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IWCE 2021 SPECIAL EDITION
RadioResource 2021 IWCE Show Edition MCCmag.com
TM
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
State of the Industry
2021
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35
RadioResource Vol. 36, No. 1
2021 IWCE
Special Edition
TM
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
YEARS
CONTENTS
14 24 30
P25: Today and Solving Public- The Benefits of
Tomorrow Safety Interoper- Z-Axis Through
ability Challenges FirstNet
P25 continues to be a defining stan- Researchers are working to solve FirstNet’s Z-axis capability provides a
dard for public safety. By Jim Downes, interoperability issues. By Walt Mag- variety of public-safety benefits.
Stephen Nichols, Andy Davis nussen, Michael Fox By Jeff Brachter
In-Building Public Grant Funding for
36
The Evolving
Private LTE
Ecosystem
Private LTE offers utilities a way to
40 Safety: Coverage
at the Crossroads
The industry must address improperly
46 Your Communica-
tions Project
Numerous grant opportunities are
keep up with energy industry changes. deployed in-building signal boosters. available for funding communica-
By Morgan O’Brien By John Foley tions. By Shannon Day
6 D E PA R T M E N T S
Dispatch C O N TA C T U S
www.MCCmag.com
Editorial
8 Top News of 2021
12 Industry Insights edit@RRMediaGroup.com
Sales
Phone: 303-792-2390 ext. 110
55 Product Spotlight
info@RRMediaGroup.com
Subscriptions
Phone: 303-792-2390 ext. 100
60 Advertiser Index
48
The State of NG
9-1-1 in the U.S. Subscribe online at www.MCCmag.com
61 MarketPlace Phone: 303-792-2390 ext. 111
Much has been accomplished in the
subscription@RRMediaGroup.com
migration, but work remains.
By Glenn Bischoff
4 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o m
RadioResource
DISPATCH TM
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
RadioResource MissionCritical Communications delivers wire-
A Transformative less voice and data solutions for mobile and remote mission-critical
operations. The magazine targets public safety, state/local/federal
government, transportation, field service, business and industrial
2.5 Years users; engineering and consulting firms; mobile communication
dealers/resellers; service providers and other industry professionals
in the United States and Canada. Editorial content includes business
It’s crazy to think about, but it’s been more than two and a half
and regulatory news, in-depth features, product information and
years since the industry was able to gather and meet at the Interna-
comparisons, industry reports and trends, innovative applications,
emerging technologies, case studies and technical tips.
tional Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE). PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
The world, and the industry, has changed considerably since the
Paulla A. Nelson-Shira, pnelson-shira@RRMediaGroup.com
last time we met in Las Vegas in March 2019. Back then, COVID-19
EDITOR
was still nearly a year away from shutting down
Danny Ramey, dramey@RRMediaGroup.com
the world. The pandemic greatly changed many
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
aspects of daily life and has altered the way pub-
Gayle Marquez
lic-safety personnel and other critical responders
go about their jobs.
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Ron Beck: Network Engineer, Central Lincoln PUD
Klaus Bender: Principal Engineer, RGBender Engineering
As federal, state and local officials worked to Mark Crosby: President & CEO, EWA
limit the spread of the virus, millions of workers, Joe Hanna: President, Directions
including public-safety officials, found themselves Dale Hatfield: Executive Director, Silicon Flatirons
working remotely. To help limit exposure, many Carroll Hollingsworth: VP Dometic Sales, JPS Interoperability
Neil Horden: Principal Consultant, Horden Technology
communications centers also began experimenting with having dis- Douglas Jarrett: Attorney, Keller and Heckman
patchers and other workers do their jobs from the safety of their John Johnson: Radio System Analyst, TEMA
homes. We have also seen a rise in telehealth applications as public- Chris Kindelspire: Communications Director, Grundy County, Illinois
safety and health agencies attempt to limit exposure to those poten- Dr. Walt Magnussen Jr.: Texas A&M University
Mike Miller: President, RACOM
tially infected and reach patients quarantined at home. Rick Nielson: President, Nielson Networks
With the increase of remote digital work and telehealth, cybersecu- John Rayfield Jr.: President, Rayfield Communications
rity has become paramount in the public-safety community. It is criti- Joe Ross: Partner, Televate
cal that important knowledge and citizens’ private data does not fall
Frederick Smith: Retired Infrastructure Architect
Marilyn Ward: Executive Director, NPSTC
into the wrong hands. As such, public-safety and other critical com-
munications organizations are continuing their work in cybersecurity.
The opinions of the editorial advisory board members are their own
Of course, cybersecurity isn’t the only topic that has advanced
and not those of their employers.
since the last IWCE conference. With this special State of the Indus-
VICE PRESIDENT
try 2021 edition, you will be brought up to date on the latest devel-
Mark Shira, 303-792-2390 x101, mshira@RRMediaGroup.com
opments in the industry
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
including Project 25 (P25)
Debra Sabin, 303-792-2390 x103, dsabin@RRMediaGroup.com
Email your feedback to
dramey@RRMediaGroup.com standards, mission-critical
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
LTE interoperability, First-
Melissa Richey, mrichey@RRMediaGroup.com
Net, private LTE for critical infrastructure, in-building communica- CORRESPONDENCE
tions, and next-generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1). RadioResource MissionCritical Communications
Editorial and advertising correspondence should be addressed to:
Catch up on the biggest news that you might have missed during
7108 S. Alton Way, Building H, Centennial, CO 80112
the first nine months of 2021 in our Top News section. Learn what Editorial email: edit@RRMediaGroup.com
Tel: 303-792-2390 Fax: 303-792-2391.
Advertising email: info@RRMediaGroup.com
technologies and equipment public-safety and critical infrastructure Subscription email: subscription@RRMediaGroup.com
© 2021 By Pandata Corp. All Rights Reserved.
organizations are investing in and their priorities. And be sure to Printed in U.S.A.
check out the newest products on the market in a variety of cate-
gories including radios, LTE devices, test equipment, antennas and www.MCCmag.com
more, in our Product Spotlight section.
We hope this issue finds you well, and we hope you have a safe,
healthy, productive, and fun IWCE. Please be sure to stop by 888 and
say hello during the show. It’s been too long and we want to hear
what’s on your mind in this evolving world.
Best wishes for a great show!
