Giga Wi-Fi now works on the Seoul subway.
Published2018.01.05 12:25The Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) has developed Mobile Hotspot Network (MHN) technology capable of 1Gbps-class data transmission in subways.
This technology is a next-generation mobile communication technology that utilizes millimeter wave broadband frequencies to enable ultra-high-speed mobile internet service within a moving subway. With the development of this technology, up to 550 people can watch videos simultaneously.
The consortium promoting the commercialization of MHN technology to provide gigabit Wi-Fi services on the Seoul subway successfully completed the final technology verification held at five stations on Seoul Subway Line 8 late last year.
In this BMT, eight commercial-level MHN backhaul base station devices were installed, demonstrating that the average transmission speed on a moving train was over 1.1 Gbps. High-speed internet service was demonstrated inside the train via a gigabit Wi-Fi AP, ensuring uninterrupted communication.
The research team revealed that the key technology enabling the use of ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi in this subway is high-speed handover technology, which prevents communication from being interrupted between base stations among MHN technologies.
ETRI explained that it has proven that if MHN technology is used as a mobile wireless backhaul for subway public Wi-Fi, it can provide more than 100 times the data service to subway passengers compared to the existing WiBro-based method installed in subways, which supports backhaul speeds of about 10 Mbps.
The research team announced that the technology will be piloted on Seoul Subway Line 8 during the first half of this year and is planned to be available on Seoul Subway Line 2 by the end of the year. It is scheduled to be expanded to Seoul Subway Lines 1 through 9 next year.
The research team has also developed MHN-E technology and is preparing a service demonstration utilizing the technology during the PyeongChang Olympics in February.
Jeong Hyun-kyu, Head of the 5G Giga Service Research Division at ETRI, stated, “This BMT was conducted as a commercial-level system through product miniaturization by small and medium-sized enterprises that conducted joint research on MHN technology, including the company that received the technology transfer. This technology will be the world’s first commercial service utilizing millimeter (mm) waves as a mobile wireless backhaul for subways.”
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