High-Speed Railway Communications:

from GSM-R to LTE-R

Ruisi He, Bo Ai, Gongpu Wang, Ke Guan, Zhangdui Zhong, Beijing Jiaotong University
Andreas F. Molisch, University of Southern California
Cesar Briso-Rodriguez, Technical University of Madrid
Claude Oestges, Universite Catholique de Louvain

Abstract: To handle increasing traffic, ensure passenger safety, add applications to meet specific services and demands. GSM-
and provide real time multimedia information, a new R [2] is a successful example, which is based on the GSM
communication system for high-speed railway (HSR) is standard and has been used on over 70,000 km of railway lines
required. In the last decade, public networks have been (including over 22,000 km HSR lines) all over the world [3].
evolving from voice-centric 2G systems, e.g. Global System for The GSM communications systems are decommissioned
Mobile Communication (GSM) with limited capabilities to 4G as the public communication market is evolving towards 3GPP
broadband systems, e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) that offer Long Term Evolution (LTE) [4]. As a consequence, also GSM-
higher data rates. It is thus relevant for HSR to replace the R has a foreseeable end of its lifetime. A new system is thus
current GSM-Railway (GSM-R) technology with the next required to fulfil HSR operational needs, with the capability of
generation railway dedicated communication system with being consistent with LTE, offering new services, but still co-
improved capacity and capability. This article gives a brief existing with GSM-R for a long period of time. The selection
review of the current GSM-R performance, followed by a of a suitable wireless communication system for HSRs needs to
discussion of its limitations. Then, the LTE-Railway (LTE-R) is consider performance, service attributes, frequency band, and
introduced as the candidate for the next generation HSR industrial support, etc. Compared with 3G systems, 4G LTE
dedicated communication system. System architecture, has a simple flat architecture, high data rate, and low latency,
parameters, and services for the LTE-R network are presented making it an acknowledged acceptable bearer for real-time
and some challenging technical issues are discussed. Finally, HSR applications. 5G, while currently discussed in 3GPP, will
the coexistence between GSM-R and LTE-R is addressed. be available only after 2020 and thus is not suitable for the
HSR timeframe [5]. In view of the performance and level of
1. Introduction maturity of LTE, LTE-Railway (LTE-R) will likely be the next
High-speed railways (HSRs) improve the quality of rail generation of HSR communication systems [6] [7], and the
services, yield greater customer satisfaction, and help to create future vision for HSR wireless technologies will thus rely on it.
socio-economically balanced societies [1]. This highly efficient A schedule of standardization and establishment of LTE-R
transport mode creates significant challenges in terms of is shown in Figure 1(a). UIC is expected to complete operation
investment, technology, industry, and environment. and functional requirements determination by 2017. In China,
With the rapid development of HSRs, a reliable, the development of LTE-R has also been widely discussed and
broadband communications system is essential for different scheduled by the government. A time frame of LTE-R in China
HSR components such as train control, safety-related is presented in Figure 1(a), and the first LTE-R network of
communications, etc. Since 2014, a project of the International China is scheduled for 2020.
Union of Railways or Union Internationale des Chemins de fer This article aims to review and discuss the features and
(UIC), known as the Future Railway Mobile Communication key challenges of LTE-R in future HSR communications. The
System (FRMCS), has started to assess and shape the future of current GSM-R system is introduced in the next section. Then
HSR mobile communications, and to identify suitable some challenging issues of LTE-R and its co-existing with
candidate technologies to use once the currently used Global GSM-R are discussed. The final section concludes this article.
System for Railway Communication (GSM-R) has become
obsolete. HSR applications have strict requirements for Quality 2. GSM-R
of Service (QoS) measures such as data rate, transmission This section introduces GSM-R system, presents some
delay, Bit Error Rate (BER), etc. Due to these factors, as well typical rail specific features, and discusses some limitations.
