Architecture of a 5G Mobile Private Network Research Infrastructure for the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FMRCS)

Abstract:
This article describes the architecture of a 5G research infrastructure for evaluation and experimentation of mission critical communication over a mix of private and non-private networks. The research infrastructure covers, a 25 km stretch of a railway line in the Ore Mountains. Because of the topological and meteorological particularities, the infrastructure poses a rather challenging communications environment that is perfectly suited for research into railway communications, and wireless communications in general. As one of the first research projects running on and using this installation, the 5G research infrastructure serves as the basis for a hybrid network concept to support the Future Rail Mobile Communication System (FRMCS). The 5G RACOM project (5G for Resilient and Green RAil COMmunications) is investigating the use of multipath algorithms that exploit both the private FRMCS (5G) network of the railway (DSD – Digitale Schiene Deutschland) as well as the various networking options the 5G research infrastructure provides. The article describes the architecture of the research infrastructure, explains the different connectivity options, and discusses its use as a complement to the DSD cellular network to support railway communication features as provided by FRMCS.