Discovering a Sustainable Power Solution for Next Generation 5G Railway Communication

探索下一代 5G 铁路通信的可持续电源解决方案

• 批准号: EP/X016498/1
• 负责人: Meiling Zhu
• 金额: $ 25.79万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX016498%2F1
• 关键词: Discovering; Sustainable; Power; Solution; Next

Passenger numbers have doubled in the last 20 years and are set to double again in the next 25 years. Rail industry can't rely on more track to cater for this growth. In order to unlock the challenge and increase rail capability, the railway industry and governments worldwide are preparing 5G communication infrastructure for the next generation and beyond, aiming to provide ultra-high performance connection with millisecond latency, gigabit per second transmission rate, and dense coverage to enable more connected devices, operations, passengers and interventions for safety, controllability, reliability and availability. 5G requires massive small cell base stations spread along large geographical railway lines, which complement high tower base station capability, bringing signals closer to the trains and passengers and enabling ultra-high-speed coverage and dense passenger connections. However, 5G rollout has lagged in installing small cell base stations within infrastructure due to the required high density of base stations (one base station is needed approximately every tens of meters) and the associated power supply. Running cables alongside the railway lines to wayside power sources or powering the base stations using batteries are not viable options for such scenarios. Installations of new equipment such as transformers to power the low voltage small cell base stations from the existing high voltage 25/50 kV rail electrification systems are not economically justifiable. Greater connectivity and coverage along such large geographical railway lines is critical for 5G rollout, but must have a solution that requires no power cables, no batteries and is easy to install. One powerful approach to solving such an issue is discovering a sustainable power solution using a novel energy harvesting (EH) technology. The engineering research idea proposed here is to discover a sustainable, self-powered solution by harvesting high electromagnetic field flux energy generated by currents of electrified railway systems around masts to power small cell base stations for the next generation of 5G railway communication. The speculative idea and hypothesis proposed here are to enable every electrified railway mast along the widely distributed railway lines to become a sustainable power source, harvesting high electromagnetic flux energy when the trains operate around and pass by, converting it into sufficient usable electrical power and powering small cell base stations. This research is the first time exploration of such an energy source around the railway masts for EH, enabling the supply of sufficient usable power to power small cell base stations. It is expected that once successful, the proposed technology will radically revolutionise how the next generation of 5G railway communication will be powered in an energy autonomous and sustainable way.The project is to test the proposed speculative idea and the hypothesis through 4 work packages. WP1 is to thoroughly understand electrical currents in electrified railway systems and perform initial designs of energy harvesters. WPs 2 & 3 focus on understanding electromagnetic flux EH capability via modelling, design, implementation and testing of energy harvesters. WP4 is a demonstration study.The project industrial partners are: Network Rail's Telecoms (UK), Railway Industry Association (UK) and COMSA Corporation (Spain), all from Railway industry.

在过去的20年里，乘客人数翻了一番，并将在未来的25年里再翻一番。铁路行业不能依靠更多的轨道来满足这种增长。为了解决这一挑战并提高铁路能力，全球铁路行业和政府正在为下一代及以后的5G通信基础设施做准备，旨在提供毫秒级延迟、千兆位每秒传输速率和密集覆盖的超高性能连接，使更多的连接设备、运营、乘客和干预措施具有安全性、可控性、可靠性和可用性。5G需要沿大型地理铁路线分布大量小蜂窝基站，这些基站补充了高塔基站的能力，使信号更接近列车和乘客，实现超高速覆盖和密集的乘客连接。然而，由于需要高密度的基站（大约每几十米需要一个基站）和相关的电力供应，5G的推出在基础设施内安装小型蜂窝基站方面落后。在这种情况下，沿着铁路线运行电缆到路边电源或使用电池为基站供电都不是可行的选择。安装变压器等新设备，以现有的高压25/50千伏铁路电气化系统为低压小型蜂窝基站供电，在经济上是不合理的。在如此庞大的地理铁路线上，更大的连通性和覆盖范围对于5G的推出至关重要，但必须有一个不需要电源线、不需要电池、易于安装的解决方案。解决这一问题的一个强有力的方法是利用一种新的能量收集（EH）技术发现一种可持续的电力解决方案。这里提出的工程研究思路是，通过收集电气化铁路系统在桅杆周围的电流产生的高电磁场通量能量，为下一代5G铁路通信的小型蜂窝基站供电，发现一种可持续的、自供电的解决方案。本文提出的推测性想法和假设是，使分布广泛的铁路线沿线的每一个电气化铁路桅杆成为可持续的电源，在火车运行和经过时收集高电磁通量能量，将其转化为足够的可用电能，为小型蜂窝基站供电。这项研究是首次在铁路电线杆周围探索这种能源，为小型蜂窝基站提供足够的可用电力。预计一旦成功，拟议中的技术将彻底改变下一代5G铁路通信如何以能源自主和可持续的方式供电。该项目是通过4个工作包来测试提出的投机想法和假设。WP1是彻底了解电气化铁路系统的电流，并进行能量采集器的初步设计。WPs 2和WPs 3侧重于通过建模、设计、实施和测试能量采集器来理解电磁通量EH能力。WP4是一个示范研究。该项目的工业合作伙伴是：网络铁路电信（英国），铁路工业协会（英国）和COMSA公司（西班牙），均来自铁路行业。