Participating in a telematics meeting while viewing a live presentation aboard a train originating in Barcelona and destined for France; raising one's eyes from the screen and encountering the landscape of French Occitania. Crossing the border unnoticed and without loss of connection is the objective pursued by the 5GMed initiative. The project focuses on deploying a 5G network in a cross-border scenario: the one running between Figueres and Perpignan, both by road and by railway infrastructure. Thus, it aims to provide a sustainable 5G deployment model for future mobility in the Mediterranean Corridor, through a connectivity framework that seamlessly connects current and future mobility services.
"Currently, when you move between two countries and you are making a call or have data traffic, they will be cut off and it will take almost a minute to connect to the new network," explains the project coordinator, José López Luque. An interruption in a call, however inopportune, can be resolved, but the same does not happen in other cases. Under these conditions, technologies such as teleoperated vehicles cannot function, as they require continuous connections with responses in milliseconds. Solving this situation is precisely the objective of 5GMed, which has managed to reduce the reconnection time from nearly a minute to 150 milliseconds.
The consortium promoting the initiative, coordinated by Cellnex Telecom, has shortened this time by implementing a mobile transfer mechanism. This system, called handover, is tested through four use cases: remote automated driving, digitalization of road infrastructure, future railway telecommunications, and uninterrupted content and infotainment consumption when crossing the border. Thus, the 5G deployment carried out by the initiative translates into palpable measures, such as improved road safety and intelligent management of traffic and railway transport.
The deployment of the 5G infrastructure has been carried out taking into account that the section between Figueres and Perpignan is strategic in the trans-European transport network: it supports 55% of road traffic between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe, and 65% of rail traffic. In addition, the initiative covers a wide range of technologies. These include on-board vehicle sensors and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which in turn provide advanced connectivity services that can be scaled and reproduced on other transport routes.
To check the functionality and challenges of the new infrastructure, 5GMed carried out various demonstrations in October, which confirmed that the network offers the required capabilities for all tested use cases. During this meeting, chaired by the EC, tests included the handling of a teleoperated vehicle, driverless and remotely piloted from a control center about 30 kilometers away, López details. The head of 5GMed at Cellnex has also announced that they plan to carry out a definitive demonstration in June, after completing a network that is now 90% deployed. In this final review, the network's operation will also be checked on board a TGV. In the case of the train, the project encompasses more tools, as coverage for the convoy is guaranteed not only through 5G, but also through satellite and specific technologies.
On the other hand, the digitalization of road infrastructure through intelligent technologies will provide traffic management tools. It will do so by using information from vehicles, sensors and cameras that have been installed on the road, which will collect these data and messages to articulate strategies and measures related to traffic, in order to organize mobility. The sensors have not only been installed on the road, but will also improve railway communications: the monitoring of these sensors will expand connectivity and safety, with functions such as obstacle detection on the track.
The improvement of railway communications also aims to offer passengers and train staff a continuous connection when crossing the border. The initiative aims to enable access to high-quality, uninterrupted multimedia content while traveling. Live broadcasts, video conferences, and virtual reality without interruptions, whether traveling by train or car. This is the purpose of the fourth leg of the project, Follow-me Infotainment: to avoid interruptions and ensure connection continuity, even when there is a change of operator at the border. High speed in cross-border travel accompanied by high-speed connection.
The 5G deployment carried out by the initiative translates into tangible measures, such as improved road safety and intelligent management of traffic and railway transport.Thus, the project, mainly financed by the European Commission through the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement 951947, with a total investment of 16 million euros, is destined to transform the future of connected and automated cross-border mobility. The initiative is promoted by a consortium that includes institutions and companies from various sectors, comprising 21 partners from seven countries. The project also has the support of public administrations on both sides of the border, which have come together to prepare an infrastructure for future mobility, convinced that borders should not represent a brake on connectivity.