5G for future RAILway mobile communication system

Project Information

5GRAIL

Grant agreement ID: 951725

DOI

10.3030/951725

Project closed

EC signature date 23 October 2020

Start date 1 November 2020

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 13 323 105,59

EU contribution

€ 9 994 713,38

Coordinated by

UNION INTERNATIONALE DES CHEMINS DE FER
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - 5GRAIL (5G for future RAILway mobile communication system)

Reporting period: 2022-05-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

5GRAIL fulfilled its objectives, as a successful first FRMCS demonstrator, considering the FRMCS v1 specifications and the available 3GPP standards for the 5G SA end -to-end architecture and MCX features (R16 and pre-R17).
5GRAIL has developed FRMCS protypes, mainly the On-Board FRMCS Gateway and also for the critical applications (Voice including REC (Railway Emergency Communication), ETCS, ATO) and also TCMS and Video as well as a tailor-made pre-FRMCS chipset supporting RMR band. All these prototypes have been successfully tested in two labs in Hungary, led by Nokia and in France, led by Kontron but also in field conditions with train runs in two tes beds in Germany and France.
As per 5GRAIL test plan, prototypes have been tested with railway operational use cases and also train performance testing, as possible, considering that the end-to-end architecture is encompassing prototypes and the definition of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for FRMCS was an on-going activity in the FRMCS specifications’ Working Groups, to be considered within FRMCS v2 specifications.

The main principles and features of FRMCS have been validated, as listed below:
• Future proofness: TOBA designed with decoupling of applications and telecom, as per FRMCS v1 specifications
• 5G NR Spectrum (with RMR bands: n101 (1900MHz TDD), and n8 (900MHz FDD), and n78 (3.7GHz TDD), as 5G PMNO bands)
• MCX features: validated, with current products and mechanisms
• QoS: tested for both MCPTT and MCData, with current available products and mechanisms
• Combined Applications over same TOBA: successfully tested (in GSM-R, we use different radios for Voice and ETCS). QoS also tested in scenarios with separated or combined applications of different services.
• Cybersecurity: Local binding (OBapp) and e2e TLS (TOBA and ATO application)
• Cross-border: Two solutions considered, the 2x5GUEs implementation already included in FRMCS v2 specifications. Major building blocks of the 1x5GUE solution have also been successfully tested in Nokia’s lab.
• Bearer flexibility tested both as multi-connectivity and multi-access.

5GRail has offered valuable input to FRMCS but also 3GPP/ETSI specifications, and many lessons learnt for future FRMCS trials.

As a reminder, 5GRAIL received innovation recognition from the EC, for the following items:
• FRMCS tailor-made 5G Module (1900 – 1910 MHz TDD)
• 5G FRMCS – GSM-R interworking
• Cyber Security architecture for the MC over 5G ATO application

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During this final period of the project, the test plan (D1.1) provided by WP1 has been used for the test campaigns in lab and field conditions. Moreover, it provides an interesting input for the organization of future FRMCS trials but also for the introduction of test specifications in FRMCSv2.

This final period was focused on the finalization of lab tests and execution of field tests. Field tests were conditioned on the availability of the tailor-made chipset, which was successfully integrated in the On-board FRMCS Gateway at that period. This prototype is an important achievement of the project with a valuable feedback for the future development of the FRMCS chipset. WP2 had to work closely with WP3 , WP4 labs and WP5 testbeds to resolve integration and interoperability issues and enhance the prototypes by developing additional features, which can be capitalized in the further development of FRMCS products.

The set-up of field testbed was full of lessons learnt, not only for 5GRAIL but for future trials. It was an opportunity to evaluate impact of remote connections, through leased lines, but also interference in ‘busy’ radio environments, as in case of the testbed in France.

WP3, WP4 and WP5 deliverables have provided results for lab and field activities that are the main imputs of WP1 deliverables to analyse them, intending to introduce a preliminary performance methodology by suggesting applications KPIs, but also providing implementation feedback to the railway stakeholders and standardization bodies.

Two variants of cross-border implementations have been successfully tested, with 2UEs and ETCS application and 1UE and inter-PLMN handover in a 5GSA and MCX end-to-end architecture, in a period when migration and interconnection procedures are not yet finalized in 3GPP specifications.

WP6 has successfully emulated shared network resources scenarios between rail and road and common interest use case in Emu5GNet plateform, proving that this platform has many capabilities for advanced railway scenarios.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

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 have been tested in lab and field scenarios. The outcome of these tests was 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 but also voice and REC application developed by Siemens. All these prototypes have been validated during the testing phase inside an FRMCS ecosystem;

• Besides a functional testing of the TCMS and video applications such as CCTV which was used to validate bearer flex feature;

• Border crossing was tested with two different implementations with ETCS and voice applications, even in scenarios with interworking with GSM-R. These is an interesting feedback for the coexistence period FRMCS and GSM-R but also for the interoperability of the whole system;

• 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). Remote vision tested in field in French testbed was a representative example of innovative applications, as it can be used for the remote control of engines.

5GRAIL FRMCS Ecosystem