Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces Assisted Hyperloop Wireless Communication Network

Abstract

Hyperloop or evacuated-tube transportation is a groundbreaking technology that can reach aircraft-like speeds. Its uncommon configuration of a steel-made tube isolates the moving pod from the outside wireless world. In this work, we propose an inner tube network architecture that can provide the moving pod with a seamless and reliable connection. The proposed network consists of successive access points (APs) and intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) strategically positioned along the tube and connected to a control station (CS) through wired links to improve the wireless cell coverage. The subsequent entities of the proposed design are intelligently placed along the movement path, steering the transmitted beam towards the receiver, while a soft handover is achieved between consecutive cells. First, we optimize each IRS's positioning and phase shifts to maximize cell coverage thanks to the IRS scanning abilities while keeping a minimum quality of service. Afterward, we exploit the centralized operation at the CS and design a soft handover scheme for the inner-tube wireless network. The numerical results show that the proposed approach provides good cell coverage and spectral efficiency with different IRS scanning ranges.