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Title:

Selection of Frequency Band for Mobile WiMAX in Railroad Networks

Accession Number:

01472385

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

Transportation Research Board Business Office

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Abstract:

The North American freight railroad industry continues to strive for improving the safety and security of their operations. This requires a cost-effective and reliable communication network between the dispatch and control centers, the trains and operators, and wayside devices. However, a suitable high-performance network technology to provide coverage for the last segment - between this network infrastructure and the wayside devices and trains - is yet to be determined. One candidate technology for it, Mobile WiMAX, has been shown to provide very favorable performance for railroad applications. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issues licenses for Mobile WiMAX in several spectrums, among which 2.5 GHz and 3.65 GHz are the most popular. The 2.5 GHz band achieves a significantly higher communication range due to its higher allowed maximum transmit signal power, and lower signal strength loss while it traverses over the air. Consequently, fewer base stations are required to provide the same coverage area. However, licensing operations in 3.65 GHz is significantly less costly and time consuming, making it an attractive choice for network deployments. A detailed study of both bands is required to establish whether the lower performance of 3.65 GHz can be compensated by the financial benefits of using it. In this paper, we provide performance analysis and quantitative comparison of the propagation characteristics of the two bands by testing commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment in both laboratory and field environments. The results enable interested parties to select a frequency band that addresses the requirements of their specific applications and constraints.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AR030 Railroad Operating Technologies.

Monograph Accession #:

01470560

Report/Paper Numbers:

13-0856
13-0856

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Shrestha, Pradhumna
Hempel, Michael
Ma, Tao
Sharif, Hamid

Pagination:

11p

Publication Date:

2013

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2013-1-13 to 2013-1-17
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

Figures; References; Tables

Identifier Terms:

WiMAX systems

Subject Areas:

Data and Information Technology; Railroads; I70: Traffic and Transport

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2013 Paper #13-0856

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Feb 5 2013 12:17PM