TETRA  |   LTE  |  2021-02-24

Teltronic's LTE Solution, Certified to Support CAF Signalling's CBTC Application

Source: The Critical Communications Review | Gert Jan Wolf editor

The integration has been achieved both in the laboratory and in field tests in a deployment carried out on line 3 of the Bilbao Metro.

CAF Signalling, CAF Group’s company that designs and provides Integral Signalling Solutions, has certified the correct integration of its CBTC (Communications-Based Train Control) application with Teltronic's LTE solution.

This integration is the result of intense cooperation between CAF Signalling and Teltronic engineers. Thus, after succeeding in the laboratory, the system was implemented in the complete route of the Line 3 of the Bilbao Metro, on which the signalling system was tested.

The field tests on a real operation scenario proved that Teltronic's solution, consisting of its eNEBULA LTE infrastructure and its cutting-edge onboard terminal RTP-800, allows the correct operation of the signalling system up to the highest levels of train automation, according to the Quality of Service parameters required by CAF Signalling's CBTC solution, which are defined under the paradigm of the ongoing standardisation process of the Future Railway Mobile Communication Service (FRMCS) by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project).

Thus, from the experience it is concluded that LTE technology is ready to be used in the deployment of CBTC systems, offering the optimal parameters in terms of availability, minimum latency and continuity and Quality of Service, and that a private broadband system provides reliable and efficient communications in railway environments through a single infrastructure.

"In the face of the shortcomings and drawbacks of the wireless systems currently used in signalling applications, such as Wi-Fi, LTE technology provides an end-to-end solution that combines trackside infrastructure and onboard equipment, and which meets both the requirements of railway signalling data management and compliance with railway standards," explains the director of Transport Business Development, Felipe Sanjuán.

This project may be applicable to other transport environments with signalling systems based on different existing protocols such as ETCS or PTC. The company has wide experience in the integration of radio systems with signalling solutions, and has accumulated success stories working with the world's leading train manufacturers, using TETRA and LTE technologies.