futures Rearrangement of ERCs
Oulu area in 2011 at the latest
Kuopio area in 2012 at the latest
Pori area in 2013 at the latest
Vaasa area in 2014 at the latest
Turku area in 2015 at the latest
(special duties)
Kerava area in 2015 at the latest
evolution of mission-critical communications, a process which will depend on the allocation and harmonization of suitable spectrum for broadband data. In planning the modernization of functions,
processes and the ICT systems supporting them, users’ needs are always the starting point. In the fire and rescue services, future communication needs have been explored by conducting interviews, queries and workshops. Tese needs have been documented by a multi-authority development project called KEJO, which resulted in a requirement specification for multi-authority command and control system to be used in the field. Data communication needs can be classified
according to the data rates required (see table, previous page). At present, the speech and narrowband data services of VIRVE are adequate. But mission-critical wideband and broadband services are not available, and are being substituted by other, non-mission critical services. In the near future, the possible adoption of wideband TEDS will improve the situation, but broadband data will be missing from VIRVE for many years to come. A rearrangement of ERCs during the period
2010–2015 will combine the present 15 operational areas in Finland into just six (see map, above). Aims of this rearrangement are networked and uniform working processes, uniform information and control systems and better handling of overload situations. Te change has also created a need to redefine talk groups and to renew the identification system for field units. Tese developments are already under way. Technological evolution has been rapid in recent years and has brought new
30
possibilities to wireless data communication. Commercial mobile networks have evolved through 2G (GSM/GPRS/EDGE) and 3G (WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+) to 4G networks (LTE/LTE-A), the first of which are being deployed right now. Data rates have advanced from narrowband into broadband, enabling multimedia services with maximum transmission rates of up to several hundreds of megabits per second. But it remains a serious drawback of these networks that their usability and availability in massive emergency situations cannot be assured. Evolution of critical communication has been much slower. Te original TETRA air interface standard, established in 1996, was supplemented by standards defining many other interfaces during 1996–2001, and this phase was later called Release 1. Services included were group call, individual call, direct mode operation, status messages, text messages (SDS), narrowband packet data and a group of supplementary services. Te next evolutionary phase (Release 2) was established in 2005 and has been supplemented up to the present time. Its most important feature is the TETRA Enhanced Data Service (TEDS), which offers wideband data transmission with practical rates of 10–500 kbit/s, depending on the radio channel width, number of timeslots used and modulation. VIRVE could be updated with Release 2 features in 2012, but no decision on that has been made yet. Possible broadband support for VIRVE
is farther off. Tere may be at least 5–10 years to wait, because the ETSI workgroup responsible has only just begun its discussions. Starting of the standardization process and the
technology choices to be made will depend on future spectrum allocation decisions. Unless a sufficiently large frequency band can be identified – and it should also be harmonized across Europe for public service use, to assure a viable ecosystem – we can say goodbye to broadband within TETRA and any other dedicated technology. In that case, TETRA might remain
important for mission-critical voice and low or medium rate data services, but for broadband data other technologies would have to be used. Spectrum decisions will be a key factor in determining the future of mission-critical communication. To add to the present 2×5 MHz band, the ETSI Technical Committee has put forward a proposal for an additional 2×3 MHz for narrowband, 2×3MHz for wideband (TEDS) and 2×10MHz for broadband data transmission. Altogether, this additional spectrum need amounts to 2×16MHz. In Finland, an additional 2×5MHz adjacent to the current band could be taken into use quite rapidly, adding capacity for narrowband and wideband transmission. No band suitable for broadband data is currently in sight – yet it is clear that a dedicated band will be needed for broadband communication by public authorities, irrespective of the technology to be chosen. For economic reasons, this band should be closer to 400MHz than 1GHz.
Towards the future Information and command and control systems and their interoperability will be crucial for the successful future development of fire and rescue services. A recent development project on multi-authority co- operation and information systems (TOTI) has resulted in requirement specifications for information systems to be used by ERCs and also for command and control systems of field units (KEJO). Tis common definition project will ensure that future information systems are interoperable, forming a solid basis for successful multi-authority co- operation. Tese information systems will be deployed in 2015 at the latest, when the reconfiguration of ERCs has been completed. Te position of VIRVE remains
unchallenged, since no competing technology is in sight which could offer group calls and direct mode operation better than TETRA. Support for narrowband data transmission in TETRA is also adequate – it is suitable for conveying status, location and incident information. At the moment, a question mark hangs over the deployment of wideband TEDS – but TEDS could bring extra capacity to mission-
TE TRA TODAY Issue 3 May 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44