SDN-based Mobility Architecture for the FSO Train- Trackside Communication

The key challenge in providing high-speed internet on trains is the rate of handovers due to the speed of the train, which may result in reduced service quality and throughput for under-planned networks. In this manuscript, we propose a software-defined-network (SDN)-based mobility architecture for the handover management in train-trackside communications. An experimental SDN free space optics link using the off-the-shelf components is developed and implemented to evaluate the system performance in terms of the data throughput and the packet loss while handover is performed. We show that the proposed scheme offers seamless handover with the data transfer and throughput of 250 Mbps, respectively dropping down to 196 Mbps during the handover time.