H3C innovation ensures the MTR delivers reliable, safe public transport service to Hong Kong commuters

As the number of users increases on our network along these high traffic lines, improved performance and reliability are our main concerns for the network upgrade, said Mr Dominic Au-Yeung, Construction Manager - Operations Systems of MTR Corporation. When looking at vendors, we chose H3C because they offered clear product technology advantages, high quality and ease of use. H3Cs technology platform and their vision are in line with the MTRs convergence strategy which is crucial in meeting ever increasing customer demand and business growth.
passenger comfort and reliable transport are at the top of the MTR's priorities. To meet these commitments, the MTR has invested and continues to invest in building a secure, reliable ICT infrastructure through which run all business and operational systems. Rail network expansion is an on-going development at the MTR. And with each expansion, ensuring the uninterrupted flow of information critical to the smooth running of trains is of paramount importance. A key challenge for the MTR becomes identifying the right technologies that meet set operational standards for reliability, safety and connectivity. This was the case when the MTR's data network was being setup along the Airport Express and Tung Chung lines. Also, the availability of rich mobile content delivered via mobile broadband network presented an infrastructure challenge to the MTR as it made plans to roll our these value added services available throughout the train service. The MTR needed to upgrade its network infrastructure to capture the opportunities presented by digital media while mitigating any impact to the safe operation of the company's communications infrastructure. More recently, as the MTR extended its rail coverage across Hong Kong, rising passenger traffic forced the operator to plan for a major upgrade of its network infrastructure to enable it to deliver cutting edge services, maintain smooth operation of rail services, and be ready for future services yet to be deployed.

Background

Hong Kong has one of the most efficient public transportation systems in the world. A major provider of public transport service, the MTR owns and operates 211.6 km of rail with 155 stations, including 86 railway stations and 68 light rail stops. With over 4.9 million commuters riding the MTR every day, public safety,

Hong Kong MTR

The Solution

To meet the connectivity and bandwidth-intensive applications of the expanded rail covering the Airport Express and Tung Chung line, the MTR chose H3C's 10GE IP network with Resilient Packet Ring (PPR) technology to connect the stations along these two rail lines. The MTR deployed 26 H3C S9505 switches, two at each station, to link the 10 stations. The S9505 switch uses Scalable Terabit + backplane technology engineered specifically for large-scale network deployments in both core and aggregate levels of enterprise networks. For greater network stability, the S9505 switches are built with a redundant design for up to 99.999% availability with a fail-over time of less than 50 ms for any link, switch or modular failure. To ensure ultrafast convergence time, S5100 switches were connected to the S9505 core switch by a smart link with a sub-second fail-over time. To cope with rising demand for extension of digital media services throughout the MTRs 11 busiest stations, the MTR deployed the H3C service oriented network solution. The foundation of the service oriented network is built by H3Cs 10GE IP core network utilising the IEEE 802.17 Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) to link 11 stations along the MTRs Urban lines running through Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Within the RPR framework, H3C deployed H3C S9505 switches at its Kowloon Bay datacentre as well as a S9505 core switch, along with a S5100 gigabit intelligent switch for digital content delivery, at each station to create a high speed network platform that provides high performance, high bandwidth and a robust quality of service. Functionality ensures the network can be updated, content changed and services added without delay or service interruption. In addition, MTR adopted H3Cs

integrated network security solution and selected the H3C SecBlade II firewall module for its digital media network. The SecBlade II is a next generation carrier-class product developed for large-sized enterprises and can be used in tandem with the H3C S9500 switches.

MTR - Airport Express Line

Station node

Airport Express Line (LAR) RPR Ring

MTR IP core network

Hong Kong MTR

To meet the rapidly-growing population in the North-Western New Territories, more people rely on the MTRs Light Rail operation. The MTR deployed H3Cs 10GE IP network solutions with H3C-designed RRPP (Rapid Ring Protection Protocol) technology covering the 68 stops across 36.15kms of track. In conjunction with H3C's RRPP technology, the MTRs Light Rail is using a combination of

H3C S7500E and H3C S5500-EI series switches on a 10GE IP network. The S7500E ensures recovery time of less than 50 milliseconds, helping to achieve the high reliability for which H3C is renowned. The 10GE platform provides high-speed and high availability, delivering fast switchover mechanism. This simple architecture ensures that the entire network is safe and easy to manage.