as a desire to use mature and low-cost technology, HSR
communications generally uses off-the-shelf technologies and
 2008 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2022 2025
Parameter GSM-R LTE LTE-R
Frequency Uplink: 876- 800 MHz, 1.8 450 MHz, 800
880 MHz; GHz, 2.6 GHz MHz, 1.4 GHz,
Downlink: 921- 1.8 GHz
925 MHz
Bandwidth 0.2 MHz 1.4-20 MHz 1.4-20 MHz
Modulation GMSK QPSK/M- QPSK/16-
QAM/OFDM QAM
Cell Range 8 km 1-5 km 4-12 km
Cell Configuration Single Sector Multi-Sector Single Sector
Peak Data Rate, 172/172 Kbps 100/50 Mbps 50/10 Mbps
Downlink/Uplink
Peak Spectral 0.33 bps/Hz 16.32 bps/Hz 2.55 bps/Hz
Efficiency
Data Transmission Requires voice Packet Packet
call connection switching switching
(a)
(UDP data)
Packet No (Serial data) Yes (IP Reduced (UDP
Retransmission packets) packets)
MIMO No 2x2, 4x4 2x2
Mobility Max. 500 km/h Max. 350 km/h Max. 500 km/h
Handover Success ≥ 99.5% ≥ 99.5% ≥ 99.9%
Rate
Hanover Hard Hard/Soft Soft: No data
Procedure loss
China Europe Korea
All IP (native) No Yes Yes
Table 1 System parameters of GSM-R, LTE, and LTE-R

2.2 Services
GSM-R network serves as a data carrier for the European
(b)
Train Control System (ETCS), which is the signaling system
Figure 1 (a) Time frame of LTE-R in Europe and China. (b) used for railway control. ETCS has 3 levels of operation and it
Allocation of frequency bands.
uses the GSM-R radio network to send and receive information
from trains. On the first level, i.e., ETCS-1, the GSM-R is used
2.1 System Description only for voice communications. On the other two levels,
GSM-R is essentially the same system as the Global ETCS-2 and ETCS-3, the GSM-R system is used mainly for
System for Mobile Communications (GSM), but with railway data transmissions. The GSM-R is very relevant to ETCS-2 and
specific functionalities. It uses a specific frequency band ETCS-3, where the train travels at a speed up to 350 km/h and
around 800/900 MHz, as illustrated in Figure 1(b) [8]. In it is thus necessary to guarantee a continuous supervision of
addition, the frequency bands 873-876 MHz (Uplink) and 918- train position and speed. When the call is lost, the train has to
921 MHz (Downlink) are also used as extension bands for automatically reduce the speed to 300 km/h (ETCS-1) or lower.
GSM-R on a national basis, under the name Extended GSM-R We briefly discuss in the following the most typical HSR-
(E-GSM-R). specific services offered by GSM-R [9]:
GSM-R is typically implemented using dedicated base 1) Voice Group Call Service (VGCS): this conducts group
stations (BSs) close to the rail track. The distance between two calls between trains and BSs; or conducts group calls between
neighboring BSs is 7–15 km; whereas in China, it is 3-5 km trackside workers, station staff and similar groups.
since redundancy coverage is used to ensure higher availability 2) Voice Broadcast Service (VBS): the BS broadcasts
and reliability. GSM-R has to fulfil tight availability and messages to certain groups of trains; or trains broadcast
performance requirements of the HSR radio services. Table 1 messages to BSs and other trains in a defined area. Compared
summarizes some key parameters of GSM-R systems. to VGCS, only the initiator of the call can speak in VBS and
the others who join the call can only be listeners. VBS is
mainly used to broadcast recorded messages or to make
announcements in the operation of HSR.
 3) Multi-Level Enhanced Precedence and Pre-Emption Due to above limitations, GSM-R must eventually evolve
(eMLPP): this defines the user's priority and is used to achieve in order to eliminate revealed shortcomings [11]. LTE-R,
high performance for emergency group calls. which could be based on LTE standard, is a likely candidate to
4) Shunting Mode: The purpose of shunting mode is to replace GSM-R in the future for the following reasons: i) LTE
provide an effective means of communication to a group of has many advantages over GSM in terms of capacity and
personnel who are involved with a shunting operation. This capabilities; ii) as a fully packet-switched based network, LTE
application regulates and controls user access to shunting is better suited for data communications; iii) LTE offers a more
communications. Shunting communication is a Link Assurance efficient network architecture and thus has a reduced packet
Signal (LAS) that is used to give reassurance to the train driver. delay, which is one of the crucial requirements for providing
5) Functional Addressing: a train can be addressed by a ETCS messages; iv) LTE has a high throughput radio access as
number identifying the function for which it is being used, it consists of a number of improvements that increase spectral
rather than a more permanent subscriber number. efficiency such as the advanced multiplexing and modulation;
6) Location Dependent Addressing: calls from a train to and v) LTE is also a well-established and off-the-shelf system,
certain functions can be addressed based on the location of the and provides standardized interworking mechanisms with GSM.
train, as the train moves through different areas of BSs.
