Maintaining wireless communications while transmitters and receivers are moving has long been a concern for wireless technology developers—so much so, in fact, that a leading Chinese manufacturer of high-speed trains has funded a top US technical college for research on maintaining its customers’ wireless Internet connections. The company is CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Co. and the college is the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). The $250,000 grant will fund a research lab within the school’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with professors within the department who are national experts in wireless communications conducting the research.
According to NJIT Distinguished Professor Mengchu Zhou, “We’ll build a simulation platform to examine wireless communication performance issues for high-speed rail systems. The platform will allow us to create a high-speed network on which passengers can use their laptops and phones to communicate with each other and the outside world.” Jianghua Feng, Vice President and Chief Engineer for CSR, adds: “This new lab will help us to innovate and develop the next-generation technologies in wireless communication and information systems. We need to be out front in technology to support our business, and NJIT will allow us to do that.”