digital
TETRA demonstrated in US F
or the first time, a trial of TETRA technology has been carried out with a radio user in the United States, to demonstrate the multiple features and functionality of the TETRA system and the strength of TETRA-enabled applications. Participating in the trial was NJ Transit, the
US’s largest state-wide transport operator. NJ Transit provides bus, rail and light rail services linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.
Te pilot system, a two-site network, was based on TETRA equipment provided by PowerTrunk (the name used in North America by the Spanish manufacturer Teltronic), with Alcatel-Lucent acting as primary system integrator. It included PowerTrunk-T base stations, mobiles, hand portables, a line dispatcher and a switch to integrate NJ Transit’s ‘legacy’ VHF system. Testing by PowerTrunk began in November. In addition, the network was integrated with an existing computer-aided dispatch system and a PowerTrunk PABX/PSTN gateway to allow cellular-like full duplex communications between cell or public switched phones and PowerTrunk radios.
FCC-certified “Tis is the first TETRA trial in the United States and the only one that entirely utilizes equipment certified by the FCC”, commented José Martín, chief operating officer of PowerTrunk. “We are delighted to team with Alcatel-Lucent for this project and I hope that we will co-operate in many others in the future.” Using the trial network, NJ Transit bus
crews could communicate, using voice and data, with operations personnel. Teir existing network has a limited data bandwidth and is not spectrally efficient, but the TETRA system provided improved data bandwidth plus 6·25 kHz voice equivalence, to meet regulatory
requirements for narrow-band systems in the US. NJ Transit has also piloted other digital land mobile radio (LMR) technologies. “It is important that NJ Transit conduct technical due diligence on available digital LMR (D-LMR) systems as we move closer to finalizing functional specifications to replace our ageing analogue LMR system”, commented Andrew Schwartz, director of radio communications for NJ Transit. “We must ensure the technology we ultimately acquire through a competitive process is scalable, maintainable, and supports a rich set of features to address current and future Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) applications, including robust data capabilities. “We chose to pilot PowerTrunk’s TETRA LMR because of their leadership in bringing TETRA to the US, their success in winning FCC type-acceptance for their equipment under Part 90, and their track record of successful transit LMR deployments. To date, results have been positive. We have used the PowerTrunk-T system alongside our legacy LMR system without any interference issues.” Te pilot employed a combination of a
leased T1 line and a private optical fibre backbone with routers configured for the ethernet Layer 2 Tunnelling Protocol (L2TP) required by the PowerTrunk-T equipment. “Te existing NJ Transit communications backbone enabled us to efficiently and smoothly reconfigure the network to support TETRA”, said Nicola Guidara, director of transportation market segment for Alcatel- Lucent’s Americas Region. “Tanks to our close collaboration with PowerTrunk, together we were able to provide NJ Transit with an advanced TETRA network.” n Steve Nielson writes about another TETRA demonstation system now operating in the US, inWisconsin, on page 14
Radio safety at a big gas plant
of a TETRA system for a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Indonesia. To be installed by PT Alssa, a local
R
systems integrator, the four-carrier TETRA-G system will cover an area of around 220 square kilometres from a single transmission site. It will support over 500 radio users equipped with Intrinsically Safe handportables. The network includes fully redundant switching for maximum reliability and an analogue gateway to provide voice and data communications throughout the plant, as well as connections to legacy analogue networks. Operated by the Indonesian company
PT Badak NGL, the Badak LNG plant is one of the largest of its kind in the world, and has produced over 415 million tonnes of gas to date. The plant has the capacity to supply over 22 million tonnes a year, to countries which include Japan, Korea and Taiwan. “This is our first TETRA system contract
in Indonesia’s oil and gas sector, marking a very important step for us as a company”, commented Ian Carr, Team Simoco’s chief executive. “We view this as a beachhead contract that will enable us to clearly demonstrate our capability to local industries and through our partnership with PT Alssa we are well positioned to expand our influence in the region’s TETRA markets.” Dian Govindha, managing director of
PT Alssa, added: “The system has been deployed in the remote and environmentally sensitive coastal region of East Kalimantan, where it will become a central part of the plant’s health and safety operations.”
the communications control capabilities of the British capital’s Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). Over the next 12 months, Frequentis will work
with its partners to extend the MPS’s Integrated Communications Control System (ICCS) and closed-circuit television capability and increase its access to existing hardware. Enhancements
Issue 2 February - April 2011 TE TRA TODAY
Enhancing police communications for 2012 A
s part of London’s preparations for hosting the forthcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games, work is beginning on enhancing
will include connection to the Airwave public safety radio network via new Vortex ports and a redesigned graphical user interface incorporating additional camera information and map control for camera selection. Frequentis is the prime contractor responsible
for the development and delivery of the MPS’s current ICCS, which has been in operation since February 2006. Te company is also working with Telent to deliver an Automated Personnel
adio communications specialist Team Simoco has completed the supply
Location System (APLS), which will be capable of reporting the location and status of every MPS operational officer. Frequentis is the technology architect, developer and integrator of this system. n Frequentis worked previously on the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, providing a command and control centre with 30 workstations linked to emergency telephone connections, analogue radio systems and a Motorola TETRA infrastructure.
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