The overall performance of a Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) system largely depends on the performance of its Data Communication Subsystem (DCS). The DCS network in almost all CBTC commercial system products marketed in the last decade utilizes radio communications in the open ISM bands (2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz) to establish the bi-directional data link between the central/wayside and onboard segments. To ensure a stable and sound radio communication, a key question is the number of the wayside Access Points (APs) and locations of their antennas. Radio propagation modeling aims to provide an optimal and reasonably reliable solution to the cited question. The diffraction impact of sharp corners and edges in tunnels on the radio propagation process, however, has not been accounted for in majority of models. The purpose of the present research is to incorporate the effect of diffraction coupling due to sharp edges in runnel sections which include geometrical discontinuities such as cross-junctions and L-bends through ray-mode conversion. The proposed modeling approach offers sufficient versatility to assimilate a variety of discontinuous geometries involving sharp edges in a tunnel environment. Numerical and empirical results suggest that the model provides an accurate tool for analyzing diffraction effects of tunnel discontinuities with sharp edges on the process of radio propagation.
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