5G Channel Models for Railway Use Cases at mmWave Band and the Path Towards Terahertz

High-speed trains are one of the most relevant scenarios for the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communications and the smart rail mobility vision, where a high-data-rate wireless connectivity with up to several GHz bandwidths will be required. This is a strong motivation for the exploration of millimeter wave (mmWave) band. In this article, we identify the main challenges and make progress towards realistic 5G mmWave channel models for railway use cases. In order to cope with the challenge of including the railway features in the channel models, we define reference scenarios to help the parameterization of channel models for railway use at mmWave band. Simulations and the subsequent measurements used to validate the model reflect the detailed influence of railway objects and the accuracy of the simulations. Finally, we point out the future directions towards the full version of the smart rail mobility which will be powered by terahertz (THz) communications.

Automated summary

This article focuses on developing realistic 5G mmWave channel models for high-speed trains, addressing the need for high-speed wireless connectivity with multiple GHz bandwidths. By defining reference scenarios to parameterize channel models for railway use at mmWave band, the accuracy of simulations reflecting the detailed influence of railway objects is validated. The future direction points towards terahertz (THz) communications powering the full version of smart rail mobility.