Networks Technology and Service Platforms DTU Fotonik Technical University of Denmark

1. Problem description

Voice communication in LTE networks for railways

Spring 2013

Master Project Proposal

GSM-Railways (GSM-R) is the current communication technology providing support for the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). GSM-R is though an obsolete mobile technology with a number of shortcomings in terms of capacity and capability. These shortcomings become a major issue for railways, as GSM-R may limit the number of running trains in some areas and it cannot support advanced data services. Hence, alternative technologies, such as LTE, have to be considered as a future railway communication technology [1].

However, voice communication is still a very important service for the railways. Railway communication technology needs not only to provide point-to-point calls as commercial mobile telephony does, but also to provide railway-specific features such as group calls, broadcast calls, call prioritization and advanced addressing based on location or function (e.g. calling a train dispatcher responsible for a given track section) [2][3].

2. Objectives

Thus, whether LTE can provide all the advanced voice functionality required by railways needs to be verified. In order to do so, performance parameters for voice over LTE should be compared with the Quality-of-Service requirements for voice communications defined by the railway industry [4], e.g. call establishment time, network registration time.

The aim of the Master thesis project is to verify the hypothesis that LTE can successfully provide all the functionality defined for railway voice communication within the limits set by the mentioned QoS requirements [4]. The thesis work should fulfil the following specific objectives:

3. Prerequisites

Analyse possible solutions for providing voice communication in LTE networks [5]. Compare the possible solutions with respect to the specifics of the railway environment (dedicated network, majority of internal calls, etc.) and the features requested by railways (call prioritization, pre-emption, addressing, broadcast and multicast, etc.). Prepare an OPNET model of one or more of the analyzed solutions. This can be done on the basis of the existing built-in OPNET models or the models published by the OPNET community [6]. The available IMS models should be extended to provide the core signalling functionality that will allow to draw reliable conclusions on the performance of a given voice communication solution. Prepare OPNET simulation scenarios verifying performance of the chosen solution in respect to the QoS requirements [4].

4. References (introductory literature)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

34330 Introduction to Mobile Communication. 34354 Network modelling and simulation.

5. Contact

A. Sniady and J. Soler, An overview of GSM-R technology and its shortcomings. P. Winter, et al., Compendium on ERTMS, Eurail Press, 2009. I. Ljubic and D. Simunic, "Advanced Speech Call Items for GSM-Railway", IEEE, 2009. ERTMS, SUBSET-093: GSM-R Interfaces; Class 1 requirements, 2005. Y. Jouihri and Z. Guennoun, Best Selection for Operators starting LTE Deployment towards Voice Services, IEEE, 2012. 6. OPNET Share!, http://share.opnet.com/ (access restricted to OPNET licence holders).

Aleksander Sniady Bygning 343, room 225 Email: alesn@fotonik.dtu.dk

Jos Soler Bygning 343, room 132 Email: joss@fotonik.dtu.dk