Danny Ramey, Editor
6 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E d ition dramey@RRMediaGroup.com
Get More News
TOP NEWS at MCCmag.com TOP NEWS
C
TECHNOLOGY send video and data one link to available in the winter. The solu- The strong signal can help
multiple responders at once tion will allow agencies to use those who are connecting from
instead of sending links individu- Motorola’s cloud-based Critical hard-to-reach places such as
Spending Bill Repeals T-Band Auction Mandate, Fights 9-1-1
Fee Diversion ally to each responders. This Connect for interoperability. The building shadows, parking
ongress repealed its man- attempting to curb. In an annual helps agencies use bandwidth FirstNet platform will provide garages, basements, elevators
date to the FCC to auction report to Congress, the FCC found judiciously, Paul said. options for connectivity between and stairwells, helping first
the T-band spectrum and that five states diverted more Samsung plans to do several LMR systems, the new MCPTT responders communicate inside
relocate incumbents by 2021 as than $200 million in 9-1-1 fees to pilots and proof of concepts with solution and AT&T Enhanced and out.
part of a massive appropriations uses besides 9-1-1. critical organizations, Paul said. Push to Talk (EPTT). Z-Axis for FirstNet is the First-
bill that included a variety of coro- That section directed the FCC Those pilots will likely begin FirstNet MegaRange is First- Net network’s Z-axis solution.
navirus relief measures. to take steps to address 9-1-1 fee sometime in the first or second Net’s solution for HPUE. The solu- FirstNet said that the solution dis-
Section 902 of the Consolidat- While the auction mandate was diversion by passing rules to pre- quarter of next year, he said. tion follows Third Generation plays a map that shows you
ed Appropriations Act 2021, which in place, there was an application vent it and establishing a 9-1-1 Partnership Project (3GPP) and where you are standing as well as
was passed by the House and the freeze on the band, preventing fee diversion task force to AT&T Launches New FirstNet FCC standards to allow public how high up you are in a building,
Senate on December 21, is called incumbents, including businesses address the issue. In June, the Services Including Second safety to take advantage of the as well as the locations of team
the “Don’t Break Up the T-Band and critical infrastructure entities, FCC met that mandate by adopt- MCPTT Solution, 5G highest power class signaling that members. The Z-axis solution is
Act” and repeals the T-band auc- from making needed modifica- ing rules aimed at eliminating AT&T announced new solutions is only available on FirstNet’s currently available in more than
tion requirement established in tions to their systems and requir- 9-1-1 fee diversion. for the FirstNet network including band 14 spectrum. 40 markets including Chicago,
the Middle Class Tax Relief and ing them to find workarounds to The new rules clarify what does a new mission-critical push-to-talk For rural, remote and maritime Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles,
Job Creation Act of 2012. That bill continue using their systems, he and does not constitute 9-1-1 fee (MCPTT) solution, high power first responders, the solution can Philadelphia and San Francisco.
created the First Responder Net- said. “They’ve been under this diversion, establish a declaratory user equipment (HPUE) and Z-axis significantly improve connectivity,
work Authority (FirstNet Authori- cloud for nine years.” ruling process for providing fur- location. AT&T also launched First- especially at the edge of network Groups Ask for Pause of 6 GHz
ty), but also required the auction The FCC has since moved for- ther guidance to states and tax- Net 5G service in select cities. coverage, and for urban and sub- Device Certifications
of the T-band, covering 470 – 512 ward with lifting the T-band ing jurisdictions on fee diversion AT&T is collaborating with urban responders, this can help A coalition of public-safety and
MHz, by 2021. freeze and allowing applications issues, and codify the specific Motorola Solutions to deliver the solve the common challenge of critical infrastructure organiza-
“This industry grinds for every- with an initial focus on incumbent obligations and restrictions that new MCPTT solution that will be difficult coverage spots. tions sent a letter to the FCC ask-
thing that it can get and to have users first. the legislation imposes on states
the repeal of Section 6103 In addition to the repeal of the and taxes.
become a reality once the presi- T-band, the spending bill passed In May, Acting FCC Commis-
dent signs it is just a wonderful by Congress and signed by the sioner Jessica Rosenworcel
day for the incumbents,” said president included a section appointed 17 members to the
EWA President Mark Crosby. “I’m aimed at reducing diversion of 9- commission’s 9-1-1 strike force.
very happy that this decision went 1-1 fees to other uses. 9-1-1 fee The strike force will examine 9-1-1
down, and I’m happy for the diversion has been an issue that fee diversion and report to Con-
incumbents because this was just Congress, the FCC and organiza- gress on more steps that can be
horrible for them.” tions such as APCO have been taken to address the issue.
Samsung Announces 3GPP- the Digital Fixed Station Interface Paul said that the solution is
Based LMR-to-LTE Interwork- (DFSI), said Timothy Paul, senior software based and connects to
ing Function manager of sales, network busi- an agency’s data center. The
Samsung announced that it ness, Samsung Electronics Amer- radios and LTE devices are then
expects to release a Third Genera- ica. A version that supports connected via an IP tunnel. If
tion Partnership Project (3GPP) TETRA and Digital Mobile Radio there are multiple agencies
standards based interworking (DMR) radios is expected next responding to an incident, each
function that enables interoper- year, he added. agency can connect to the inter-
ability between public-safety LTE The interworking function working function using their
networks and legacy LMR net- meets all of the key performance own IP tunnel connected to their
works by the end of the year. indicators (KPIs) outlined in the data center.
