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年中，乘客人数增加了一倍，并将在未来25年再次加倍。铁路行业不能依靠更多的轨道来满足这一增长。为了解开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沟通基础设施准备5G沟通基础设施，旨在提供与毫秒延迟的超高性能连接，每次传输速率，以及密集的覆盖范围，以启用更连接的设备，操作设备，操作，可靠性，可靠性，可靠性，可靠性，可靠性，可靠性和可靠性。 5G需要沿着大型地理铁路线扩散的大型小单元基站，该电台沿着高塔基站的能力相辅相成，使信号更接近火车和乘客，并实现超高速度的覆盖范围和密集的乘客连接。但是，由于所需的高密度基础站（需要一个基站大约每个米）和相关的电源，因此5G推出落后于在基础设施内安装小单元基站。与铁路线一起运行电缆到路线源或使用电池为基站供电的电缆并不是这种情况的可行选择。现有高压25/50 kV的导轨电气化系统的新设备的安装，例如变压器，为低压小型电池基站提供动力。沿如此大的地理铁路线路的连通性和覆盖范围更大，对于5G推出至关重要，但必须具有不需要电源电缆，没有电池并且易于安装的解决方案。解决此类问题的一种强大方法是使用新颖的能源收集（EH）技术发现可持续的动力解决方案。这里提出的工程研究思想是通过收集由桅杆围绕电动铁路系统的电流产生的高电磁场通量能量来发现一种可持续的，自动的解决方案，从而为下一代5G铁路通信提供动力。这里提出的投机性思想和假设是使沿广泛分布的铁路线的每个电动铁路桅杆能够成为可持续的动力来源，当火车周围运行并通过，将其转换为足够的可用电力电力并为小细胞底座供电时收获高电磁通量能量。这项研究是第一次探索铁路桅杆周围的这种能源，从而为EH提供了足够的可用功率来为小型细胞基站供电。预计，一旦成功，提出的技术将从根本上彻底改变下一代5G铁路通信将如何以能源自主和可持续的方式供电。 WP1将在电气化铁路系统中彻底了解电流，并执行能量收割机的初始设计。 WPS 2和3专注于通过建模，设计，实施和测试能量收割机来理解电磁通量EH的能力。 WP4是一项示威研究。项目工业合作伙伴是：网络铁路电信（英国），铁路行业协会（英国）和Comsa Corporation（西班牙），都是铁路行业。