3. LTE-R
2.3 Limitations This section presents the system parameters and possible
Although the popularity of GSM-R is still growing, services of LTE-R. Some challenging issues of LTE-R
increasing interference from public networks is hampering the implementation are further discussed.
use of GSM-R while the assigned radio frequencies limit its
capacity. Several limitations are summarized as follows. 3.1 System Description
1) Interference: The interference between GSM-R and To provide improved and more efficient transmission for
other public networks increases due to the fact that both HSR communications, it is vital to consider frequency and
railway and public operators want to have good coverage along spectrum usage for LTE-R. HSRs are important strategic
the rail tracks. Instead of cooperating in network planning, infrastructure and in some countries this argument is being
railway and public operators “fight for” the coverage. The leveraged to convince governments that large spectrum chunks
interference could result in severe impairment of voice and data needs to be allocated specifically for it. Some industry bodies
communications as well as network loss over several hundred including the European Railway Agency (ERA), China
meters of track. Theoretically speaking, such interference can Railway, and UIC are working to secure spectrum allocation
be avoided if public operators do not use frequency bands for HSR use. Currently, most LTE system works at the bands
adjacent to those of GSM-R for the areas close to rail tracks; above 1 GHz, such as 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, and 2.6
however, this is not well implemented in practice. In the future, GHz, although 700-900 MHz bands are also used in some
interference may increase owing to the growth of GSM-R countries. Large bandwidth is available in the upper bands,
network deployment and the potential growth of public giving a higher data rate; whereas lower frequency bands offer
networks. longer distance coverage. Figure 1(b) summarizes the possible
2) Capacity: The 4 MHz bandwidth of GSM-R can support frequency bands for LTE-R in China, Europe, and Korea. As a
19 channels of 200 KHz width. This is sufficient for voice high frequency band has larger propagation loss and more
communication, as voice calls are limited in time and do not severe fading, the radius of a LTE-R cell would be less than 2
occupy resources continuously. However, the current capacity km (due to the strict requirement of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
turns out to be insufficient for the next generation railway and BER in HSR), leading to a requirement of substantial
system, where each train needs to establish a continuous data investment for higher BS density, and frequent handovers.
connection with a Radio Block Center (RBC), and each RBC Therefore, the low frequency bands such as 450-470 MHz, 800
connection needs to constantly occupy one time slot. The radio MHz, and 1.4 GHz have been widely considered. Especially
capacity can be increased by using more spectrum resources. the 450-470 MHz band is already well adopted by the railway
3) Capability: As a narrowband system, GSM-R cannot industry, therefore, dedicated bandwidth for professional use
provide advanced services and adapt to new requirements. The can still be allocated from the local regulators. Furthermore, the
maximum transmission rate of GSM-R per connection is 9.6 carrier aggregation capability of LTE will permit the use of
kbit/s, which is sufficient only for applications with low different bands to overcome problems of capacity. Figure 1(b)
demands; message delay is in the range of 400 ms, which is too presents the detailed frequency allocation of 450-470 MHz in
high to support any real-time application and emergency China [12], and it is feasible to allocate enough bandwidth for
communication [10]. The future new services of HSRs such as LTE-R within this band. In Europe, the FRMCS of UIC would
real time monitoring require a wideband system to have larger like to build on the current GSM-R investment by re-using the
data rate and short delay. existing mast sites which could save as much as 80-90% of the
cost of a network. Railways are also concerned about
continuing to make use of their GSM-R masts, therefore a information of the train is detected by RBC and onboard radio
spectrum allocation under 1 GHz is more cost effective in equipment. This improves the accuracy of train tracking and
Europe. However, the selection of frequency band depends on the efficiency of train dispatchment. LTE-R also can be used to
government policy and differs for different countries. provide information transmission for future automatic driving
systems.

Figure 2 LTE-R architecture for HSR communication. SGSN:

serving GPRS support node.

