Uninterrupted multiple Fast Ethernet transmissions now possible
SPONSORED CONTENT: The German railway fleet alone comprises an estimated 13,000 vehicles in operation. That means 13,000 vehicles which, for the most part, are not designed to meet the high requirements placed on them by operators, governments and passengers. Safety, comfort and digitization within the rail sector are pressing issues: CCTV, infotainment, ETCS and passenger information systems already require secure and reliable multiple Ethernet transmission – across the entire trainset. That means that new vehicles have to fulfill continually increasing requirements from the very beginning. Digitization in the rail sector would require most electrical couplings on the vehicles in use to be completely replaced, which would translate to massive investments. In addition, the limited installation space on the vehicles makes it more difficult to integrate the required number of Ethernet signal contacts. Together with the german transport company VGF (Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main), era-contact successfully tested the Ethernet-Upgrade-Solution over the span of one year. The upgrade solution was fitted on the electrical coupling, without having to convert, modify or replace the coupling itself. Two era-transceiver® units with a transmission speed of 1000 MBit/s were fitted to the existing coupling with the new adapter system, enabling Ethernet on the entire train. The result is the affordable alternative to an expensive complete conversion for receiving a 100% Ethernet-enabled vehicle – and the uninterrupted connection is ready for the future by complying with the existing IP protection. The era-transceiver® technology can now also be integrated in the car interior. This solution requires only two fibers and contacts in the electrical coupling, which take up as much room in the installation space as a regular pin contact. The era-transceiver® fibre-extension increases the packing density by five times, thereby solving the problem of limited installation space and the associated limited number of Ethernet signals that can be transmitted via the electrical coupling. Until now, Ethernet signals in the gigabit range could be transmitted in standard sizes of up to four Ethernet signal contacts; the era-transceiver® fibre-extension allows for a significantly higher number. The solution can be retrofitted on any electrical coupling with an existing standard K-10 hole, or integrated directly into the initial equipment of visionary new vehicles. era-contact will present all new features for the era-Muliple-Ethernet-Coupler, the era-transceiver® fiber-extension and the Ethernet-Upgrade-Solution at InnoTrans 2018 in Berlin. Visitors can find era-contact in Hall 12, Booth 210: www.era-contact.com