The initial release of the inter- 3GPP standards for mission-criti- Another major advantage of
working function will support the cal push-to-talk (MCPTT) and the interworking function is its
Project 25 (P25) Console Subsys- meets the reliability requirements support for multimedia broad-
tem Interface (CSSI), Inter-RF for mission-critical voice on the cast multicast services (MBMS),
Subsystem Interface (ISSI) and radio side, Paul said. which allows an organization to
8 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E d ition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o m w w w. M C C m a g . c o m M i s s i o n C r i t i c a l C o m m u ni c a t i o n s 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E d i t i o n 9
TOP NEWS FCC Stays 4.9 GHz Leasing Framework TOP NEWS
the record the FCC
The FCC granted a compiled for the
ing the commission to pause any istrator (TA) filed a report with the asked the FCC to declare the Outside of those two licenses,
petition for a stay of proceeding.
certifications for commercial FCC notifying it that, aside from reconfiguration program com- the TA said that 2,169 other FRA
the implementation of While the
devices to be used on 6 GHz two exceptions, all activities relat- plete, end the reconfiguration have been completed, and it has
its new framework for changes to the FCC’s
spectrum. ed to 800 MHz rebanding is now program and the TA’s oversight submitted certification of those
the 4.9 GHz band rules became effec-
The groups urged the FCC to complete. As a result, the TA of the program, and end the completions to the FCC. The TA
requested by the Pub- tive in December,
pause any approvals for the new requested that the FCC terminate license condition that T-Mobile requested that the commission
lic Safety Spectrum under the rules, each
equipment until it performs rigor- the rebanding proceeding. maintain a letter of credit. issue an order terminating pro-
Alliance (PSSA). state must designate a state les-
ous testing to ensure that the Previously, the TA had certified T-Mobile said that in regards to ceeding that would include a
Last September, the FCC sor and that would not have
existence of the devices will not that band reconfiguration is com- License Acquisitions and El Paso, finding that all licensees, except
approved new rules that would become effective until the com-
cause harmful interference to plete in 54 National Public Safety it has entered into binding con- for El Paso and License Acquisi-
allow eligible states to lease mission received approval from
incumbent fixed microwave links Planning Advisory Committee tractual agreements with both tions have completed the reband-
some or all of the spectrum in the Office of Management and
used by public safety and critical (NPSPAC) regions and three U.S. that fully address any reconfigu- ing process.
the band to commercial or criti- Budget (OMB) under the Paper-
infrastructure agencies. territories. The only region that ration costs. Because of this, elim- The FCC followed the TA’s
cal infrastructure entities. Before work Reduction Act. After that
Last year, the FCC approved the TA has not certified as com- inating the letter of credit will not request and terminated the
the approval of the rules, the approval, the FCC would have
new rules that allowed unlicensed plete is NPSPAC region 50: Texas harm those two licensees. rebanding program in April.
band had been dedicated to pub- announced an effective date.
use of the 6 GHz band. Those new — El Paso.
lic-safety use, but for many Because an effective date had
rules allowed two types of unli- In that region, the two
years, the FCC had looked at new not been announced, the leasing
censed devices in the band. Stan- licensees who have not complet-
ways to increase use of what it framework had not begun and
dard power devices are governed ed reconfiguration are the city of
described as an underused band. the FCC could stay the imple-
by automatic frequency coordina- El Paso and License Acquisitions.
Many public-safety organiza- mentation.
tion (AFC) technology that is El Paso completed its infrastruc-
tions, including the PSSA, came The FCC concluded that a stay
intended to prevent interference ture reconfiguration on February
out against the proposal, of the 4.9 GHz leasing framework
to incumbent users. Meanwhile, 25 and the 90-day system accept-
arguing that the band should is appropriate.
low-power devices (LPIs) are not ance period began that day.
continue to be dedicated to “Specifically, we believe that in
subject to automatic frequency The TA said it anticipates that
public-safety use. light of the serious questions
coordination (AFC) coordination the city will submit a completion
The PSSA, the Association of posed by the petitions for recon-
but under the rules are only certificate and close its frequency
Public-Safety Communications sideration, the possibility of
allowed indoors. reconfiguration agreement (FRA)
Officials (APCO) International irreparable harm to current and
In court briefings and FCC fil- in early June. That is three
and the National Public Safety future public-safety users of the
ings asking for reconsideration months ahead of the schedule
Telecommunications Coalition 4.9 GHz band and to our goal of
of the rules, public-safety and approved in an amendment to its
(NPSTC) all filed petitions for facilitating greater use of this
critical infrastructure organiza- FRA, the TA said. T-Mobile said
reconsideration of the new rules. spectrum, the extent to which a
tions expressed concern about that it expects to make all pay-
Those petitions argued that the stay will further the public inter-
LPIs, arguing that the FCC won’t ments related to that process by
new leasing framework would est, and the fact that no parties
be able to ensure that they will around June 1.
undermine the availability and will be injured if a stay is granted,
only be used indoors and that License Acquisitions applied to
utility of spectrum in the band a stay is appropriate to permit
tracking interference from so the FCC’s Wireless Telecommuni-
for public-safety operations. The the commission to address the
many unlicensed devices will be cations Bureau (WTB) for a
petitions also described the rules issues raised in the petitions for
very difficult. renewal of seven of its licensees
as “arbitrary and capricious” reconsideration,” the FCC said in
The groups also said that the and filed a request for wavier of
because they lacked a basis in its order.
FCC should use its authority to the requirement to complete
obtain samples of any devices reconfiguration and to offer
manufacturers seek to get certi- place of the October 2019 version. CAP ISSI/CSSI Interoperability enhanced specialized mobile
fied, similar to the approach that The updates include intricate testing will be approved to radio (ESMR) service by the end of
the FCC used for LTE-U. procedural corrections, format- appear on the DHS Grant Eligible the license term in 2011. License
ting updates, copy edits, clarifica- equipment list. The P25 CAP pro- Acquisitions’ application for
P25 CAP Releases Final tions and notifications which gram will require both confor- renewal is still pending before the
Revised ISSI/CSSI Test include a temporary suspension mance and interoperability test- WTB and its FRA is being held in
Requirements of Inter-RF Subsystem ing to be successfully completed escrow by the TA pending resolu-
The Project 25 (P25) Compli- (ISSI)/Console Subsystem Inter- in the future. tion of any outstanding issues
ance Assessment Program (CAP) face (CSSI) conformance testing regarding license validity, the TA’s
released “ISSI/CSSI Interoperabil- requirements. This means P25 report said.
ity Test Requirements CAB, Rev2 ISSI/CSSI equipment assessed to T-Mobile submitted a petition
800 MHz Rebanding Pro-
(June 2021),” which takes the have successfully completed P25 The 800 MHz Transition Admin- for waiver February 26 in which it
gram Terminated
10 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o m w w w. M C C m a g . c o m M i s s i o n C r i t i c a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n s 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E d i t i o n 11
INDUSTRY RESUltS oF 2021 SURvEy—PUBLIC SAFETY
INSIGHTS
RESUltS oF 2021 SURvEy—CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
What technology do you plan to buy in the When will broadband LTE/5G networks replace What technology do you plan to buy in the When will broadband LTE/5G networks replace
next 5 years? (Top 6) LMR networks? next 5 years? (Top 6) LMR networks?
