MOFETA: A network architecture based on MObile FEmtocells to enhance cellular connectivity on TrAins

Abstract

Nowadays the quality of the indoor coverage on trains is not enough to offer broadband services, mainly due to two factors: the high penetration losses caused by Faraday cage characteristics of the railcars and the high speeds reached. In this paper we aim to enhance the 3G indoor coverage on trains by setting up femtocells inside the railcars and establishing several wireless interfaces along the roof of the train. We design an architecture to connect the train to the fixed network in a transparent manner, so that the end users do not experience service disruptions during the journey. Finally, we deploy a testbed to evaluate the performance of the mobility management system based on test results. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.