Standard LTE includes a core network of Evolved Packet

Core (EPC) and a radio access network of Evolved Universal
Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). The Internet
Protocol (IP)-based EPC supports seamless handovers for both
voice and data to cell towers, and each E-UTRAN cell will
support high data and voice capacity by High Speed Packet
Access (HSPA). As a candidate for the next generation
communication system of HSR, LTE-R inherits all the Figure 3 LTE-R services.
important features of LTE and provides extra radio access
2) Real time monitoring: LTE-R provides video
system to exchange wireless signals with Onboard Board Units
monitoring of front rail track, cabin, and car connector
(OBUs) and to match HSR specific needs. The future
conditions; real time information monitoring of the rail track
architecture of LTE-R is presented in Figure 2 according to [4]
conditions (e.g., temperature and flaw detection); video
and it shows that the core network of LTE-R is backwards-
monitoring of railway infrastructures (e.g., bridges and tunnels)
compatible with GSM-R.
to avoid natural disasters; and video monitoring of cross-tracks
Compared with the public LTE networks, LTE-R has
to detect freezing at low temperatures. The monitoring
many differences such as architecture, system parameters,
information will be shared with both the control center and the
network layout, services, QoS, etc. The preferred parameters of
high-speed train in real time, with a less than 300 ms delay.
LTE-R are summarized in Table 1, based on the future QoS
Though some of the above surveillance can be conducted by
requirements of HSR communications. Note that LTE-R will
wired communications, the wireless-based LTE-R system is
be configured for reliability more than capacity. The network
more cost-effective for deployments and maintenances.
must be able to operate at 500 km/h speed in the complex
3) Train multimedia dispatching: It provides full
railway environments. Therefore, Quadrature Phase Shift
dispatching information (including text, data, voice, images,
Keying (QPSK) modulation is preferred, and the packet
video, etc.) of drivers and yards to the dispatcher, and improves
number of retransmission must be reduced as much as possible.
dispatching efficiency. It supports rich functionalities such as
voice trunking, dynamic grouping, temporary group call, short
3.2 Services
messaging, and multimedia messaging, etc.
HSR communications intend to use a well-established/off- 4) Railway emergency communications: When natural
the-shelf system, where some specific needs should be defined disasters, accidents or other emergencies occur, it is required to
at the service level. As suggested by the E-Train project [6], establish communications quickly between accident site and
LTE-R should provide a series of services to improve security, rescue center to provide voice, video, data, and image
QoS, and efficiency. Compared with the traditional services of transmissions. Railway emergency communication systems use
GSM-R, some features of LTE-R are described as follows: the railway private network to ensure rapid deployment and
1) Information transmission of control systems: To enable faster response (with a less than 100 ms delay) compared with
compatibility with the ETCS-3 or the Chinese Train Control GSM-R.
System Level 4 (CTCS-4), LTE-R provides real time 5) Railway Internet-of-Things (IoT): LTE-R provides the
information transmission of control information via wireless railway IoT services such as real time query and tracking of
communications, with a less than 50 ms delay. While the trains and goods. It helps to enhance transport efficiency and
location information of the train is detected by a track circuit in extend service ranges. Moreover, railway IoT could also
ETCS-2/CTCS-3, in ETCS-3/CTCS-4 and LTE-R, the location improve train safety. Most of today’s trains rely on trackside
switches located in the remote areas. With the IoT and remote time recorded information of speed and position. iii) A large
monitoring, it is possible to remake trackside infrastructure Doppler spread is expected in HSR environments owing to the
from switches to power lines. This could automate many of the high velocity. For LTE-R (broadband system), Doppler spread
routine safety checks and reduce the costs of maintenances. typically leads to loss of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio
Besides the above features, some other services of LTE-R (SINR) and can hamper carrier recovery and synchronization.
should be included such as dynamic seat reservation, mobile E- Doppler spread is also of particular concern for Orthogonal
ticketing, and wireless interaction of passenger information, etc. Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems, since it
Figure 3 summarizes the future possible services provided by can corrupt the orthogonality of the OFDM subcarriers. Several
LTE-R, which is based on the technical reports of UIC, China approaches such as frequency-domain equalization and the
Railway, and ERA. It is noteworthy that broadband wireless intercarrier interference self-cancellation scheme should be
access for passengers inside high-speed trains is not provided considered [18].