30 50
25 Within 5 Years 15.4%
Within 5 Years 19.6% 40
20 Within 10 Years 23.1%
Within 10 Years 21.7% 30
15
NG 9-1-1 21.3%
Within 20 Years 18.1% Within 20 Years 23.1%
Analog 26.7%
20
P25 59.3%
LTE 22.7%
10
LTE 31.3%
DMR 12%
5G 21.3%
Never 38.5%
DMR 50%
Never 40.6%
5G 18.8%
IoT/M2M
10
12.5%
12.5%
12.5%
Analog
5
P25
0 0
Is direct mode operation important to Is direct mode operation important to
your organization? your organization?
74.6% 53.9%
What hardware do you plan to buy in the What hardware do you plan to buy in the
next 5 years? (Top 12) next 5 years? (Top 12)
Antennas 83.5% Antennas 73.3%
Base Stations/Repeaters 74.6% very important Broadband Devices 66.7% very important
Broadband Devices 68.4% Broadband Sys. Equip. 61.5%
Dispatch (Consoles, etc) 63.1% How has COVID-19 impacted your communications Microwave Equipment 61.5% How has COVID-19 impacted your communications
Interoperability (Gateways, etc) 70.1% budget? Power Supplies 76.9% budget?
Power Supplies 62.1% Radio Accessories (Headsets, Mics, etc) 92.9%
Radio Accessories (Headsets, Mics, etc) 91.8% Digital Radio Systems Equip 86.7%
Budget Decreased 20.9% Budget Increased 7.1%
Digital Radio Systems Equip 73.3% Radios 92.9%
P25 Systems Equipment/Radios 80.7% Budget Increased 10.5% Remote Site Monitoring 66.7% Budget Stayed the Same
Radios 89.1% Site/Tower Equipment 76.9% 50%
Budget Stayed
Site/Tower Equipment 72.5% Telemetry/SCADA Equipment 76.9%
the Same 68.7% Budget Decreased
Test Equipment 63.4% Test Equipment 75% 42.9%
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
What broadband/data options do you use? (Top 4) What broadband/data options do you use? (Top 4)
What software do you plan to buy in the 60 What software do you plan to buy in the 80
next 5 years? (Top 5) next 5 years? (Top 5) 70
50
60
Cybersecurity 41.7%
Unlicensed Spectrum 64.3%
Cybersecurity 46.8% 40
50
Interference Finding 46.1%
FirstNet Built With AT&T
9-1-1/NG 9-1-1 (CAD, Call Answering, etc) 53.9% 40
30
Private Network Over
Private Network Over
2-way Radio 42.9%
Field Reporting 41.7%
LMR Integration 44.9%
Satellite Network
30
20 Push To Talk 45.4%
Other Carrier
Push To Talk 51.1% 20
Over 2-way
Pvt. Net.
Wireless Internet Applications 46.1%
Verizon
10
Verizon
FirstNet Apps 52.5%
53.9%
42.9%
35.7%
46.1%
22.7%
10
17%
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50
12 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o m w w w. M C C m a g . c o m M i s s i o n C r i t i c a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n s 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E d i t i o n 13
P25: Today
and Tomorrow P25 has come a long way and continues to be
a defining standard for public safety and other
critical communications users. By Jim Downes
P
Project 25 (P25) passed its 30th
anniversary in 2019 and shows no
sign of slowing. Public safety’s
growing use of the standard, cou-
pled with expanding communica-
Interoperable communications
make cooperation and coordina-
tion possible, and P25 is the inter-
operability toolbox of choice.
So, what are the trends? What
for system-to-system interoper-
ability is becoming more urgent.
The ability of the Inter-RF Subsys-
tem Interface (ISSI) and the Con-
sole Subsystem Interface (CSSI)
tions needs and the industry’s does interoperability in the future to link agency, jurisdictional and
ongoing development of radio look like? Much of the work regional radio systems and pro-
functions and features none of us ahead lies in enhancing and vide seamless roaming capabili-
dreamed of in 1989, promise to refining the standard. As more ties, while preserving each
keep P25 developers busy for and more agencies implement agency’s control of its own sys-
years to come. P25 and our user base grows, we tem, is proving invaluable and
We know where we have been are getting more feedback from cost effective.
and how we got here. What does the field on P25 performance and As in other sectors of govern-
the road ahead look like? In the discovering areas where ment and society, cybersecurity is
P25 world, all roads lead to improvements can be made. rising to the top of many public-
resilient interoperable public- Many users are pushing the safety agencies’ priorities.
safety communications. We envelope of P25 technologies and Guarding communications infra-
believed in the 1990s that interop- discovering the need for new fea- structure against hackers and
erability was important; today we tures and functions to meet the ransomware attacks is essential.
recognize it is indispensable. The demands of more complex So is communications security,
almost continuous chain of regional response operations. the protection of sensitive infor-
events and disasters agencies We also see shifts in focus. mation, voice communications
face make cooperation and coor- While most users think of interop- and data traffic, especially within
dination core operational princi- erability in terms of subscriber law enforcement. In this regard,
ples at all levels of public safety. unit to subscriber unit, the need encryption is our best defense,
14 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o m
and P25 offers agencies the services and high-speed data P25 Technology Interest Group
capacity and technical guidance resources. (PTIG). Together, these ongoing
to implement sound strategies. The path forward isn’t set in activities are maintaining the
Many pundits speculate about stone, but we can see many of the pace of standards development
the future of P25 in light of the challenges ahead, and there are and promotion of P25 technology
emergence of advanced technolo- enough road signs and direction in the public safety community.
gies. Few in the public sector arrows to give us confidence New resources, such as the
believe broadband technologies we’re on the right track. There is Statement of Project 25 User
will displace LMR radios and P25 no end in sight. As long as tech- Needs (SPUN) and educational
any time in the foreseeable nologies advance and the videos on encryption and P25
future. On the contrary, most requirements of public safety basics can be found on CISA’s
knowledgeable communications expand, there will always be a website at www.cisa.gov/safe-
practitioners foresee the two role for continual improvement, com/technology.
