Radio system TRainCom® MAGLEV
Since 1983, data transmission for the test vehicle Transrapid 06 running on the Emsland Transrapid Test Facility (TVE) had been provided by means of a slotted waveguide system from MBB (Messerschmitt Bölkow Blohm).
The investment in developing the new test vehicle, Transrapid 07, now led to a revision and re-specification of the operational control system and data transmission technology.
Back in the 1970s and the early 1980s, AEG Telefunken had been contracted by the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology (BMFT) to prepare studies on data transmission for track-guided high-speed transport systems.
In 1987, the Transrapid consortium decided to give AEG Telefunken the responsibility to develop a new radio solution, which meets the specific requirements for Transrapid. AEG Olympia in Ulm took overall management responsibility for this development task, which received financial support from the German government (BMFT).
The work was split between the transmission engineering unit Telefunken Sendertechnik in Berlin and the high-frequency engineering unit in Ulm. A decision was reached in favour of data transmission in the mm-wave range. Up to this point, the 40 GHz frequency range had not been commercially exploited.
Considering the experience of TELEFUNKEN in the field of radar technology as a basis, this frequency range is especially suitable for radio communication with track-guided high-speed vehicles.
The reasons are:
The investment in developing the new test vehicle, Transrapid 07, now led to a revision and re-specification of the operational control system and data transmission technology.
Back in the 1970s and the early 1980s, AEG Telefunken had been contracted by the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology (BMFT) to prepare studies on data transmission for track-guided high-speed transport systems.
In 1987, the Transrapid consortium decided to give AEG Telefunken the responsibility to develop a new radio solution, which meets the specific requirements for Transrapid. AEG Olympia in Ulm took overall management responsibility for this development task, which received financial support from the German government (BMFT).
The work was split between the transmission engineering unit Telefunken Sendertechnik in Berlin and the high-frequency engineering unit in Ulm. A decision was reached in favour of data transmission in the mm-wave range. Up to this point, the 40 GHz frequency range had not been commercially exploited.
Considering the experience of TELEFUNKEN in the field of radar technology as a basis, this frequency range is especially suitable for radio communication with track-guided high-speed vehicles.
The reasons are:
Through high concentration, the antenna radiation is focused on the track which means that the transmitter power can be kept in the milliwatt range
For the same reason as above the penetration of active interference into the reception path from outside the route is hindered. Propagation takes place in an unhindered manner as in the case of optical sight so that there is no need to maintain power reserves and the radio field planning requires less effort than in the case of lower mobile radio frequencies. The large transmission bandwidths that are needed can be made available. It is possible to provide strong signal concentration through antennas with small radoms, thus ensuring low air resistance and noise generation. Double track sections of line can be served by a single radio system. In 1989, the new radio transmission system was implemented on the TVE and on December 15 Transrapid 07 set a new speed record of 271 mph, which in turn was broken on 17 June 1993 when the Transrapid rail unit reached 280 mph.
Successful operation of the test facility led to the decision by the German federal government in 1992 to include the MAGLEV high-speed rail link Berlin-Hamburg in its federal infrastructure plan. In 1994, the Bundesrat and Bundestag of the German parliament passed the magnetic levitation railway planning law, thus creating the legal basis for the planning and approval of high-speed railway routes in Germany. The planning for the Berlin-Hamburg route led to a modernization of the TVE, during the course of which a new preproduction vehicle, Transrapid 08, and the improved version of the radio system developed at Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) were brought into operation. The main improvements were: multi-vehicle operation, additional transmission capacity, an improved redundancy concept, increased radio transmission reliability thanks to advanced diversity methods and the introduction of circular polarization of antennas.
The decision not to build the Berlin-Hamburg MAGLEV route in February 2000 was a severe setback for the magnetic levitation system. However, test operations on the TVE continued and from June to October 2000 the facility was a major attraction at the EXPO 2000 World Trade Fair as an off-site exhibit of the event held in Hanover. The journey undertaken by the Chinese premier Zhu Rongji and his high-ranking delegation at this time led to the conclusion of the contract for the realization of the Shanghai Airport link. The contractual partners are the City of Shanghai and the industrial consortium of Siemens, ThyssenKrupp and Transrapid International. TELEFUNKEN RACOMS supplied the 38 GHz radio system to the Siemens Transportation Systems Group for the first commercially operated Transrapid magnetic levitation railway system.
At the end of 2002, the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Housing placed a contract with the industrial consortium to upgrade the TVE and its various subsystems to the latest technical standards. This order also covered the already installed radio transmission system. Upon completion of the conversion work at the end of February 2004 and the subsequent safety tests and trials on the overall system, German Rail (Deutsche Bahn AG) was due to take over the upgraded test facility in early 2005 for normal operations. Meanwhile the Transrapid test facility is operated and managed by IABG.
For the same reason as above the penetration of active interference into the reception path from outside the route is hindered. Propagation takes place in an unhindered manner as in the case of optical sight so that there is no need to maintain power reserves and the radio field planning requires less effort than in the case of lower mobile radio frequencies. The large transmission bandwidths that are needed can be made available. It is possible to provide strong signal concentration through antennas with small radoms, thus ensuring low air resistance and noise generation. Double track sections of line can be served by a single radio system. In 1989, the new radio transmission system was implemented on the TVE and on December 15 Transrapid 07 set a new speed record of 271 mph, which in turn was broken on 17 June 1993 when the Transrapid rail unit reached 280 mph.
Successful operation of the test facility led to the decision by the German federal government in 1992 to include the MAGLEV high-speed rail link Berlin-Hamburg in its federal infrastructure plan. In 1994, the Bundesrat and Bundestag of the German parliament passed the magnetic levitation railway planning law, thus creating the legal basis for the planning and approval of high-speed railway routes in Germany. The planning for the Berlin-Hamburg route led to a modernization of the TVE, during the course of which a new preproduction vehicle, Transrapid 08, and the improved version of the radio system developed at Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) were brought into operation. The main improvements were: multi-vehicle operation, additional transmission capacity, an improved redundancy concept, increased radio transmission reliability thanks to advanced diversity methods and the introduction of circular polarization of antennas.
The decision not to build the Berlin-Hamburg MAGLEV route in February 2000 was a severe setback for the magnetic levitation system. However, test operations on the TVE continued and from June to October 2000 the facility was a major attraction at the EXPO 2000 World Trade Fair as an off-site exhibit of the event held in Hanover. The journey undertaken by the Chinese premier Zhu Rongji and his high-ranking delegation at this time led to the conclusion of the contract for the realization of the Shanghai Airport link. The contractual partners are the City of Shanghai and the industrial consortium of Siemens, ThyssenKrupp and Transrapid International. TELEFUNKEN RACOMS supplied the 38 GHz radio system to the Siemens Transportation Systems Group for the first commercially operated Transrapid magnetic levitation railway system.
At the end of 2002, the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Housing placed a contract with the industrial consortium to upgrade the TVE and its various subsystems to the latest technical standards. This order also covered the already installed radio transmission system. Upon completion of the conversion work at the end of February 2004 and the subsequent safety tests and trials on the overall system, German Rail (Deutsche Bahn AG) was due to take over the upgraded test facility in early 2005 for normal operations. Meanwhile the Transrapid test facility is operated and managed by IABG.