ITRI forms international collaboration for “world’s first” WiMAX broadband access for high-speed rail

ITRI, with the support of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC), has formed an international collaboration with NTTBP, NTT, Corning, and ZyXEL Communications to develop broadband network solutions using Mobile WiMAX technology. The international collaboration, started in April, has been working to establish and test a Mobile WiMAX demonstration system for the THSR. This will be the world’s first demonstration of Mobile WiMAX on a high-speed rail line. The project will also serve as a reference in the global deployment of broadband access in ultra-mobile environments.

Dr. Johnsee Lee, President of ITRI, said ITRI has devoted considerable effort to the development of WiMAX-related research and systems in light of Taiwan’s goal of being a world leader in WiMAX technology. This project is combining the R&D expertise of international partners, paving the way for breakthroughs in technology and system design, for the use of WiMAX on the THSR. Dr. Lee added that local and foreign companies are sharing systems integration experiences that will enable WiMAX to be used on high-speed rail lines. Dr. Bao-Shuh Paul Lin, General Director of Information and Communications (ICL), ITRI, expressed his thanks to the THSRC for allowing local and foreign firms to carry out the trials. As a result, the organizations participating in the project have had an opportunity to test system design and applications in field trials amid all types of environments encountered on high-speed rails. The results of the tests will serve as a reference for the adoption of broadband systems on high-speed rail lines throughout the world, he said.

For its part, ITRI has been responsible for system integration and testing and has applied the WLAN network experience of Japan’s NTTBP and NTT. As a result, NTTBP and NTT (NTT group is the largest carrier in Japan), who had already provided the commercial in-train wireless LAN internet service in Japan, took part in this project by utilizing its know-how obtained while developing the service on Tsukuba Express line.

Dr. Sheng-Ching Cheng, the project leader, explained that mobile WiMAX still faces technical challenges when users are moving at speeds of over 300 kilometers per hour. The project has already begun communications tests inside and outside of carriages, while trains are in tunnels and traveling at peak speeds through open country. Researchers are analyzing the results and signal strength amid different climates and topographies. In addition, various system designs are being tested. Dr. Cheng said that in the future, tests will continue to be held in the Taipei-Sungshan (tunnel), Hsinchu-Taoyuan (suburban landscape and tunnel passages), and the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park sections (plain region, peak speed section) of the THSR. It is anticipated that integrated trials will be completed by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Corning, a world leader in optical fiber and telecommunications components, is providing an innovative approach. Connie Wang, Director of Corning Research Center Taiwan, said, “Corning’s technology is based on its Radio over Fiber Distributed Antenna System technology and its optical signal transport expertise. When applied to WiMAX systems, Corning’s approach improves connection reliability, simplifies deployment and extends coverage of a wireless system in a high-speed rail environment.”

Taiwan communications equipment producer ZyXEL Communications is not only providing WiMAX base station and CPE (Customer premise equipment), but also is participating in ground-to-train communications trials.

Operators of high-speed rail lines throughout the world are looking to provide broadband access on their trains in order to offer customers better communications services. In Japan, Tsukuba Express has already started the commercial broadband internet service within train on August, 2006. France’s TGV Line EST began offering network services to passengers in December 2007, employing satellite technology, while Japan’s Shinkansen is expected to introduce WLAN wireless access technology on its trains in March 2009, providing its riders with broadband access to the Internet.

While these deployments are the first to provide broadband access on high-speed rails, the cost of setting up the satellite and WLAN wireless access technologies are somewhat prohibitive and download/upload data transmission speeds are limited to 2Mbps. Conversely, the project carried out by ITRI and its international partners using WiMAX technology in a high-speed rail environment will enable download/upload data transmission speeds to reach 15Mbps. ITRI believes its alternative approach presents a highly competitive solution for providing broadband. In addition to enabling high-speed rail lines to establish even better broadband access infrastructure, this project will help members of Taiwan’s WiMAX industry create high value-added communications solutions and expand their international markets.

Industrial Technology Research Institute