Syntony GNSS
Solution for Positive Train Control at Milwaukee Thanks to Underground GPS Signals
This article first appeared in the Railway-News magazine Issue 5 2021.
Positive train control (PTC) regulation is led by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the agency within the Department of Transportation responsible for overseeing and regulating the railway sector in the USA.
Such a framework has been created for avoiding collision of trains, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zones (including railway tunnels and stations), and movements of trains through switches (points) left in the wrong position.
However, the reception of GPS signals into GPS-denied areas (undergrounds, tunnels, train Solution for Positive Train Control (PTC) at Milwaukee Thanks to Underground GPS Signals stations, highly urban areas, etc.) can be a blocker for PTC, which requires reliable GPS signals to obtain precise information on train location and speed as well as on time.
Thus, the lack of GPS signals in these areas has been so far meant that the rail industry has felt it was impossible to fully embrace such a legal framework, causing it to expose itself to potential fines and increased operating costs from temporary fixes.
In response to that, Syntony GNSS and CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY are now equipping the Milwaukee (WI) train station with SubWAVE™ technology, leading to the deployment of GPS signals in GPS denied areas.
Thanks to such a system, each GPS denied area can now be covered with GPS signals with the exact same parameters as those outside. This first case study will be followed by other train stations in the USA in order to continuously help the railway sector to be compatible and responsive regarding the positive train control framework.
About SubWAVE™
SubWAVE™ is a GNSS* simulator operating in real-time, which uses existing telecom infrastructures to broadcast synthetic GNSS signals.
This GNSS coverage extension provides a seamless transition for receivers coming in or out of equipped tunnels, ensuring a GNSS coverage extension to every GNSS based service (location, navigation, time synchronisation, etc.).
