduces the routine operation and maintenance costs of urban rail operators. As of the time of this report, this solution has been successfully verified at Metro Line One in Zhengzhou, China, and the Addis Ababa Light Rail in Ethiopia.
As a major LTE solution vendor in the urban rail sector, Huawei has gained wide recognition for its urban rail LTE-M solution. In the future, Huawei is willing to work with Siemens and customers to promote the development of urban rail LTE-M solutions to facilitate the smooth transition of train-to-ground communication into the LTE era. After the very positive results of the lab tests, Siemens and Huawei are looking forward to taking the next step and testing the technology in a real world scenario.
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