Study on feasibility of SATCOM for railway communication

Final Report
GEO C-band is a technology that has been used for providing broadband services outside
Europe. There exists strong pressure from the terrestrial mobile communication industry to
transfer lower part of C-band, currently for SATCOM use, to terrestrial ones. At this moment,
there exist several European initiatives (e.g. from ESA, EUROCAE, etc) in order to find out the
most suitable bearer able to allow sharing this band for both, RLOS and SATCOM. It is known
that there exist some proposal for this type of bearer; however, this information is not public.
GEO C-band possesses a TRL 9. GEO C-band communications require medium-sized
hemispherical 15 antennas, which involve medium maintenance cost. Furthermore, the current
terminals and commercial solutions could comply with the rail certification standards, requiring
only minor modifications.
GEO X-band is a technology currently reserved for the government and military institutions.
An example of this type of solution is GOVSAT 16 . It is scheduled to be operational by Q4 2017
with a continued service. GOVSAT has a TRL equal or higher than 7. GEO X-band
communications require medium-sized directional steerable antennas, which involve higher
maintenance cost. It is a highly secure satellite with encrypted command and control and antijamming
capabilities and will easily comply with the rail certification standards, requiring only
minor modifications.
SmartLNB is a GEO constellation providing communication services in Ku/Ka-band. The
technology will likely remain operative during the following decades due to its commercial
applicability. SmartLNB communications require medium-sized directional steerable antennas,
which involve higher maintenance costs. SmartLNB possess a TRL 9. Furthermore, the
current terminals and commercial solutions can comply with the rail certification standards,
requiring only some modifications.
GEO Ku-band is a technology currently used for commercial purposes. The technology will
likely remain operative during the following decades. GEO Ku-band communications require
medium-sized directional steerable antennas, which involve higher maintenance cost. It
possesses a TRL 9. Furthermore, the current terminals and commercial solutions can comply
with the rail certification standards, requiring only some modifications.
Inmarsat 5 is a 3-satellite constellation in GEO providing communication services in Ka-band.
It was completely deployed in 2015 and has a lifetime of 15 years. Thus, it will be operative
until 2030. Inmarsat 5 possesses a TRL 9. Inmarsat 5 communications require medium-sized
directional steerable antennas, which involve higher maintenance costs. Furthermore,
Inmarsat 5 provides IP based services that allow meeting multi-technology criteria.
9.3.5.3 Compliance matrix
Therefore, taking into account CBA of previous sections and justifications for each evaluated
technology above, Figure 90 shows the evaluation result of the non-technical and non-functional
criteria.
15
This case is only considering support for critical applications, but If broadband services were included, then it would be needed to
use high-sized steerable directional antennas.
16
GOVSAT is going to provide services in X-band and also Ka-band, especially for GOVSATCOM applications
Doc.Nº: SRAIL-FNR-010-IND
Edit./Rev.: 1/1
Date: 16/02/2017
Page 166 of 285