Korenix 4706 PoE Switch provides Broadband connectivity on Virgin trains

Korenix UK has been awarded a contract for the supply of 477 of its Korenix PoE (Power-over-Ethernet) switches to Nomad Digital, a UK-based provider of specialist mobile networks, for use on Virgin’s ‘Pendolino’ passenger trains.

The switches are currently being installed and tested on 70 Pendolino trains, across more than 600 carriages. The function of the switches is to power the communications technologies on board the carriages, which provide passengers with a reliable, seamless Broadband connection. The Nomad Digital Rail System is due to ‘go live’ in August 2008.

The Nomad Digital Rail (NDR) system works by flooding rail carriages with a wireless signal that allows passengers to connect to the Internet via a Train Control Unit (TCU) located on the train. Passengers can use any laptop or PDA fitted with a standard WiFi adapter (IEEE802.11b). To ensure a reliable service, the Nomad Rail system includes a number of features, including seamless switching between different backhaul data networks and technologies, ensuring continuity of connection to the train, without the end user losing their IP session.

The benefit for the passengers is a reliable and seamless broadband connection to the Internet throughout a train journey. Passengers are able to browse the Internet, send and receive emails or connect to a corporate data service from the comfort of their seat on the train, without the need for additional plugs, wires, adapters, software, hardware or mobile phones.

For the train operator, the Nomad Rail system enables the improvement of train services to customers. As well as allowing operators to offer Internet access to passengers, the system can be used to create a secure WLAN environment within the train. The train operator can therefore provide facilities such as an entertainment network, including audio streaming, multiplayer games and journey progress maps. The operator can also improve train management through a train-borne Intranet for management information, an internal email system, stock control systems, CCTV web cam surveillance and data logging services.

Robert Brown, Operations Manager at Nomad Digital comments: “We needed an industrial, ruggedised PoE switch that was capable of running on a DC power supply from the train. We approached three or four suppliers, but Korenix was the most responsive in terms of technical support and adaptability. For example, we required a special coating to be applied to the housing of the switch, in order to comply with rail industry regulations, which Korenix were happy to do. The switch was also competitively priced for such a high quality unit.”

Providing trains and other public transportation systems with the latest wireless broadband data communications is a rapidly growing market. The storage environment for PoE devices is usually separated from passengers, often located in a hot and humid storage room with no air conditioning. The PoE device must therefore be designed to withstand these temperature fluctuations, as well as providing anti-shock capability and protection from ingress of water.

Andy Cross, Korenix Product Manager at Korenix UK comments: “Seamless connection is achieved on board the train by providing WiFi connectivity within each carriage, then placing special WiMax transceivers at each end of the train. One Korenix Jet PoE switch per carriage is used to power the WiFi and WiMax access units on the train. 3G and Edge are also provided, giving the passenger four different communication methods, enabling seamless connectivity while on board the train. Nomad Digital wrote the software code for the communications processors which are positioned at the front end of the train, which enable convergence of these four communications technologies.”  

Nomad Digital was the first company in the UK to trial WiFi on-board trains and the first company to trial IEEE802.16 as a backhaul technology for trains. This enabled Nomad to deliver the first bi-directional broadband connectivity to trains (>6MB/s bi-directional) and continuous broadband connectivity to trains traveling through tunnels and/or underground. Nomad is also the first company to demonstrate high-speed data link service (32Mbps bi-directional to/from train) for passenger entertainment companies.

PoE technology brings power, as well as data transfer, to devices via standard twisted-pair Ethernet cabling in a network. In effect, PoE provides a new standards-based method for power sourcing equipment to provide power to a wide variety of powered devices (PDs) in areas where it is physically or financially prohibitive to offer AC power.

The cost savings and reliability improvements associated with not having to install and maintain power wiring in addition to Ethernet cabling, especially in remote locations, provide the incentive for many industrial, utility and transportation companies to immediately evaluate this technology.

The Jet PoE 4706 is an industrial managed, dual-mode PoE power sourcing switch, manufactured by Korenix an emerging supplier of Ethernet connectivity devices based in Taiwan. The UK arm of Korenix is based in Redditch, and is a specialist provider of open connectivity Ethernet solutions to the transportation market.

The JetNet 4706 is a six-port Fast Ethernet Industrial Managed Switch, with four 10/100TX ports (PoE injectors) and two 10/100TX uplink ports and unique dual mode 24V and 48V DC power source capability.

JetNet 4706 complies with IEEE802.3af and the pre-standard for PoE High Power IEEE802.3at. This Power over Ethernet standard can now provide up to 30W PoE high power. But what makes the device stand out from the crowd is that it caters for both standard and non-standard power source systems.

Designed in a one-piece rugged IP31 aluminium housing for harsh industrial and transportation/infrastructure applications, the JetNet 4706 is also compact, lightweight, corrosion-proof and heat resistant, with operating temperatures from –10°C up to 70°C and 10% to 90% humidity. Terminal block and ventilation holes on the bottom of the device reduce damage due to ingress of dust and moisture.

JetNet 4706 also supports a comprehensive range of interfaces, including SNMP v1/v2/v3, RMON, Web Interface, Telnet, Cisco-like CLI via RS232 console.

The additional two 100Mbps Fibre optic ports on the device enable users to extend network infrastructure using Korenix’s patented Rapid Super Ring (RSR) functionality, for connection as a redundant Ethernet ring architecture. The RSR technology provides network redundancy with less than 30ms recovery time when the main path is disconnected. To integrate with higher-level switches, the JetNet 4706 uses Dual Homing II functionality, which merges RSR and RSTP (Korenix’s Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol) in a single redundant port.

Energy costs reduced

The user can save power using the JetNet 4706’s PD powering control functionality. The device operates similar to UPS (uninterruptible power supply) scheduling control for PoE power delivery. There is user-friendly scheduling control, which operates on an hourly basis. Each port on the device can be configured with different rules, helping to save power and meet the user’s economic resource management requirements.

Auto Device Power Recycle

Another first in the industrial PoE switch marketplace is the ability of the unit to automatically detect if a device has locked up or failed and then recycle the power to that particular unit, this information is also passed up to the management system as being achieved.