UWB-over-fiber system for railroad crossing surveillance

The Radio over Fiber (RoF) technology is a consolidated solution which combines both the high capacity transport of fiber optics and the flexibility of wireless access. At the same time, ultrawide-band (UWB) has attracted growing attention due to its promising capabilities to provide high resolution with low cost and low power consumption in surveillance systems. In this paper, we perform a feasibility study of UWB-overfiber (UWBoF) systems to improve the safety of rail crossing surveillance areas in case of entrapped vehicles providing location and volume information about the obstacles. Two UWBoF solutions will be compared, which combine proper processing of UWB signal and backhauling over the already deployed optical fiber backbone, identifying promising architectures for the enhancement of level crossings safety.