technologies merging, each fresh ideas, unexpected innova-
contributing its strengths and pri- tions, and hard work in the serv- Project 25 Overview and
mary capabilities to a new gener- ice of our communities. Today’s Ecosystem
ation of devices. As an interim Despite the difficult working
step toward that vision, P25 environment of 2020 and early By Stephen Nichols
developers are exploring 2021, the efforts of the P25 Steer- P25 offers a robust push-to-
advanced methods for intercon- ing Committee and TR-8 continue talk (PTT) capability set including
necting today’s radio and LTE on course, along with the educa- group calls, individual calls, emer-
systems, ensuring both reliable tion and outreach efforts of the gency calls, voice, data and loca-
one-to-many voice communica- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure tion, all with optional end-to-end
tions and access to messaging Security Agency (CISA) and the AES encryption and authentica-
Booth #756
16 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o m
than 2,900 operational P25 sys- for many states, counties and gency Communications Grants
tems support interoperable com- municipal agencies. It is now states, “Public-safety agencies
munications in the United States, often more cost effective for a continue to maintain and evolve
Australia, New Zealand, Canada jurisdiction to join a larger P25- LMR infrastructure for mission-
and the United Kingdom. Addi- based system than to procure, critical voice capabilities, includ-
tional P25 systems operate in support, maintain or upgrade an ing the pursuit of shared P25
more than 80 other nations existing legacy radio solution. radio systems and infrastruc-
worldwide. There are 42 Potential cost savings include ture.” The P25 CAP approved list,
statewide P25 networks in the sharing infrastructure equipment which can be found at
U.S. that offer mission-critical (capital and recurring cost sav- https://www.dhs.gov/science-
communications across the state ings); sharing services (site/net- and-technology/approved-grant-
and in many cases across bound- work connectivity, equipment eligible-equipment, provides
aries with adjacent states and provisioning, support services information on compliant
jurisdictions. A number of these and encryption); bulk purchasing equipment.
statewide systems serve more advantages; and competitive The P25 ISSI permits users’
than 100,000 individual public- equipment purchases. radios to roam to other P25 sys-
safety users and thousands of The Department of Homeland tems while maintaining home
individual agencies. The complete Security (DHS) supports the P25 system contact. Neighboring
list of P25 trunked and conven- standards through CISA’s partici- agencies also can opt to add each
tional systems can be found on pation on the P25 Steering other’s talkgroups to their home
the P25 Technology Interest Committee, its sponsorship of systems to facilitate accessibility
tion. The non-proprietary, open competitive pricing. Group (PTIG)’s website at SAFECOM and the P25 User and interoperability. Through its
standard gives purchasers a wide In the United States, local, www.project25.org. Needs Working Group, and the Common Air Interface (CAI), P25 when infrastructure is over-
variety of options among many county, tribal, state, territorial and The growth of statewide and P25 Compliance Assessment Pro- offers reliable direct radio-to- whelmed or unavailable. This
vendors, which helps ensure federal agencies have widely regionwide P25 LMR networks gram (CAP). The fiscal year 2021 radio connections essential for enables neighboring jurisdictions
interoperability while providing adopted P25. Currently, more presents a new value proposition SAFECOM Guidance on Emer- emergency communications to communicate during a com-
18 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o m w w w. M C C m a g . c o m M i s s i o n C r i t i c a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n s 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E d i t i o n 19mon incident, special event or itself before service is granted. enhancements and innovations
vehicle pursuit, and outside agen- • Management and distribution are made available.
cies can respond for mutual and of encryption keys. The stan-
automatic aid situations. dards define protocols to trans- Current work items underway
P25 standards define secure fer encryption keys between key include:
communications for voice, data management facilities (KMFs), • Link layer encryption standard.
and location. The P25 suite of between a KMF and radios This standard will add an addi-
standards defines three primary (over-the-air rekeying (OTAR)) tional layer of security to the
security elements: and between handheld key fill robust communications security
• The encryption algorithm for devices (KFDs) and radios (man- (COMSEC) standards and capa-
all security services. P25 ual rekeying). Both manual and bilities in P25 by protecting con-
specifies 256-bit Advanced OTAR key management meth- trol messages and hiding group
Encryption Standard (AES) as ods are available from multiple and individual IDs.
the preferred encryption algo- manufacturers. • Revision of the key fill interface
rithm. In addition, the U.S. specifications. This revision will
government mandates P25 AES Project 25 Standards for enable a key fill device (KFD)
encryption for federal agencies the Future interface to a key management
and highly recommends local, facility (KMF), an authentication
county, regional, state, tribal By Andy Davis facility or another KFD, as well channel messaging for these comment resolution prior to ence-Limited Situations.
and territorial agencies adopt P25 is a live, active technology as a subscriber unit. services has already been publication approval in the con- The P25 user-driven stan-
this standard. that continues to evolve with new • Group regrouping standard for standardized. text of the frequency division dards development approach
• Link layer authentication of wireless and IP network capabili- the trunking ISSI/CSSI. This new • High signal strength intermod- multiple access (FDMA) air continues to guide the decision-
users and systems. The P25 ties, security upgrades and test- standard will enable dispatch ulation rejection test and per- interface. They will be used to making process for P25 technol-
standards define a challenge ing standards. When new require- equipment connected to trunk- formance recommendations for create a revision to the TSB- ogists and engineers. It fuels
response system that requires ments appear, standards are ing infrastructures via the high signal strength intermodu- 88.1-E and TSB-88.3 Wireless updates and improvements to
the radio system and/or sub- added, existing requirements are ISSI/CSSI to control group lation rejection measurements. Communications Systems Per- existing standards and develop-
scriber radio to authenticate modified, and new technological regrouping services. Control These documents are in ballot formance in Noise and Interfer- ment of new standards for capa-
Photos courtesy PTIG
w w w. M C C m a g . c o m M i s s i o n C r i t i c a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n s 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E d i t i o n 21bility and performance improve- Long Term Evolution (JLMRLTE).
ments that public-safety users The current work item includes
can depend on for mission-criti- scenarios and considerations for
cal communications. a Third Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP) Release 15 inter-
P25 LMR and LTE Interworking working function (IWF) to enable
The Telecommunications interoperability of services
Industry Association (TIA) and the between a mission-critical 3GPP
Alliance for Telecommunications system and a TIA-based LMR sys-
Industry Solutions (ATIS) founded tem. The study examines three
a joint working group known as distinct TIA-based LMR systems:
the Joint Land Mobile Radio to P25 trunking, P25 conventional
and TIA-603 analog conventional
FM. It does not prescribe a partic-
ular LMR interface to the IWF,
although TIA has chosen the P25
ISSI and Digital Fixed Station
Interface (DFSI).