MTR - Light Rail

Station node Light Rail Line #1

Core switch S7500E

Station node Station node Light Rail Line #3 Light Rail Line #2 Station node Light Rail Line #4

To support its biggest network upgrade and in readiness for future expansion, the MTR deployed H3C's 100 Gigabit S12508 core switches as the core and created a 100G-ready information super -highway linking 38 metro stations on the MTRs Island, Tseun Wan and Kwun Tong lines. To guarantee service reliability, S9505E backbone

switches were used to divide the 38 stations into five different service domains, each equipped with a 10GE IP network utilizing IEEE 802.17 Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) topology. At the distribution layer, S5120 gigabit intelligent switches, installed at each station, create a high-speed network platform to facilitate service delivery.

Hong Kong MTR

MTR Urban Line

Station node (S9505E) Urban Line RPR Ring #5

Station node (S9505E) Urban Line RPR Ring #4

Station node (S9505E) Urban Line RPR Ring #1

Core Super Highway (S12500) Station node (S9505E) Airport Express Line (LAR) RPR Ring Station node (S9505E) Urban Line RPR Ring #2

Station node (S9505E) Urban Line RPR Ring #3

Why H3C?

Throughout each of these projects, the MTR was looking for a reliable technology partner with proven expertise in delivering high-performance network solutions. Compliance to industry standards and a proven track record were also critical in the choice of technology partner. H3C has an excellent track record and proven ability to deliver high-performance solutions on various projects to ensure that infrastructure runs smoothly. MTR network engineers can control the whole network infrastructure with ease. H3C also offered the MTR clear product technology advantages, high quality and ease of use. Just as important, H3C's innovative approach and the promise that the new H3C-based infrastructure can support advanced services such as in-station digital advertising and become a significant revenue generation platform were also compelling reasons for selecting H3C.

more advanced applications on the network simply and flexibly. The MTR system in Hong Kong is regarded as one of the world's leading railways for safety, reliability, customer service and cost efficiency. By upgrading their network along these rail lines with H3Cs industry-leading solutions, the MTR can realize greater network capacity, reliability whilst allowing for the development of future services such as VoIP and WiFi. The high performance H3C-powered 100G ready network is designed in a three-tier architecture that includes a core layer, a backbone layer and a distribution layer. The 100G-ready network solution provides a high speed gateway and high availability that delivers fast failover at each tier. The core tier features IP Fast Re-route (IPFRR) and Bidirectional Failure Detection (BFD). The backbone tier relies on Resilient Packet Ring (RPR) and the distribution layer uses H3Cs Smartlink, which makes the MTRs end-to-end network failover time less than 50ms.

The Benefits

The H3C-powered service oriented network solution enables the MTR to deliver compelling applications for real-time and on-demand communications with simple digital media creation, management, and publishing in various formats to multiple devices with built in protection against potential security threats such as unauthorised intrusions and application layer attacks. Today, the MTR is able to offer advertisers the ability to potentially reach millions of daily passengers with compelling, innovative digital media, thus increasing possible ad revenues. With the H3C solution, the MTR will be able to improve the network fail-over time of less than 50 milliseconds. That level of reliability is critical for IP-based mission critical applications. The H3C-upgraded network will also allow the MTR to add more users and install new,

H3C Technologies Co., Limited Add: Room 2301, 23/F Caroline Centre, Lee Gardens Two, 28 Yun Ping Rd, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Tel: 2501 1111 Email: marketing_hk@h3c.com Website: www.h3c.com Version No: HYC-20130403-ELE-V5.0