by LTE-R, because of its limited bandwidth. Some candidates 3) Delay spread: Delay dispersion leads to a loss of
for the broadband wireless access for train passengers have orthogonality between the OFDM subcarriers, and a special
been discussed, such as WiFi, Worldwide Interoperability for type of guard interval, called the Cyclic Prefix (CP), should be
Microwave Access (WiMAX), 3G/4G/5G, satellite employed. The delay dispersion determines the required length
communications, and Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) technology [13]. of CP. LTE supports both short (4.76 us) and long (16.67 us)
CP schemes. For the short CP scheme, the corresponding
3.3 Challenges maximum difference of path length between two MPCs is 1.4
1) HSR-specific scenarios: In the LTE standard of [14], a km. Since railway communications aim to provide linear
channel model for HSR is presented, which only includes two coverage, directional BS antennas with main lobes pointing to
scenarios: open space and tunnel, and [14] uses a non-fading along the rail track are widely used, so that transmit power is
channel model in both scenarios. However, as indicated by [15], focused on the narrow-strip-shaped regions. Intuitively, we
the strict demands (high velocity, rail track flatness, etc.) of would anticipate that the short CP scheme is sufficient for
HSRs lead to many HSR-specific environments, such as LTE-R. This is especially true since high-speed trains mostly
viaducts, cuttings, tunnels, etc. The propagation characteristics travel in (semi-) rural/suburban environments, where there are
in those scenarios are distinct from the traditional cellular few scatterers. However, in some special environments with
communications and may significantly impact the system rich multiple reflections, such as cuttings, a large delay spread
performances of GSM-R and LTE-R. In the past, some is expected (note that a measurement-based validation is
measurements were conducted to characterize the HSR required) and long CP scheme should be used. Another
channels for GSM-R band, and a scenario-based path loss and example for large delay spread occurs in the presence of
shadow fading model has been proposed in [16] [17] for GSM- mountains along the rail track [19], especially before and after
R at 930 MHz. However, this work is still ongoing and many the train enters and leaves tunnels. More measurements are
scientific issues have not been solved at LTE-R band yet, e.g., required to address the behaviors of delay spread in HSR
propagation loss, geometry distribution of Multipath environments, and the CP needs to be adjusted to the
Components (MPCs) and 2D/3D angular estimation in those environment, just as with general LTE.
HSR-specific environments. It is necessary to develop a series 1
of channel models for the link budget and network design of 0.9 450 MHz
LTE-R, and extensive channel measurements are needed.
Percentage of Coverage Area

0.8
2) High mobility: High-speed trains usually run at a speed
0.7
of 350 km/h, and LTE-R is designed to support 500 km/h. The
high velocity leads to a series of problems: i) High velocity 0.6 1.8 GHz

results in a non-stationary channel, because in a short time 0.5

segment the train travels over a large region, where the MPCs 0.4
change significantly. Characterization of the non-stationarity is
0.3
of special importance as it affects the BER in single-carrier and Circular Cell
0.2
multicarrier systems. ii) High velocity leads to a shift of the Linear Cell
received frequency, called the Doppler shift. For example, if 0.1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Maximum Communication Distance [km]
the frequency is 2.6 GHz, the maximum Doppler shift at 350
km/h is 843 Hz, whereas it is only 24 Hz for a pedestrian Figure 4 Coverage area predictions for HSR linear cell and
mobile speed of 10 km/h. The large Doppler shift leads to cellular circular cell.
phase shift of the signal and can impair the reception of angle-
4) Linear coverage: In HSRs, linear coverage with
modulated signals. However, since the high-speed train mostly
directional antenna along the rail track is used, where the
moves along a scheduled line with a known speed, it is possible
directional BS antennas orientate their main lobe along the rail
to track and compensate for the Doppler shift by using the real-
track so that it is power-efficient. The linear coverage brings 1) Business level: LTE-R needs to support the traditional
some benefits, e.g., with the known location of a train, it is applications of GSM-R, such as group call service, broadcast
possible to design distance/time-based beamforming algorithms service, functional addressing, etc. The Multimedia Broadcast
with good performance. However, it is noteworthy that the link Multicast Service (MBMS) of LTE, which is designed to
budget and performance analysis of linear coverage is different provide efficient delivery of broadcast and multicast services,
from the circular cell of cellular system, e.g., for the would be a possible solution to provide group call and
determination of percentage of coverage area. It is well known broadcast services. The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a
that due to the effect of shadow fading, some locations within protocol for controlling multimedia communication sessions
the coverage area will have a received signal below a particular and the SIP addressing would be a possible solution to provide
threshold. Computing how the boundary coverage relates to the functional addressing in LTE-R.
overall percentage of coverage area is very useful for link
budget and network planning. In Figure 4, we compare the
determination of percentage of the coverage area for linear and
circular cells [20] using the Hata-based link budget model,
where we can see that the linear coverage in HSRs generally
has a higher percentage of coverage area. This should be
carefully considered when designing LTE-R networks, to avoid
an over-deployment of BSs.
