High-speed rail Wi-Fi to integrate 5G technology

According to China State Railway Group Co Ltd (China Railway), the high-speed rail Wi-Fi system will introduce a 5G network, and the testing work is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. 

  

On June 6, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued 5G commercial licenses to four network operators including China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, and China Radio and Television. With the stabilization of technology standards and the construction of a 5G test network, 5G technology has already met the conditions for comprehensive network construction and commercial operation. 

  

China Railway Gecent Technology Co, the sole constructor and operator of the China Railway EMU Wi-Fi system, has set up a professional technical team to carry out strategic deployment in three aspects: the technical reserve of the high-speed rail Wi-Fi system; high-speed rail Wi-Fi system and 5G integration; as well as the custom development of vehicle-mounted 5G equipment. 

  

To date, China Railway Geecent Co and network operators have conducted in-depth research on the integration of high-speed rail Wi-Fi system with 5G technology. They have drafted an initial technology solution, which will use key technologies such as edge computing, network slicing, and virtualization to enable high-level service integration between 5G and Wi-Fi system users, as well as solve the problem of high-speed rail 5G signal shielding.  

  

China Railway Geecent Co also cooperated with 5G equipment vendors such as Huawei and ZTE to jointly develop in-vehicle 5G equipment that is highly integrated with high-speed rail Wi-Fi equipment. They plan to complete testing work by the end of the year.  

  

5G base stations are difficult to cover seamlessly areas such as large buildings, high-speed rail, and mines. A Wi-Fi system will be the best supplement to a 5G system. The integration of high-speed rail Wi-Fi and 5G technology will also create greater social and economic benefits. 

The high-speed rail Wi-Fi system will integrate 5G technology in the future to improve passengers' travel experience. [Photo/Official Weibo account of China Railway]