Enhanced connectivity in railroad networks using LTE relays with directive antennas

Abstract

Performance enhancements of cellular networks for passengers in high speed railway systems are investigated. Relays placed on top of each train car are proposed. These relays communicate with the mobile terminals (MTs) inside the train cars on one hand and with the cellular base station (BS) on the other hand over Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular links. In addition, dynamic LTE resource allocation is taken into account. The presence of the relays is shown to lead to significant enhancements in the effective data rates of the MTs, mainly due to the use of advanced antenna techniques.