Cellular network quality improvements for high speed train passengers by on-board amplify-and-forward relays

In this paper, we evaluate the impact of moving cells for various cellular network services and User Equipments (UEs). We conduct measurements and analyze parameters such as RSCP and RSRP, as well as application data rate. Coverage can be significantly improved for High Speed Train (HST) passengers, differently in context of space diversity. The measurements are conducted from December 2015 to April 2016 along railroad from Vienna to Salzburg. We show that there is performance improvement when employing two amplify-and-forward Moving Relay Nodes (MRNs) onboard the HST compared to direct transmission from macro sites. To tackle with high Vehicular Penetration Loss (VPL), unpredictable and unstable throughput, and worst case scenario onboard the HST, we investigate network performance based on descriptive statistics.