Feature articles – January 2025
Our journal welcomes not only original high-quality papers covering the theoretical, experimental and operational aspects of electrical and electronics engineering in mobile radio, motor vehicles and land transportation, but also esearch findings from standards development activities, especially those from IEEE Standards Association, that are primarily of interest to our Society membership.. In the following, let us provide you with a one-stop destination to know about a recently published invited article related to the IEEE standardization of visible light communications, as well as an article from highly cited researchers on the design of a new power architecture to integrate batteries on hybrid light rail vehicles traction drives. We hope that the short summary of these featue articles wrritten in layman language may make your reading a pleasure!
Invited Paper: LiFi for Industry 4.0: Main Features, Implementation and Initial Testing of IEEE Std 802.15.13
Authors: Kai Lennert Bober, Anselm Ebmeyer, Falko Dressler, Ronald Freund, Volker Jungnickel
Published in volume 5, IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology
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Summary contributed by Kai Lennert Bober (Author):
Utilizing optical signals instead of radio waves enables the wireless transmission of information within sharply delimited cells, free from interference from other radio technologies. This makes optical wireless communication (OWC) appealing for various specialized applications such as industrial communication. The recently approved IEEE standard 802.15.13 for OWC defines a medium access control scheme that employs dynamically allocated time slices and two methods for coding and modulation (physical layers). The deterministic medium access is designed to support critical traffic with strict deadlines. Additionally, the standard includes routines for implementing distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) schemes, which enhance connection robustness against line-of-sight interruptions and link degradation during mobility. We present our work on prototyping and testing the standard within a system that adopts a distributed MIMO approach, drawing on concepts from modern cellular networks. Specifically, this involves a division of functionality between the medium access control and physical layers in the coordinator, along with the use of an Ethernet-based fronthaul network. Furthermore, we present initial performance results from our real-time transmitter and receiver implementation.
Design and Control of Hybrid Electric Light Rail Vehicles With Open Ended Winding Machines
Authors: Davide De Simone, Maria Stefania Carmeli, Salvatore D'Arco, Luigi Piegari, Pietro Tricoli
Published in volume 5, IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology
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Summary contributed by Luigi Piegari (Author):
Light railways have been transporting passengers in cities for more than 100 years using electricity supplied by an overhead line. To preserve the aspect of city centres and to enable the extension of routes beyond the limit of electrified lines, many countries and companies are developing battery-electric hybrid trams that can operate in autonomy for few miles. But integrating batteries into the traction system comes with its own challenges, as it requires additional heavy converters to manage their wide voltage range. The weight and volume of these converters ultimately reduces the range of the tram when operates in battery-only mode. The paper has proposed a new configuration with open-ended windings motor and two power converters that enable a lighter and more efficient supply from the overhead line, the battery, or both. The converters draw energy in a controlled way from either the overhead line or the battery and deliver it to the tram’s motors. They also manage the charging of the battery to avoid overloading when the tram operates under the wire.
About IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology (OJVT)
The IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology covers the theoretical, experimental and operational aspects of electrical and electronics engineering in mobile radio, motor vehicles and land transportation. (a) Mobile radio shall include all terrestrial mobile services. (b) Motor vehicles shall include the components and systems and motive power for propulsion and auxiliary functions. (c) Land transportation shall include the components and systems used in both automated and non-automated facets of ground transport technology.