Rapidly recovering Ethernet networks for delivering broadband services on the train

With the currently emerging trials for Internet solutions on the train, it is a matter of time before best-effort Internet on the train becomes a reality. However, designing the aggregation network which transports data from fast moving users to service providers, requires extended research because an aggregation network responsible for the reliable transport of broadband multimedia traffic has not been studied before. We propose a flexible recovery strategy for Ethernet networks with dynamic VLANs. It is shown that fast recovery can be achieved in aggregation networks if standard Ethernet protocols are adjusted to co-operate with the fast and efficient link probe mechanism. Additionally a cost-effective design method is presented for networks of realistic size which aims at combining requirements of the commuters (such as end-to-end delay variations) with reliability constraints