The rollout of 3GPP LTE servic-
es is progressing and expected to
continue through the coming
years. There likely will be an
extended period where both tech-
nologies exist in the market, and
this co-existence will require
interworking. Interworking tech-
nology also will enable migration
from P25 technology to 3GPP LTE
technology. n
Jim Downes is the chairman of the Proj-
ect 25 (P25) Steering Committee. Steve
Nichols is the director of the P25 Tech-
nology Interest Group (PTIG). Andy
Davis is the chairman of the Telecom-
munications Industry Association’s (TIA)
TR-8 Standards Committee.
22 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o ming toward the current, most pressing issues. This
funding comes with no specific deliverables and no
specific restrictions and includes a generous sponsor-
ship of the Public-Safety Interoperability Institute
2021 (Interop’21), coming up November 15-19, in Col-
lege Station, Texas.
Below I summarize Public Safety Interop’21, as well
as several specific areas that we have chosen to apply
Verizon’s support to address public-safety interoper-
ability. We hope this provides greater insight into the
ways service providers, the research community,
public-safety professionals, and government are com-
ing together to support and advance public-safety
communications. We invite and encourage you to join
in the effort by joining us at Public Safety Interop’21
this November.
Emergency Calling with NG 9-1-1 Capabilities
Next-generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) capabilities such
as voice with enhanced location, video, text and
telematics are increasingly the baseline expectation
for the public when making an emergency call. Ideal-
Photo courtesy Walt Magnussen, TAMU ITEC
ly, these calls should be routed directly from the serv-
ice provider to the NGCS. This would also enable us to
Solving Public-Safety enhance security by adding authentication while
allowing us to assign traffic priority levels to the
transferred traffic. The legacy gateways in use today
will never allow us to go beyond just voice services
under the standardized NG 9-1-1 architecture. To sup-
Interoperability Challenges port the test, an evaluation of this transition, Verizon
has supported us in connecting our ITEC labs to the
Verizon Westlake labs in the Dallas, Texas area.
The legacy gateways in use today will
Public-safety researchers are working with service providers to help
By Walt Magnussen and Michael Fox
never allow us to go beyond just
solve interoperability issues.
voice services under the standardized
NG 9-1-1 architecture.
M
Most of us rely heavily upon our service providers to
support critical public-safety services. These service
providers have become more diverse over the past
30 years. At first, they only included our incumbent
and wireless service providers such as AT&T, Sprint,
We do so by conducting research, and testing and
evaluating technologies in our labs at TAMU.
ITEC has done significant projects with wireless
and wireline service providers such as AT&T, Veri-
zon, Lumen (CenturyLink), and Sprint. The work we
MCPTT
Mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT) communica-
T-Mobile and Verizon. Later, the cable companies do across service providers is crucial, as true end-to- tions is a new service for most networks, but the
joined the mix only to be followed by competitive end interoperability will require the support of all services are limited. While they work well within a
service and broadband (internet) service providers. players. While we view these projects as independ- service provider’s network, the same cannot be said
They provide us with our circuits between our public- ent efforts, everything comes together once a year when communicating between service providers.
safety answering points (PSAPs), next generation at our Interoperability Institute workshop and exer- This lack of interoperability is sure to be a significant
core services (NGCS), our basic telephony services, cise. Formerly known as Winter Institute, we issue once MCPTT is more widely adopted. Efforts
our internet access, our cloud services and even our renamed to the event to reflect our focus on public- between Verizon and the TAMU ITEC include testing
public-safety broadband networks. safety interoperability. and documenting MCPTT interoperability between
At Texas A&M University (TAMU) Internet2 Tech- One service provider has recently put a stake in private and public LTE networks, between service
nology Evaluation Center (ITEC), we work with indus- the ground to advance research and testing in inter- providers using the same application, between differ-
try across the entire public-safety communications operability. For the past two years Verizon has pro- ent vendor applications, and from enterprise voice
ecosystem to improve public-safety communications, vided generous funding to ITEC, not for any specific over IP (VOIP) switches to MCPTT service providers
with a particular focus on advancing interoperability. project but instead to allow ITEC to direct the fund- networks. This work will include the testing of
24 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o m w w w. M C C m a g . c o m M i s s i o n C r i t i c a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n s 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E d i t i o n 25nection that would test and document the connec- between networks is a manual process. This capabili- or themes. The six themes for Interoperability Insti-
tion and underlying agreements. The National Emer- ty will never reach its potential until we can make the tute 2021 (Interop’21) are:
gency Number Association (NENA) will soon release process more automatic. There are ways of doing
the STA-031.1 standard for interconnecting emer- this under today’s 4G and 5G Third Generation Part- 1. Identity credentialing and access management
gency services IP networks (ESInets) with PSBNs. nership Project (3GPP) architectures, but it is going (ICAM). The ITEC is working with the Department of
While the standard is intended to establish function- to take work involving the handset manufacturers, Homeland Security (DHS) and Georgia Tech Research
al requirements for these interconnections, there the wireless service providers (WISPs), and the pri- Institute on this initiative. ICAM is a federated single
will be a need to test and document the implemen- vate LTE providers to make this work in a secure, reli- sign-on system that is expected to be the public safe-
tation once the standard is released. The impor- able manner. ty standard. It utilizes a Trustmark framework called
tance of this testing and documentation is made the “National Identity Exchange Federation” (NIEF),
even more so by the large potential scale that we Interoperability Institute Workshop which helps public-safety agencies identify their trust
may need to achieve. It is predicted that, once the The Interoperability Institute, formerly called the requirements and manage their trust relationships.
