Periodic Reporting for period 1 - 5GRAIL (5G for future RAILway mobile communication system)
Reporting period: 2020-11-01 to 2022-04-30
The railways currently use the GSM-R system for operational communication, a key component of the European Railway Traffic Management System ERTMS. Designed 20+ years ago and completely border-crossing interoperable, GSM-R is deployed on more than 120,000 kilometres of track in Europe. GSM-R is supporting the train driver to signaller voice applications, including the Railways Emergency Call (REC) and ETCS (European Train Control System).
The Future Radio Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) is railways response for two elements of strategic importance for the future of the railways.
Firstly, GSM-R is a 2G system, where manufacturers have announced that GSM-R equipment is due to reach the end of its life (around 2030) and will be supported until around 2035.
Secondly, it is also a significant opportunity - to enable and support the Railways Digitalisation, and therefore the need to transmit, receive and use increasing volumes of data, which is at the very heart of sustainable transport.
5GRAIL goal is to introduce a FRMCS 1st edition available for railways to procure, by end 2025. It will be based on 5G MCX 3GPP R17 and 18.
One of the critical elements of this plan is the FRMCS demonstrator. This will be achieved via the 5GRAIL Project, that will provide a Demonstrator for the On-Board part which is a vital part of the FRMCS programme since it introduces the industrialisation phase of new telecommunications equipment applying the specifications and standardised telecoms building blocks defined by UIC working groups, the 3GPP and the ETSI.
The FRMCS has important benefits for the society. It is vital for ERTMS continuity and it is considered as a major trigger for the digitalisation of the rail sector; it will supply capability to develop applications which will enable railways to optimise the cost of operations, improve service quality for passengers, offer greater agility for freight and much more.
The DG Connect co-financed 5Grail project aims to verify the first set of FRMCS specifications and standards (FRMCS V1) by developing and testing prototypes of the FRMCS ecosystem.
The project has first defined functional tests which validate 3GPP 5G and MCX features and then deliver data application prototypes (ETCS, ATO, TCMS and video), Voice and TOBA prototypes for lab testing in Hungary and France together with TOBA prototypes that have also been made available.
The prototypes will be then tested in simulated and real environments in the field in various European sites (France and Germany), to ensure compliancy and validation for FRMCS specifications, standards and performance, and consequently guarantee this step for the time to market for FRMCS deployments, planned for 2025 as per European timeline.
5GRAIL will finally deliver test report conclusions to potentially update FRMCS V1 specifications and to identify technical constraints related to implementation issues. The validation of the latest available railway-relevant 5G specifications will be achieved through cross-border emulation trials covering a set of railway operational communication requirements and including the core technological innovations for rail expected from 5G release 16 and pre-release 17.
The Future Radio Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) is railways response for two elements of strategic importance for the future of the railways.
Firstly, GSM-R is a 2G system, where manufacturers have announced that GSM-R equipment is due to reach the end of its life (around 2030) and will be supported until around 2035.
Secondly, it is also a significant opportunity - to enable and support the Railways Digitalisation, and therefore the need to transmit, receive and use increasing volumes of data, which is at the very heart of sustainable transport.
5GRAIL goal is to introduce a FRMCS 1st edition available for railways to procure, by end 2025. It will be based on 5G MCX 3GPP R17 and 18.
One of the critical elements of this plan is the FRMCS demonstrator. This will be achieved via the 5GRAIL Project, that will provide a Demonstrator for the On-Board part which is a vital part of the FRMCS programme since it introduces the industrialisation phase of new telecommunications equipment applying the specifications and standardised telecoms building blocks defined by UIC working groups, the 3GPP and the ETSI.
The FRMCS has important benefits for the society. It is vital for ERTMS continuity and it is considered as a major trigger for the digitalisation of the rail sector; it will supply capability to develop applications which will enable railways to optimise the cost of operations, improve service quality for passengers, offer greater agility for freight and much more.
The DG Connect co-financed 5Grail project aims to verify the first set of FRMCS specifications and standards (FRMCS V1) by developing and testing prototypes of the FRMCS ecosystem.
The project has first defined functional tests which validate 3GPP 5G and MCX features and then deliver data application prototypes (ETCS, ATO, TCMS and video), Voice and TOBA prototypes for lab testing in Hungary and France together with TOBA prototypes that have also been made available.
The prototypes will be then tested in simulated and real environments in the field in various European sites (France and Germany), to ensure compliancy and validation for FRMCS specifications, standards and performance, and consequently guarantee this step for the time to market for FRMCS deployments, planned for 2025 as per European timeline.
5GRAIL will finally deliver test report conclusions to potentially update FRMCS V1 specifications and to identify technical constraints related to implementation issues. The validation of the latest available railway-relevant 5G specifications will be achieved through cross-border emulation trials covering a set of railway operational communication requirements and including the core technological innovations for rail expected from 5G release 16 and pre-release 17.
