Proven, Industry-leading Technology
Specifically designed for rail applications, Icomera’s new and improved X5 mobile connectivity and applications gateway houses up to four powerful 5G-enabled radio modems.
In real-world onboard trials, the X5 successfully achieved an industry-record-breaking level of throughput, surpassing the benchmark referred to in the public transport industry as ‘the Gigabit Train’. For context, the provision of ‘gigabit’ speeds is equivalent to passengers streaming over 10,000 songs or 200 HD films concurrently.
The new X5 can also yield gigabit speeds when using only 4G LTE networks. This is thanks to its backwards-compatible 5G modems which utilise ‘LTE CAT 20’ technology, which allows for faster data transfer by aggregating up to seven ‘frequency carriers’ at once. It’s also because the X5 is able to support a 10 Gbps Ethernet connection to the onboard network, which is important since an onboard network’s bandwidth is only as strong as its weakest link – Supporting high Ethernet speeds allows the X5 to take full advantage of today’s higher category LTE networks. These factors indicate that transport operators upgrading to 5G-enabled technology ahead of the full 5G rollout should expect to see substantial increases in the throughput from existing networks, while establishing a future-proof means of delivering high-speed gigabit onboard Internet.
Icomera’s connectivity platform uses external antennas to connect to all available networks along the route. The data capacity from these networks is aggregated by the onboard router and delivered to onboard systems via Ethernet, and to passengers via Wi-Fi. This method offers faster, more stable connectivity than having onboard devices connect directly to cellular networks along the route.
Future-Proof Connectivity at the Mobile Edge
The X5 gives vehicle manufacturers and operators access to Icomera’s advanced X-Series platform, supporting multiple, resource-intensive applications such as passenger Wi-Fi, infotainment, system monitoring and real-time video surveillance simultaneously as part of a single solution.
By providing the strongest onboard connectivity, processing power, and storage, the X5 minimises the need for additional hardware such as media servers or video recorders to be installed on vehicles. Operators can cache their own video or media content onboard; hosting infotainment locally on the vehicle, as opposed to streaming it directly over the Internet, reduces the cellular data costs typically associated with similar solutions.
As the central component in 5G-ready onboard networks and working seamlessly alongside other next-generation hardware, such as Icomera’s rail-grade SynAPse AP01 access point, the X5 also allows passengers to enjoy Wi-Fi with faster browsing speeds.
Holistic Hardware, Protocol & Management Tools
The X5 has been designed from the ground up to seamlessly integrate with Icomera’s connectivity protocol and cloud-based management software, forming a powerful and fully realised platform. By working together in harmony, our hardware, software and technology combine to deliver cost efficiency, long-term reliability and provable results.