United Sates is fully NG 9-1-1 enabled, there could Winter Institute, began close to a decade ago, and
be 100 ESInets connecting the approximately 6600 this year will be our seventh such event. The week is 2. Proof of concept for DHS SAFECOM recently
PSAPs. These will likely need to connect to one or divided into two halves: the workshop and the exer- released information sharing framework (ISF). The
more of the PSBNs if we are going to have true end- cise. The overall objective of the Interoperability ISF defines a framework that divides information into
to-end prioritization of communications. Institute workshop is to bring together the nation’s three tiers with the data on the lower layer, an infor-
thought leaders to discuss technology gaps and to mation orchestration layer in the middle layer, and a
Interoperability with Private LTE provide direction to the ITEC for the following year’s presentation layer on the upper layer. This model has
With the opening of the Citizens Broadband Radio priorities. The Interoperability Institute Exercise pro- been referred to as the three layer cake model. The
Spectrum (CBRS), many communities are consider- vides an opportunity to get the technology that has exercise will involve several first responder agencies
ing augmentation of the commercial services with been advanced in the past year into the hands of such as Texas Task Force 1, the Texas Department of
private LTE. These networks would let us support first responders so that they can exercise and vali- Public Safety, the Texas Army National Guard, and
emergency communications in locations that do not date the technology. local responders. There are also several video systems
have coverage and likely never will, such as under- Each interoperability institute has several threads that will be utilized in this exercise. The workshop and
authentication and prioritization of MCPTT sessions ground facilities. It could also serve to augment com-
across network boundaries. munications for high bandwidth applications, such
as video, during high traffic incidents like sporting
Interconnecting NG 9-1-1 to Broadband events, concerts, demonstrations and disaster
The purpose of the effort to interconnect NG response. It is unrealistic to assume that the PSBNs
9-1-1 networks to public-safety broadband networks will ever be able to cover 100% of the locations
(PSBN) is to convey incident data (EIDD/EIDO), where first responders could be asked to go. This
caller health information and telemetry, such as shared responsibility model could be cost effective
OnStar crash data. This issue has been the source of and efficient if done correctly.
much deliberation over the past several years, yet That is where the work comes in. Today you can
there has not been a proof of concept or intercon- deploy dual SIMs in many phones but switching
Photo courtesy “Walt Magnussen, TAMU IETC”
Texas A&M University’s (TAMU) Interoperability Institute attracts a variety of different communications stakeholders to test technologies.
26 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o m w w w. M C C m a g . c o m M i s s i o n C r i t i c a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n s 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E d i t i o n 27funded by the Department of Homeland
the exercise will both contain ele- the NGCS network, the NG 9-1-1 citizens through the NG 9-1-1 Department. Like at most other cise can be found at https://www.
Security (DHS), the Department of
ments that will focus on the shar- public-safety answering points ESInets and through CAD to the response efforts that involved youtube.com/watch?v=XQVrP- Transportation (DoT), the National Insti-
ing of information from different (PSAPs) and the CAD systems PSBN, where it can be offered up drone video, the largest commu- tIv1G4. tute of Science and Technology (NIST)
situational awareness tools and donated to the ITEC as well as the to the first responders. All of this nications issue was the inability to The institute is open to the and Verizon. Magnussen received his
video sources following the ISF 4G/5G core, radio access network will follow the recent NENA stan- send high resolution video public and registration is now undergraduate and masters degrees
framework through the use of an (RAN), mobile edge compute dard defining the interconnection images where they were needed, available at from the University of Minnesota and
API gateway that is the middle, or (MEC) and transport network that of the two networks. when they were needed even http://itec.tamu.edu/interop21. his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University.
orchestration layer of the cake, makes up the private PSBN at the though there was prioritized We hope that you can join us
described above. ITEC. This interconnection will 4. MCPTT. There is a fairly new PSBN access in the area. One November 15 –19 at Disaster City, Michael E. Fox recently joined Texas
demonstrate the benefits, issues, 3GPP standard that describes potential solution to this issue is College Station, Texas. n A&M University (TAMU), where he
serves as senior associate director of
3. NG 9-1-1 to PSBN intercon- requirements and options for how to support mission-critical the use of private LTE in the CBRS
the Internet2 Technology Evaluation
nection. The exercise will utilize allowing information to flow from voice services from LMR to LTE- band using the new SpaceX satel-
Center (ITEC). Prior to joining the uni-
based data networks. MCPTT is a lite network. We will be working Dr. Walt Magnussen has been at Texas
versity, he worked in public-safety com-
part of the mission-critical servic- with the Texas Army National A&M University (TAMU) for 35 years in
munications, focusing on VHF/UHF and
es (MCX) suite that will also bring Guard on this effort. various networking capacities. He is cur-
microwave data communications.
mission-critical video (MCV) and The Interoperability Institute is rently the director of the Internet2 Tech-
Before that, he was vice president (VP)
nology Evaluation Center (ITEC) where
mission-critical data (MCD) to the more of a process than an event. of services and operations at virtual net-
for the past 18 years he has led its
suite of services. While most of Each year we take what we working startup Vyatta and VP of servic-
efforts in public-safety communications
the PSBN service providers have learned in the past year and build testing and research. The ITEC lab con-
es and consulting engineering at metro
released versions of MCPTT, the on it. This is important in that few tains complete next-generation 9-1-1
ethernet startup Atrica. He has held sen-
efforts of the ITEC will center on if any of these issues can be ior executive positions at Wellfleet, Bay
(NG 9-1-1) next generation core systems
Networks and Nortel Networks, where
standards conformance and inter- resolved in one year and we are (NGCS), public-safety answering point
he was vice president of Worldwide Sys-
operability between service always discovering new technolo- (PSAP), 4G and 5G LTE systems and
tems Engineering. Fox has a bachelor’s
providers to ensure that we do gies which keep improving and public-safety applications such as
of science in electrical engineering from
not end up with yet another set of refining the state of the art. A MCPTT, situational awareness tools and
Louisiana State University.
siloed services not capable of video discussing the 2019 Exer- other applications. The lab is currently
end-to-end communications. As
the ITEC transitions to 5G servic-
es, this work will include the 3GPP
specified internetworking frame-
work or IWF network microser-
vice. This last part will likely be a
2022 Institute effort.
5. Large scale interoperable
collaboration. Supporting yet
another DHS initiative, this
thread aims to demonstrate
methods of providing interoper-
ability for large-scale events
across messaging and collabora-
tion services such as Bridge4PS,
Microsoft Teams, Slack and oth-
ers. This thread will involve inter-
operable gateways and ICAM
authentication.
