Clear CinCom - GSM-R Experienced Telecom Consultants

WHY BUILDING A GSM-R NETWORK IS DIFFERENT

Clear CinCom has been offering GSM-R consulting services for over ten years. As a hands-on consultancy, we are familiar with every aspect of the network planning, validation and optimization. We can assist you in every step of the roll-out or auditing of a GSM-R network. In the following sections we shortly describe each aspect in the process of building a GSM-R network. Click on any of the links for illustrative information.

Why GSM-R is Different from Traditional Radio Planning

Since the specification of GSM-R were set in the year 2000, radio planners and consultants have struggled with GSM-R network requirements and specifics. From a radio planner's perspective, there are many areas in which the construction of a GSM-R network differs significantly from a traditional GSM network.

Firstly, government mandated requirements are much stricter for GSM-R than for most other cellular networks. This makes sense: when a GSM-R network fails to perform, consequences can be disastrous. GSM-R is a vital part of railway infrastructure.

Secondly, while a traditional radio planner aims to cover a wide area as efficiently as possible (using so-called hexagonal planning), a GSM-R network essentially forms a long line along a railway route. This 'two-dimensional planning' requires a new way of thinking that traditional radio planners usually have a hard time getting their heads around.

Finally, a number of GSM-R specific features make that experience a necessity to do them right: the definition of Voice Group Call Service Areas, the specific Requirements for Handheld and Train Mounted Radios, engineered Handovers which must be able to work for speeds up to 500 km/hr and then there is the difficulty that only 19 frequencies are available in GSM-R.

Experience specific to building GSM-R networks comes in handy when it comes to working in dangerous freight rail yards, open lines, railway sidings and specialized railway support trains.

Clear CinCom and GSM-R

The staff of Clear CinCom has been working with GSM-R intensively since their work on the very first GSM-R enabled route in Europe. Here are some examples of GSM-R projects recently completed by Clear CinCom:

Implementation of the GSM-R radio network at Schiphol Airport
High Speed Line Redundant Coverage (ERTMS/ETCS)
Betuwe Route Freight Line Redundant Coverage (ERTMS/ETCS)
Maasvlakte and Euromax Rail Freight Terminals
Voice Group Call Areas Reconfiguration (in the busy Utrecht Area of The Netherlands)
Nominal Cell Plan and Final Design for the Hanzelijn (new rail line linking the cities of Zwolle and Lelystad)
Nominal Cell Plan and Final Design for the Tunis to Sfax Rail Line in Tunisia

See our complete project list

Case Study: At Full Speed from Amsterdam to Paris

One of the larger GSM-R projects performed by Clear CinCom, was the planning, optimisation and validation of the GSM-R network for the new high speed railway connection between Amsterdam and Paris. In this Case Study the major steps of setting up the GSM-R network are described, making this a concrete example of the Clear CinCom approach.

GSM-R Case Study