Emulation of Rail and Automotive Applications based on Adaptable Communication System

Communication requirements of railway operators for different types of services, including voice, video, railway signalling, data transmission are growing fast. As such requirements on railway communications evolve, there is a need to move towards new telecommunication technologies. The European Railways Train Management System (ERTMS) utilizes the Global System for Mobile Communications - Railway (GSM-R) as the legacy telecommunication network connecting trains with the ground. Such technology is to be substituted since it cannot satisfy an increasing demand of connectivity for new railway applications. Shift2Rail partners have agreed on adopting the Adaptable Communication System (ACS) as the reference system architecture for implementing the successor of the GSM-R. This paper proposes an ACS model along with its implementation, based on solution, which relies on internet protocol suite as an alternative to the deployment of a dedicated network infrastructure. Test results presented and discussed in this article have been used to assess the performance and effectiveness of the proposed solution. Finally, the paper also proposes an extension of the ACS concept from the rail sector to the automotive sector.