Skip to content

5G RACOM

The German-French innovation project 5G-RACOM (5G for Resilient and Green RAil COMmunications) is investigating solutions for the efficient, reliable and sustainable use of the future railroad mobile communication system FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) and the associated frequency spectrum. FRMCS is considered the successor to GSM-R and, based on 5G technologies, will ensure high-performance, real-time wireless communication between trains and infrastructure. The European Commission has granted the infrastructure managers in the rail sector for FRMCS The European Commission has granted the infrastructure managers in the rail sector for FRMCS. frequency spectrum of 2x 5.6 MHz bandwidth in paired FDD spectrum at 900 MHz (band n100) and an additional 10 MHz bandwidth in the 1900 MHz TDD spectrum (band n101). The additional bandwidth is an important requirement for the planned digitization and automation of railroad operations.

Mission

5G-RACOM has three objectives for a resilient and robust FRMCS system design:

  1. radio propagation and channel modeling studies in different railroad operational scenarios of the future FRMCS system, including but not limited to high-speed lines, tunnels, rural areas
  2. coexistence studies of GSM-R and FRMCS at 900 MHz and prototype development for technology migration implementation
  3. the study of solutions for hybrid FRMCS networks in which the railroad operational radio system is complemented by public mobile radio, e.g., as a fallback layer or to temporarily increase capacity.

In the latter project objective, a focus is placed on the evaluation and demonstration of different multipath approaches for parallel operation while meeting the quality requirements of the critical applications of railroad operations.

Expected Impact

As a harmonized European railroad standard, FRMCS makes an important contribution to the further development of the railroad sector towards more digitization and automation, and ultimately towards increased capacity of rail transport services. The innovations and prototype implementations from the 5G-RACOM project have the potential to accelerate the introduction of 5G-based FRMCS in rail transport and thus also contribute to more sustainability in the entire transport sector.

Project Partners