5) Sparse multipaths: Sparse multipath channels represent
a sparse distribution of resolvable paths in the angle-delay-
Doppler domain. As in some open areas of HSRs, e.g., viaduct,
and rural areas, there are few scatterers. The linear coverage of
Figure 5 Future all-IP core network for HSR scenario. MME:
HSR also reduces the number of the scatterers that can be seen mobility management entity, SAEGW: system architecture
by Tx/Rx. It is possible to have a sparse multipath channel in evolution gateway, GGSN: gateway GPRS support node. AAA:
those environments. However, support for multiple-input authentication, authorization, and accounting.
multiple-output (MIMO) transmission will be an integral part 2) Terminal level: the future HSR terminal should support
of LTE-R. The performances of multi-antenna solutions such both GSM-R and LTE-R. A multi-mode mobile terminal with
as spatial diversity and spatial multiplexing depend on the low complexity is a possible solution, whose disadvantages
scattering richness in the environments. If the HSR channel such as high power consumption and large size are not
turns to be sparse in those open areas, the clear LOS and few problems for the HSR communication system.
scatterers lead to strong correlation between signals of two 3) Access network level: direct coexistence of access
antennas, and reduce both diversity and spatial multiplexing network between GSM-R and LTE-R would be difficult since
gain. It has been indicated that in certain sparse environments they both use different access technologies. It is possible for
reconfigurable antenna array [21] can improve system capacity. the two networks to share sites at the first step and use software
6) Impact of train car: A high-speed train usually is over defined radio (SDR) in the evolution from GSM-R to LTE-R.
200 m long, and made of metal. The static high-speed train acts 4) Core network level: as pointed out by the UIC E-Train
as a scatterer with strong reflection and increases the delay report [6], IP technology is the basic technology used for
spread, whereas the dynamic nature of the high-speed train converging network capability. The goal of the HSR core
significantly increases the non-stationarity of channels. The network is to achieve an all-IP core network, which is
large metal roof of the train also increases reflections and illustrated in Figure 5, where GSM-R, LTE-R, wireless local
scatterings near the Rx, and significantly affects the pattern of area networks (WLAN), and Trans-European Trunked Radio
the Rx antenna on the roof. Moreover, propagation into the (TETRA) are all connected to the core network. The all-IP core
interior of the high-speed train leads to large penetration loss network supports end-to-end IP connectivity, distributed
and reduces SNR. The coverage inside the train car could be control and services, and gateways to legacy networks, where
improved with moving relays, similar to femtocell access wireless base stations can be connected to the all-IP core
points. network via IP protocol. The mobile switching center (MSC),
home location register (HLR), and authentication center (AUC)
4. GSM-R and LTE-R Coexistence of GSM-R will be replaced with the server and database of
As GSM-R support by suppliers is committed until at least LTE-R, and the protocol of signaling network will be replaced
2028, and UIC has started the work on the succession of GSM- with IP protocol. The whole network will evolve from vertical
R since 2009, it is expected that the co-existence between LTE- tree structure to distributed routing structure.
R and GSM-R will last for a long time. This can be elaborated
from several aspects:
5. Conclusion [9] UIC GSM-R Operators Group, “GSM-R system requirements
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[4] 3GPP TS 36.201, “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E- sparse multipath with reconfigurable antenna arrays,” IEEE Journal of
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[5] D. Taylor, N. Lofmark, and M. McKavanagh, “Survey on Biographies
operational communications - study for the evolution of the railway Ruisi He ([Link]@[Link]) received his B.E. and
communications system,” Final report for the European Railway Ph.D. degrees from Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU),
Agency (ERA), 2014, pp. 1-106. Beijing, China, in 2009 and 2015, respectively. He is currently
[6] G. Barbu, “Broadband communication with moving trains, an associate professor with the State Key Laboratory of Rail
technology state of the art,” UIC E-Train Technology Report, 2010, pp. Traffic Control and Safety, BJTU. His current research
1-32. interests include radio propagation, LTE-Railways, and 5G
[7] K. D. Masur and D. Mandoc, “LTE/SAE – the future railway communications. Dr. He serves as the Early Career
mobile radio system: long-term vision on railway mobile radio Representative of Commission C, International Union of Radio
technologies,” UIC Technology Report, 2009. Science (URSI), and he received the URSI Young Scientist
[8] ECC Report 162, “Practical mechanism to improve the Award in 2015.
compatibility between GSM-R and public mobile networks and
guidance on practical coordination,” 2011, pp. 1-54.
