- Commercial Cellular Networks: Despite multiple cellular operators, coverage along railway routes remains inconsistent, with extensive areas of limited or no service. Available bandwidth per cell is restricted, limiting throughput. Trains, typically operating at the periphery of cell coverage, often communicate using lower modulation schemes, further reducing cell capacity.
- Proprietary Trackside Network: This approach offers the most reliable method to ensure consistent quality and throughput. However, implementation costs are substantial and can only be justified for high-traffic density routes.
- Satellite Communication: Current Ku-band satellites offer limited capacity, are congested, and come with high operational costs. By late 2016, new Ka-band satellites are expected to provide increased capacity at reduced prices. Due to cost considerations, this option is primarily viable when alternatives are unavailable.
CelPlan’s CellRail™ solution integrates these three approaches, optimizing traffic routing to maximize throughput while minimizing costs. The in-train service provision presents additional complexities requiring meticulous design. A single train car may demand over 20 Mbps, with the CelPlan solution capable of delivering train-wide throughput exceeding 100 Mbps. To mitigate the expense and maintenance challenges of installing antennas on each car, inter-car connections are recommended. These links must be cost-effective and high-capacity to accommodate additional content, such as on-demand video.
The selection of appropriate technology is crucial for network efficacy. CelPlan’s extensive experience and vendor-neutral approach enable us to guide you in choosing the optimal solution tailored to your specific requirements. Our objective is to ensure that the implemented network aligns perfectly with your operational needs and organizational goals.
