WHITE PAPER

The Four Most Useful

Technologies for Train-to-
Ground Communications
Paul Hsu
Project Manager
 WHITE PAPER The Most Useful T2G Tech

Overview

The train-to-ground (T2G) communications link is one of the most challenging components of a
railway system, but also one of the most important. Existing Automated Train Operations (ATO)
systems rely on the T2G link to give the trackside control center a way to send control signals
and monitor train conditions. As train operations move towards increasingly computerized
Unattended Train Operations (UTO), trackside control centers must process additional data,
including video feeds from front and rear-facing cameras on the train. These additional
processes consume more bandwidth, and need more robust networks to support them.

But even as bandwidth requirements grow, the existing challenging requirements of T2G
operations remain: the network must be able to establish a consistent, uninterrupted, and low-
latency link between a fast-moving train and trackside systems. In addition, rail systems cover
huge physical distances, and on-board devices often must work in network and environmental
conditions that change as trains move from place to place. With additional bandwidth demands
added on top of these daunting existing requirements, system integrators will need to take
advantage of all the available technology in order to deploy systems that succeed at fulfilling
all the needs of cutting-edge railway systems. In this article, we review four useful
technologies that help system operators bring a seemingly insurmountable task down to size.

1) Fast Roaming in WLAN Systems

In railway applications, WLAN technology has always possessed substantial pure bandwidth
advantage over cellular 3G or even 4G LTE solutions. However, comparatively modest roaming
speed remains a bottleneck preventing the adoption of WLAN technology in more systems. In
order to maintain a consistent T2G connection, the WLAN system must be able to roam quickly
as the train cars move rapidly from access point to access point. Conventional rail and even
urban mass transit rail systems are speeding up and need WLAN devices that can keep up.

Moxa continues to develop technology that accelerates WLAN roaming time and empowers
system operators to use WLAN technology with confidence that their networks will perform
continuously. With Moxa’s exclusive Turbo Roaming technology, WLAN devices can roam
between APs in under 50 ms using controller-based roaming, all with advanced wireless
security enabled. 50 ms roaming allows trains travelling at up to 120 km/hr to leverage the
bandwidth advantages of WLAN technology without experiencing service interruptions due to
slow roaming.

2) Mobile IPs to Seamlessly Move Between Multiple Subnets

Released on April 3, 2013

Copyright © 2013 Moxa Inc., all rights reserved.
Moxa manufactures one of the world’s leading brands of device networking solutions. Products include industrial
embedded computers, industrial Ethernet switches, serial device servers, multiport serial boards, embedded device
servers, and remote I/O solutions. Our products are key components of many networking applications, including
industrial automation, manufacturing, POS, and medical treatment facilities.

How to contact Moxa

Tel: 1-714-528-6777
Fax: 1-714-528-6778
Web: www.moxa.com
Email: info@moxa.com

2010 Moxa Inc.

Copyright © 2013
1
 WHITE PAPER The Most Useful T2G Tech

Train cars are a truly mobile system platform, and in typical operations will transit between
multiple train lines and even different jurisdictions. Rail systems are usually constructed in
multiple stages, and management of different segments of the track is itself sometimes divided
among different rail operators. Given these conditions, the standard practice has been to
separate individual train lines or segments into distinct subnets, for network management
purposes.

This creates a potential obstacle when a train move from one train segment to another,
because as the train moves between subnets the devices onboard must reconfigure their IP
addresses to fit into the new subnet. However, changing the device IP will interrupt train-to-
ground communications, as trackside systems will temporarily be unable to reach on-board
devices on their old IPs.

Moxa’s railway devices support mobile IPs, which allow them to retain the same IP when
moving between subnets. Using mobile IPs, on-board devices maintain seamless and
uninterrupted network connectivity, even when moving between different subnets.

3) Custom WLAN Frequency Blocks

The IEEE 802.11 wireless standard specifies the use of broadcast spectrum pre-approved by
local authorities for data communications, usually in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency band.
However, given the scale and importance of railway systems, railway operators are sometimes
granted licenses to use additional channels in existing frequency bands, or even custom
frequency bands. The cluttered 2.4 GHz frequency is used by everything from cordless phones
to microwave ovens, so switching to a custom frequency can improve performance and avoid
interference from other devices.

For railway systems that are granted licenses to custom frequency bands, Moxa can deliver
customized WLAN devices that are unlocked to broadcast data packets over non-standard
frequencies.

4) Bi-Directional NATs
Railway projects are huge in scale, and poor network management can quickly lead to an
unwieldy mess. Take a typical networked metro system, in which there are 10 devices per
train car (including switches), 6 cars per consist, and 35 consists in the entire project. This
modest system would require a staggering 2,100 discrete IP addresses for just the on-board
devices themselves, before ground equipment is added to the picture. Not only is this large
number of discrete devices problematic to manage, it also creates performance slowdowns. For
example, IPv4 uses Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) tables to resolve network layer
addresses into link layer addresses. Every time the ARP tables must be updated—which
happens frequently in a mobile system, as the devices roam between access points—each and
every individual device must acquire an ARP table update.

Using network address translation (NAT), the network can consolidate multiple devices into
one public IP address. For example, by deploying NAT, the metro system described above can
use just 6 public IPs per consistent, for a total of just 210 IPs used by the on-board devices.
This is a much more manageable number. This system is also more responsive when roaming,
as only the ARP table on the NAT router needs to be updated; all of the subordinate devices
can rely on the ARP table in the router. For systems that rely on inter-consist communications
between train carriages, bi-directional NATs can be used.

Copyright © 2013 Moxa Inc.

2
 WHITE PAPER The Most Useful T2G Tech

Moxa’s Toolbox of Useful Technology for T2G Communications

The WLAN devices, cellular computers, Ethernet switches, and networking solutions in Moxa’s
railway portfolio bristle with features that help system operators establish seamless and
consistent T2G communications, even on board trains that move quickly through multiple
subnets. Advanced network management tools such as bi-directional NATs and mobile IPs help
simplify the complexity of operating a large and mobile collection of network devices. Moxa’s
Turbo Roaming technology gives IEEE 802.11 WLAN networks the boost they need to keep up
with faster-moving trains. Looking forward, Moxa continues to develop promising technology,
which will give system operators even more tools to deliver a high level of performance in
demanding T2G conditions.

Visit the Moxa website (www.moxa.com/rail) for more product details, or subscribe to the
newsletter (www.moxa.com/railnews) to stay current with the latest railway trends and learn
about Moxa's newest IP-based solutions for railway applications.

Copyright © 2013 Moxa Inc.

3
 WHITE PAPER The Most Useful T2G Tech

Disclaimer
This document is provided for information purposes only, and the contents hereof are subject to change without
notice. This document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether
expressed orally or implied by law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability, or fitness for a
particular purpose. We specifically disclaim any liability with respect to this document and no contractual obligations
are formed either directly or indirectly by this document.

Copyright © 2013 Moxa Inc.

4