6. Disaster and large event
drone video sharing. Dr. Robin
Download your free eBook
Murphy from TAMU and a team
toDAy
from Florida State University's
Disaster Incident Response Team
at www.mccmag.com
responded to the Surfside, Flori-
da, disaster for 24 days at the
request of Florida US&R Task 1 of
the Miami Dade Fire Rescue
28 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o m w w w. M C C m a g . c o m M i s s i o n C r i t i c a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n s 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E d i t i o n 29The Benefits of Z-Axis
Through FirstNet FirstNet’s new Z-axis capability provides
a variety of benefits to public safety.
By Jeff Bratcher
Photos courtesy FirstNet Authority
T
This year marks the 20th anniver-
sary of the terrorist attacks on
September 11. In the aftermath of
that tragedy, the public-safety
community pushed for its own
In the two decades since Sep-
tember 11, the way we communi-
cate has changed. Smartphones
are commonplace, and we use
apps to help us with everything
established to deploy a nation-
wide broadband network for
public-safety communications
and deliver innovative solutions
that are proven to meet first
dedicated network to address from ordering groceries to map- responders’ communications
some of the communications ping out trips and consulting needs. The FirstNet Authority con-
challenges responders faced on with our doctors. Public safety is tinuously works with public safety
that day. The community called also seeing the benefits of the across the country to evolve the
for a nationwide network, one it wireless broadband revolution FirstNet network. In March 2017,
could rely on to communicate and thanks to advancements in we announced that AT&T had
share information with each mobile data technologies. won the competition to be our
other during emergencies as well The First Responder Network commercial partner to build and
as their day to day operations. Authority (FirstNet Authority) was deploy FirstNet. According to
30 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o mZ-Axis and the ECC fire and rescue services. Reyes understands the importance of
In emergency communications understands all too well that loca- Z-axis location capabilities to law
centers (ECC), Z-axis capability tion accuracy saves lives. enforcement.
helps telecommunicators know “In 9-1-1, we have to keep track “Just like we need to know
when to dispatch additional units of not only the location of the where law enforcement vehicles
or determine what type of equip- caller’s emergencies but also the are in an emergency, the next
ment to send to the scene. first responders,” he says. “Loca- step is knowing where law
With X and Y location-based tion accuracy is quite possibly the enforcement officers are,” he
services, telecommunicators can most important thing we focus on said. “Because oftentimes, if the
track a responder’s movement, every single day. From a budget officer separates from the vehicle
speed, direction and orientation. and time perspective, I can’t think like in a foot chase through a mul-
Now with XY and Z coordinates, of another technology that takes tilevel structure, you need to
they can also see the height loca- more than location accuracy know where that officer is. So
tion of a responder in a multistory because locating people in an Z-axis capability is always going
building or other structure like a emergency is our highest priority. to be very important because it
parking garage. Through apps, Seconds count when somebody extends location accuracy to the
first responders can share their needs help. So that’s why location person and not just the vehicle.”
location with their teams on accuracy is just so important in Location-based services,
scene and with commanders, inci- the 9-1-1 industry.” including the Z-axis or vertical
dent managers and dispatchers. location, have many potential
Eddie Reyes is director of the Z-Axis and Law Enforcement benefits for law enforcement:
Department of Public Safety Com- Before his current role, Reyes • Officer safety. An officer’s
munications in Prince William retired as the senior deputy chief exact location, including how
County, Virginia, which provides of the Alexandria Police Depart- high in a high-rise building, is
Z-axis location information provides greater situational awareness to emergency communications centers (ECCs).
command, control and informa- ment in Virginia after more than available to team members and
their latest earnings announce- fourth floor. The second officer smartphones to measure HAT. tion support services to police, 25 years of service. He also dispatch without verbal cues.
ment in July, FirstNet provides goes immediately to the scene for The data is accessed using a
wireless broadband communica- backup. vertical positioning service avail-
tions to more than 17,000 public- The new vertical location serv- able to public safety app devel-
safety agencies and organizations ices available to FirstNet sub- opers, which is the first such
comprising over 2.5 million con- scribers will help with responses service to be offered to public
nections on the network. in those scenarios. FirstNet’s safety and is exclusively available
One of the key capabilities that Z-axis capability provides first to FirstNet subscribers. The serv-
public safety requested during responders with enhanced situa- ice is currently available in more
the planning phase of FirstNet tional awareness not available than 100 major metropolitan
was the ability to determine the with traditional GPS. In addition areas across the US with addi-
Z-axis, or vertical axis, location of to latitude and longitude coordi- tional markets added on a regu-
personnel. This was stressed to nates, Z-axis provides a vertical lar basis. To find a Z-axis situa-
be a must-have service provided location to help locate personnel tional awareness app, you can
by their network. The FirstNet in tall buildings. check the FirstNet App Catalog.
Authority is proud to say that this The FirstNet App Catalog identi-
service is now available in a How Z-axis Works fies public-safety apps that have
growing number of areas on the FirstNet’s Z-axis capability is undergone a rigorous vetting
FirstNet network for the nation’s the next evolution of FirstNet and approval process to ensure
first responders. Enhanced Location Services (ELS), apps are relevant to public safe-
designed to assist with identifying ty, have enhanced security and
XY and Z Axis where a first responder is located privacy features, and demon-
Imagine a call for disturbance within a building. Z-axis location strate reliability.
from inside a multistory building, data provides the first responder With just a FirstNet-enabled
and two officers respond to the with the vertical reference point smartphone and app, public-
scene. The officer who arrives in terms of height above terrain safety entities can now track the
first enters the building and (HAT) to indicate the relative alti- in-building vertical location of
reports shots fired. The arriving tude or vertical location of the personnel, not just vehicles, with-
second officer and dispatch both first responder and their team out verbal input. This has impor-
track the location of the first offi- members. Z-axis uses the baro- tant benefits for many public-
cer, without voice prompts, to the metric sensor built into most safety disciplines.
32 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E dition MissionCritical Communications www.MCCmag. c o m w w w. M C C m a g . c o m M i s s i o n C r i t i c a l C o m m u n i c a t i o n s 2 0 2 1 I W C E S h ow E d i t i o n 33You can also read
