Enabling Gigabit services for IEEE 802.11ad-capable high-speed train networks

Wireless systems operating in the 60 GHz band are promising for achieving broadband connectivity to/from high-speed trains. However, the high mobility creates new challenges on the physical and medium access control (MAC) layer and requires a dedicated infrastructure of closely-spaced base stations near the train tracks. We develop an optimization framework for selecting the pairs between infrastructure stations and the antennas on the train to achieve sum rate maximization. We investigate the maximum spacing between base stations that allows Gigabit/s transmission. We then evaluate a MAC protocol similar to IEEE 802.11ad and find that the overhead enforced by sector scanning can be greatly reduced by exploiting the fact that the train position can be approximately predicated by a mobility manager.