Jan/Feb 2004

Can wireless networking ever offer mobile workers a real alternative to downloading data with mobile phones? A bid to provide seamless wi-fi coverage on train journeys could provide some pointers

Following earlier trials, the first Wi-Fi equipped train is now running on the GNER service between London Kings Cross, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland. In theory passengers should be able to log on to the Internet from their laptop or handheld computers anywhere on the journey. The train company is calling it "the first truly mobile office".

Only one train has been equipped initially, but the company says it is gauging customer reaction, and then will assess plans for a roll-out across its entire train fleet. Its provisional plan is to equip all ten of its high-speed diesel-operated trains first, then its 30 electric 225 trains. Many GNER trains already have mains electrical sockets for passengers, circumventing the problem of laptop batteries running out.

Whilst the perception to customers is of a single, seamless service, in fact a lot of complex technology underpins this concept. Key suppliers to GNER are Brand Communications, a mobile data and remote access specialist, and Nomad Digital, a Wi-Fi "aggregator" and commercial hotspot operator based in the North East. Another key player has been Swedish developer Icomera, which has developed a complete solution called Wireless Onboard Internet.

 

As the suppliers explain it, the system works by "flooding" rail carriages with a wireless signal that allows passengers to connect to the Internet via a control unit on the train. Behind this is a communications engine developed by Brand, which automatically manages data devices and optimises graphics to speed up access.

Essential to the concept is the system's ability to provide seamless roaming across all the bearers (network providers), or to "aggregate" bandwidth as required to achieve a high-speed service. This means data may at any given time be sent down any of the public operators' networks, and will also take advantage automatically of services such as high-speed microwave or satellite links as they come into range. It continually monitors the performance and integrity of each data "pipe" to ensure that optimal use is made of it.

It also buffers data, ensuring continuity of connection. That should mean users don't have to re-start their Internet session following interruptions such as when a train enters a tunnel.

However, the mobile phone companies aren't taking all this lying down. One of them, Orange, has been conducting trials on the same GNER East Coast Main Line route to get over the problem of maintaining the signal strength to passengers when trains enter tunnels. It is said to have found that the answer is essentially to position special transmission masts strategically near tunnel entrances.

Tests have also been under way at an Alstom test facility in the Midlands. Following further trials, Orange says it might set up the necessary infrastructure on up to 40 tunnels and cuttings on the main lines from London to the North East, North West and South West over the next couple of years. The only drawback is that the system would evidently be useful only to Orange users: a handy marketing benefit, but one implying unnecessary duplication of resources if all operators were to follow suit.

This is by no means the only scheme under way to improve the performance of mainstream mobile phone networks. BT Wholesale, for instance, has just launched a system called Microconnect TP, in which it fits low-powered transmitters to telegraph poles to boost signal strength in urban areas or beauty spots. It all adds up to steadily improving mobile network coverage.

Meanwhile, the companies behind GNER's Wi-Fi initiative are already marketing the system to other train operators, and according to Nomad Digital Rail chairman Dr Nigel Wallbridge: "Virtually every train operator in the UK has expressed interest in providing this kind of service to customers." They also say foreign operators have shown interest.

Whilst the precise demand for this kind of service is unclear, Nomad points out that 3.8 million people in the UK are expected to be using Wi-Fi by 2006, and the UK rail service currently provides one billion passenger journeys a year - a figure predicted to increase 50 per cent over the next ten years.

Brand says the system has been fully tested with 3G handsets and technology, and the train solution will incorporate this as it becomes generally available. In trials, it says 18 gigabytes of data have been sent to and from the train in a single journey.

Has the train taken the strain for you?

What's your experience with rail-borne Wi-Fi? Drop us a note. We'd be very interested to know how users have found the service. Its success should give clues as to how Wi-Fi networks may evolve into a ubiquitous Internet access system for field workers in general. Write to editorial@mlogmag.com.

Pacific air passengers to go online

Airline as well as rail passengers can look forward to an increasingly connected future. The latest move in this direction comes with an announcement that Connection by Boeing, a division of the aircraft giant, has signed an agreement with Worldsat, part of satellite giant SES AMERICOM, to provide airborne communications to trans-Pacific travellers. The facilities will be provided by Worldsat-3, a new satellite which is expected to cover the whole Pacific region from Alaska to New Zealand and California to Malaysia.