Together, faster digital – Digitale Schiene Deutschland and Nokia unite to develop the rail communication system of the future, FRMCS
Tomorrow’s digital railway requires a rapid exchange of information between vehicles and infrastructure. To realise this, Digitale Schiene Deutschland is working together with the industry on FRMCS – the 5G-based rail communication system of the future. Deutsche Bahn, Nokia and other leading mobile providers are carrying out pioneering work through several collaborative projects.
Modern 5G technology is the foundation of tomorrow’s powerful and flexible railway communication system, the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS). 5G’s low latency enables the real-time transmission of information between vehicles and infrastructure. High connectivity is essential to enable the growing volumes of data that rail digitalisation brings, e.g., through automated driving or realtime train dispatching. This helps to increase capacity in the railway network.
This significant task will only succeed if railway and industry work together. And the basis for successful collaboration is cooperation in cross-industry research and development. Railway operators become active co-developers, while industry can test special requirements of the railway system in pilot tests, and as a result develop optimised and standardised rail products.
Digitale Schiene Deutschland and Nokia have already realised a couple of such projects:
● Digital S-Bahn Hamburg, which won the German Mobility Award 2021. Digitale Schiene Deutschland and Nokia developed and implemented an end-to-end 5G solution for real-time transmission of data between vehicle and infrastructure during a fully automated shunting journey, without a driver.
● Digital Rail 5G Test Field in the Ore Mountains, where extensive testing of the new FRMCS standard is taking place. Digitale Schiene Deutschland has here deployed eight 5G radio masts on a section of about 10 km, which Nokia is complementing with technical equipment to operate the 5G test network as a selected equipment partner in the EU-funded project, 5GRAIL.
● In addition to ongoing pilot projects, Digitale Schiene Deutschland and leading mobile providers are working together in other research projects on FRMCS system design. In 2021, for instance, a resilient FRMCS/5G system was developed with Nokia. See the results of this and other research projects here.
More insights into the partnership between Nokia and Digitaler Schiene Deutschland and the relevance of 5G for the rail communication system of the future shows the video below.