The work performed is aligned with the objectives of this period, as listed in the following:
• Elaboration of the Test plan (D1.1) in the scope of WP1;
• Development of on-board Prototypes (TOBA), integrated with the track side equipment for end-to-end tests of the applications or for performance testing;
• Development of applications prototypes for both on-board and trackside part, successfully completed;
• Development of the FRMCS OBapp/TSapp interfaces according to the FRMCS V1 specifications for both TOBA-Kontron and TOBA-Alstom has been successfully completed for both loose-coupled but also tight-coupled applications;
• Radio modules which are compatible with the FRMCS RMR band n39 (1900-1910 MHz) are currently used in the labs. The delivery of a 31dBm modem in n39 will be performed in second periodic report;
• Testing of application prototypes in simulated nominal environment has started in both laboratories (WP3 and WP4):
o 1st data FRMCS call (fully OBapp/TSapp compatible, aligned with CCS TSI 2022 envisaged solution) has been performed in WP4 with ATO application, TOBA-Kontron (using MCx IPConn) and Kontron 5G core network and MCX server;
o The two labs are in place and started tests, even if sometimes difficult due to COVID conditions.
• WP5 dealing with testing prototypes in real field environment kicked-off in M15 (January 2022); test bed architecture is under study based on the applications to be tested and the description of the test case to ensure on time site readiness;
The coexistence scenarios in the scope of WP6 have been identified and the tools to be used for the PoC implementation are selected. The testing of the selected scenarios and features has started and is well progressing.
• Elaboration of the Test plan (D1.1) in the scope of WP1;
• Development of on-board Prototypes (TOBA), integrated with the track side equipment for end-to-end tests of the applications or for performance testing;
• Development of applications prototypes for both on-board and trackside part, successfully completed;
• Development of the FRMCS OBapp/TSapp interfaces according to the FRMCS V1 specifications for both TOBA-Kontron and TOBA-Alstom has been successfully completed for both loose-coupled but also tight-coupled applications;
• Radio modules which are compatible with the FRMCS RMR band n39 (1900-1910 MHz) are currently used in the labs. The delivery of a 31dBm modem in n39 will be performed in second periodic report;
• Testing of application prototypes in simulated nominal environment has started in both laboratories (WP3 and WP4):
o 1st data FRMCS call (fully OBapp/TSapp compatible, aligned with CCS TSI 2022 envisaged solution) has been performed in WP4 with ATO application, TOBA-Kontron (using MCx IPConn) and Kontron 5G core network and MCX server;
o The two labs are in place and started tests, even if sometimes difficult due to COVID conditions.
• WP5 dealing with testing prototypes in real field environment kicked-off in M15 (January 2022); test bed architecture is under study based on the applications to be tested and the description of the test case to ensure on time site readiness;
The coexistence scenarios in the scope of WP6 have been identified and the tools to be used for the PoC implementation are selected. The testing of the selected scenarios and features has started and is well progressing.
The following points highlight the progress beyond state-of-the-art of the 5GRAIL project:
• All 5GRAIL prototypes, on-board, trackside gateways and applications are developed applying most of the FRMCS V1 specifications, which thanks to this implementation will be tested in lab and field scenarios. The outcome of these tests will be the validation or amendment of FRMCS V1 specifications, to prepare next steps of the strategy of introduction of FRMCS deployment;
• Industrial prototypes of gateways, in their 1st phase approach, are already developed in the framework of 5GRail by two major partners Kontron and Alstom. Also valid for ETCS application prototype developed by two partners CAF and Alstom and ATO developed by CAF. All these prototypes will be validated during the testing phase inside an FRMCS ecosystem;
• Besides a functional testing of the TCMS and video applications, TCMS will be tested in cross-border scenario and video application, such as CCTV which will be used to validate bearer flex feature;
• One of the main challenges of 5GRAIL is to pave the way for the train digitalisation, by introducing new use cases tested in the FRMCS ecosystem, based on 5G and MCX services (e.g. ATO, TCMS).
• All 5GRAIL prototypes, on-board, trackside gateways and applications are developed applying most of the FRMCS V1 specifications, which thanks to this implementation will be tested in lab and field scenarios. The outcome of these tests will be the validation or amendment of FRMCS V1 specifications, to prepare next steps of the strategy of introduction of FRMCS deployment;
• Industrial prototypes of gateways, in their 1st phase approach, are already developed in the framework of 5GRail by two major partners Kontron and Alstom. Also valid for ETCS application prototype developed by two partners CAF and Alstom and ATO developed by CAF. All these prototypes will be validated during the testing phase inside an FRMCS ecosystem;
• Besides a functional testing of the TCMS and video applications, TCMS will be tested in cross-border scenario and video application, such as CCTV which will be used to validate bearer flex feature;
• One of the main challenges of 5GRAIL is to pave the way for the train digitalisation, by introducing new use cases tested in the FRMCS ecosystem, based on 5G and MCX services (e.g. ATO, TCMS).