Huawei GSM-R Distributed Base Station Successfully Applied to the Da-Qin Railway

New technology ensures quick and efficient transportation of 400 million tons of coal, dramatically reducing operational risks for customers

Shanghai, China, August 5, 2013 - Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, has successfully applied its GSM-R distributed base station DBS3900 to the China Da-Qin railway to replace the existing repeater equipment, a global first for the railway industry that is expected to bring enhanced efficiency and safety to the heavy load Da-Qin Line.

The Da-Qin line spans a total of 653 km and acts like a main artery of China’s coal transportation network, responsible for nearly one-fifth of the nation’s coal shipments by rail, amounting to around 400 million tons of coal per year. Having successfully applied Huawei GSM-R network to the Da-Qin railway in 2004, Da-Qin railway was awarded the China National Science and Technology Progress First Award in 2008. Due to the large number of tunnels, long slopes, and other complex terrain making up the Da-Qin railway, the traditional repeater was installed to meet the wireless coverage requirement. But as repeaters are often short-lived, the railway was affected by the poor anti-jamming capability and declining network performance of the aging repeater. After an agreement with the customer to replace the repeater with the GSM-R DBS3900, Huawei has successfully completed the installation and commissioning of 70 sets of distributed base station equipment between April 14 to May 5, 2013 to greatly enhance network performance and running of the Da-Qin railway.

Caption: Through radio remote technology, the RF module can be installed separately, realizing wireless coverage in complex environments.

"As railway industry customers need to ensure safety when enhancing railway transport capacity, the use of advanced, secure, and reliable information technology is critical," said Xu Zhiyu, General Manager of Huawei Enterprise Business Group Wireless Product. "With our extensive experience and insights in railway wireless communication technology evolution, Huawei strives to provide reliable communications solutions to the railway industry that will allow customers to save cost and achieve sustained profitability."

The Huawei GSM-R offers flexible network solution with traditional macro base station and distributed base station DBS3900 to meet the coverage needs of different railways. Compared to the traditional macro base station, GSM-R can allow system gains of up to 3- 5 dB and improvement in coverage radius by over 20%. The DBS3900 meets the European Train Control System Level 2 (ETCS L2) signal system requirement and supports interoperation with equipment from different manufacturers. It has higher stability, reliability, adaptability, and flexibility compared to the traditional repeater as it includes a baseband processing unit (BBU) and a radio remote unit (RRU), and supports smooth expansion and evolution to LTE. Through radio remote technology, the RF module can be installed separately, thereby realizing wireless coverage in complex environments. As the RRU can be installed on top of a tower, lower feeder length required can save feeder cost and reduce loss. Due to these advantages, the Huawei GSM-R has seen wide adoption by advanced railways worldwide including in China, Europe, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Australia. In 2012, Huawei has won 61% of the new overseas GSM-R contracts, ranking first in the industry. As of June 30, 2013, Huawei GSM-R network has covered more than 14,000 km of railways, up to 48% of China's GSM-R market share.

Leveraging leading innovative ICT technology and a complete product line, Huawei has heavily invested in railway industry solutions in the past 10 years. Huawei provides new and customized GSM-R network construction solution as well as mature, efficient and sustainable development network operation and maintenance solutions to ensure railway transportation capacity for customers.