 Bo Ai (Corresponding Author; boai@[Link]) is now Andreas F. Molisch (molisch@[Link]) is Professor of
working in the State Key Lab of Rail Traffic Control and Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California,
Safety at Beijing Jiaotong University as a full professor and Ph. where he is also currently Director of the Communication
D. candidate advisor. He is the Deputy Director of State Key Sciences Institute. His research interest is wireless
Lab of Rail Traffic Control and Safety. He has authored/co- communications, with emphasis on wireless propagation
authored 6 books and published over 230 academic research channels, multi-antenna systems, ultrawideband signaling and
papers in his research area. He has hold 21 invention patents. localization, novel cellular architectures, and cooperative
He is an IET Fellow. He is an Associate Editor of IEEE communications. He is the author of four books, 18 book
Transactions on Consumer Electronics and an Editorial chapters, more than 450 journal and conference papers, as well
Committee Member of the Wireless Personal Communications. as 80 patents. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of
Inventors, Fellow of IEEE, AAAS, and IET, Member of the
Gongpu Wang (gpwang@[Link]) received the [Link]. Austrian Academy of Sciences, and recipient of numerous
degree in communication engineering from Anhui University, awards.
Hefei, Anhui, China, in 2001, the [Link]. degree from Beijing
University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China, Cear Briso-Rodriguez ([Link]@[Link]) received the
in 2004. From 2004 to 2007, he was an assistant professor in Eng. and Ph.D. degrees in Telecommunications Engineering
School of Network Education, Beijing University of Posts and from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Spain, in
Telecommunications. He received the Ph.D. degree from 1996 and 1999, respectively. He was awarded the prize for the
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, in 2011. After best Ph.D. in GSM communications by the Spanish
graduation, he joined School of Computer and Information Association of Telecommunication Engineers. Since 2005, he
Technology, Beijing Jiaotong University, China, where he is is full Professor of the ETSIS Telecomunicación of the UPM.
currently an Associate Professor. His research interests include His research activities have been focused on design and
wireless communication theory and signal processing development of high frequency communication systems for
technologies. complex environments.

Ke Guan (kguan@[Link]) received B.E. degree and Claude Oestges ([Link]@[Link]) received
Ph.D. degree from Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU) in 2006 M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from UCL in
and 2014, respectively. He is an Associate Professor in State 1996 and 2000. He is presently a research associate of the
Key Laboratory of Rail Traffic Control and Safety & School of Belgian Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique and professor with
Electronic and Information Engineering, BJTU. In 2015, he has the Electrical Engineering Department, Institute for
been awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship for Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and
Postdoctoral Researchers. He was the recipient of a 2014 Applied Mathematics, UCL. He also currently serves as an
International Union of Radio Science (URSI) Young Scientist Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Antennas and
Award. His current research interests are in the field of Propagation and IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology.
measurement and modeling of wireless propagation channels He is the author or co-author of two books and more than 170
for high-speed railway communications and future terahertz journal papers and conference communications, and was the
communication systems. He has authored/co-authored overv70 recipient of the 1999-2000 IET Marconi Premium Award and
research papers in international journals and conferences. the 2004 IEEE Vehicular Technology Society Neal Shepherd
Award.
Zhangdui Zhong (zhdzhong@[Link]) is a professor
at Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU). He is now a chief
scientist with the State Key Laboratory of Rail Traffic Control
and Safety at BJTU. He is also a director of the Innovative
Research Team of the Ministry of Education, and a chief
scientist with the Ministry of Railways in China. His research
interests are wireless communications for railways, control
theory and techniques for railways, and Global System for
Mobile Communications-railway. He received the
MaoYiSheng Scientific Award of China, the ZhanTianYou
Railway Honorary Award of China, and the Top 10
Science/Technology Achievements Award of Chinese
Universities.