However, the railway’s construction and operation face formidable obstacles due to the rugged terrain characterized by fluctuating mountain ranges, perilous topography, and dense vegetation. Notably, a significant portion of the route traverses areas with a high concentration of bridges and tunnels, accounting for 64% of its total length. Moreover, many construction sites are situated in abnormal mountain zones, posing challenges to the efficiency and quality of surveying efforts.

China Mobile’s Yunnan Branch and ZTE introduced the 5G-Advanced digital twin technology to build two core capabilities of digital site twinning and wireless channel twinning. The 3D site twinning is achieved through UAV automatic flight control acquisition, thus implementing inspection survey of engineering parameters and AI identification of antenna assets, and guaranteeing engineering implementation quality with high efficiency and high quality.

• In June 2022, China Mobile unveiled a 6G network architecture which creates a virtual twin through digital means to realize a digital twin network architecture (DTN) with network closed-loop control and full lifecycle management; The service defines the end-to-end system to realize the full service system architecture (HSBA); In the group network, the Distributed Autonomous Network (DAN) with distributed, autonomous and self-contained features is implemented, which supports on-demand customization, plug and play and flexible deployment.
• ZTE’s RAN digital twin leverages digital twin, big data and artificial intelligence technologies, drastically enhancing network deployment and operation efficiency by minimizing resources and time needed for trial-and-error procedures of radio network deployment and optimization, making them more versatile, flexible and autonomous.

In addition, channel twinning is built in mountainous areas to achieve coverage prediction and optimization. The optimization elements required for mountainous areas, namely the azimuth, downtilt, power, and beam weights of antennas, are twinned and optimized beforehand. In this way, with the first-in-place construction of the pre-planning, the construction quality of the high-speed railway network is guaranteed faster and better, and the optimization period is shortened. Before the Spring Festival of 2024, the KunchuDali high-speed railway fully achieved the target of high-quality lines, with a coverage rate of 98.5% and a 5G download rate of more than 300Mbps. Compared with traditional planning and optimization methods, the KunchuDali high-speed railway saved more than RMB1.6 million and shortened the optimization period for nearly one month.

During the Spring Festival, China Mobile’s Yunnan Branch ensured an excellent internet experience for users with its high-quality high-speed railway network. The implementation of digital twin technology for high-speed railways enables efficient site surveys and coverage optimization to achieve higher efficiency and quality. This advancement fosters the deep integration of various industries with digital twin technology, paving the way for new industries, ecosystems, and operational modes. Furthermore, it lays a solid digital foundation for the future evolution towards 6G.

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According to Gartner, global digital twin revenues are expected to reach $183 billion by 2031. And when it comes to adoption, railway operators are at the forefront, using these virtual models to improve real-time asset management, reduce delays, and improve journey times.

In the UK, Transport for London (TfL) in 2022 announced plans to roll out a digital twin of the London Underground network so it can virtually monitor tracks and tunnels. Network Rail also offers a catalogue of training simulations built on digital twin technology.

According to an article in Mobility Innovators, bullet train operator JR East has deployed digital twins to monitor tracks, bridges and tunnels to enable predictive maintenance, while Hong Kong’s MTR (Mass Transit Railway) uses them to improve scheduling.

ABOUT ZTE:

ZTE helps to connect the world with continuous innovation for a better future. The company provides innovative technologies and integrated solutions, and its portfolio spans all series of wireless, wireline, devices and professional telecommunications services. Serving over a quarter of the global population, ZTE is dedicated to creating a digital and intelligent ecosystem, and enabling connectivity and trust everywhere. ZTE is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. www.zte.com.cn/global

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