Study on sequentially switched antenna array receiver for high speed train

A sequentially switched antenna array receiver (SSAAR) has been developed in order to lessen the fast-fading effects on super-express trains. The array elements are switched in reverse sequence to the direction of the train motion. To demonstrate the performance improvements, measurements were made using a scale model train with receiver moving at 3.6 km/h. A software simulation based on the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) physical layer parameters was developed and by proportionally reducing the transmission symbol rate, performances for virtual speeds of up to 360 km/h have been measured. The paper shows that the performance could be improved by up to 1.7 dB at bit error rate (BER) 5E-3 whilst traveling at virtual speed of 360 km/h.