Source: telespazio.it
The 3InSat (Train Integrated Safety Satellite System) project, co-funded as part of the ESA‘s ARTES 20 programme and guided by Ansaldo STS, has successfully completed the test phase to verify the integration of satellite technology in railway transport.
During the operating tests carried out in Sardinia (Italy) in co-operation with RadioLabs, the ability to carry railway signalling communications between the train and the relevant control centres using MSS narrowband satellite communication systems was ascertained for the first time.
Telespazio has been working with Ansaldo STS since 2012, in order to identify and verify this “new model” of railway communication: the satellite may, in actual fact, play an essential role in guaranteeing service coverage in remote areas, thus reducing operating costs for railway network communications, particular on low-density routes.
Today’s railway signalling market requires more competitive, reliable and cost-effective solutions: telecommunications technology is in continual evolution and the key to success lies in the research, knowledge and integration of all available technologies.
As part of the research project, Telespazio has provided Ansaldo STS with its own engineering experience in the field of satellite service integration and, as a Value Added Reseller of Inmarsat products and services, made available the satellite traffic used for the test phases. The system uses the Inmarsat BGAN satellite platform, together with the Vodafone M2M data service. Telespazio, which plays an essential role in management of the EGNOS and Galileo systems and development of services, also works with Ansaldo STS in studies and experiments into the use of satellite navigation in railway signalling.
The second 3InSat test campaign will be starting in October, and will allow the start of experiments into the concept of localisation based on Satellite Navigation, and in particular on EGNOS, in this promising application domain, naturally associated with telecommunication services.
