FIFTH Project solutions demonstrating new satellite broadband communication system for high speed train

Currently, the mobile broadband access service, for a very large number of Internet users, is growing. At the same time, mobile telecommunication technology proposes new and challenging solutions to reach users everywhere. The FIFTH (fast Internet for fast train hosts) Project, co-founded by the European Commission in the 5/sup th/ Framework IST, proposes a new and challenging network solution to make Internet access available, through broadband GEO-satellites, to high speed train passengers. A new mobile satellite terminal technology has been studied and a prototype has been designed and developed for a practical implementation in suitable demonstrator scenarios. The paper describes the end-to-end GEO-satellite network designed and implemented in a demonstrator framework of the FIFTH Project and installed in a suitable railway coach to execute experiments on the Italian railway network.