Curved Track Analysis of FSO Link for Ground-to-Train Communications

Abstract

In this work, a free space optical (FSO) link for the ground-to-train (G2T-FSO) communications is proposed. Analytical analysis is carried out for the curved rail tracks. We show that the transmitter divergence angle, the transmit power and the size of the concentration lens need to increase for the curved section of the rail track compared to the straight track. We derive the analytical expression for the received power level based on the link geometry for the case of the curved track In the worst case scenario when the curvature radius is 120 m, the transmit power at the optical base station (BS) needs to increase by over 2 dB when the concentration lens radius is increased by 5 times. Analyses also show that the received power along the track increases with the curvature radius for the same transmit power and receiver optics illustrating the effect due to link geometry. Additionally, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the bit error rate (BER) performance of the system for the curved track with different curvature radii is analysed at data rates of 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps for an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel showing a good agreement between the theoretical and the simulated BER. Finally, effect of scintillations on the G2T-FSO link performance is discussed.