Comms Connect 2023 Heralds Regional PSBN Progress

The 2023 edition of Comms Connect Melbourne brought together public and private sector critical communications ecosystem members across the Australian and New Zealand region. Held October 18 and 19, the event featured sessions from the leadership teams guiding emerging Public Safety Broadband Networks in the region. Leadership from the US FirstNet Authority and the Canadian Public Safety Broadband Networks Innovation Alliance (PIA) delivered updates on progress in North America.

A packed exhibition floor included displays from Airbus, Frequentis, Hypha, L3 Harris, Nokia, Sepura, and Tait Communications. Attendance appeared robust, and the primary theatre was nearly filled during keynote presentations.

Australia Continues Mission-Critical LTE Studies

From Australia, the New South Wales Telco Authority provided an update on its progress in expanding resilience for the state's emergency services operations. Activity on the mission-critical LTE front continues, but the work remains a proof-of-concept effort establishing a potential approach for a future national network.

Significantly, efforts towards a national strategy are stepping up with the launch of the new Public Safety Mobile Broadband (PSMB) Taskforce. The PSMB Taskforce will establish the foundation of a long-term public safety communications infrastructure. Its operations are funded with AUD 10.1 million for two years.

In the lead-up to the task force creation, an October 2022 Public Safety Mobile Broadband Strategic Review called for the Commonwealth to formally engage with the NSW Telco Authority to develop an initial view of network solution costs. Based on that and other comments in the review, we expect the NSW Telco Authority to serve as a primary contributor during the next phase.

While PSMB Taskforce staff members were spotted at Comms Connect, the agency was not represented in presentations or panel discussions.

New Zealand Progress

In contrast to Australia, the New Zealand government can now point to a live network operation based on Hourua, a joint venture between Spark and One NZ (the former Vodafone network in New Zealand). Representatives from New Zealand's Next Generation Critical Communications (NGCC) agency and the country's new Hourua network described the launch of cellular roaming for public safety users.

Plans for Hourua include support for Quality of Service, Priority, and Preemption. The NGCC expects these capabilities to go live in October 2024.

In conjunction with establishing Hourua for public safety mobile broadband, the New Zealand government refreshed its P25 Land Mobile Radio network with an NZD 1.4 billion deal. Tait Communications supplies the upgraded radio system that will operate over ten years.

Progress with MCPTT Interworking to P25

The 3GPP Mission Critical Push-to-Talk (MC-PTT) ecosystem is starting to gain device support. At Comms Connect, L3 Harris showed its 3GPP-compliant portfolio of XL radios that support analog, P25 digital trunking, and MC-PTT. Broad deployments of MC-PTT, however, depend upon interworking capabilities between the MC-PTT servers on a mission-critical LTE network and the legacy radio systems. Like North America, Australia and New Zealand deploy P25 Land Mobile Radio systems for public safety operations. The interconnection of P25 and MC-PTT requires the integration of an MC-PTT Inter-Working Function (IWF) to bridge the two technologies.

The New South Wales Telco Authority (NSWTA) extended its MC-PTT proof-of-concept program to investigate progress in P25 interworking. In a Comms Connect session, NSWTA technical staff presented the test results. The basis of the test was an August 2023 integration of the Etherstack P25 IWF functionality with the Nokia-supplied MC-PTT Application Server.

The NSWTA tested two Motorola P25 handsets and two Bittium Tough Mobile LTE devices with 33 test cases. They reported that calls between the four devices were successful, and inspection of network traces confirmed valid traffic flows. In addition, Caller ID and emergency call activation on both technologies were performed appropriately.

While the proof-of-concept test was limited in scale, the results point to a growing maturity in the MC-PTT device ecosystem and the Etherstack P25 IWF. What happens next in North America with FirstNet will help clarify how effectively the IWF scales.

Vehicle as a Node From Hypha

Hypha is an Australian supplier of communications technology solutions that serve public safety and industrial users. At Comms Connect, the company spotlighted its Vehicle as a Node (VaaN) concept that blends P25 Land Mobile Radio, LTE, and satellite connectivity to ensure a resilient communications link remains when operating in remote areas or regions devastated by disaster.

Graham Tait, a retired Fire and Rescue New South Wales firefighter now working with Hypha, spearheaded the development of the VaaN concept when at the agency. At Comms Connect, Graham showed how the concept has evolved to incorporate Starlink connectivity and a flexible HyphaMESH solution that includes the Mobile Access Point (HyphaMAP) and HyphaCAP portable device.

A video of the demonstration is here.

Enhancing Fire Fighter Safety with Mobile Broadband

Important advances in firefighter safety are enabled by LTE-based mobile broadband connectivity. At Comms Connect, Fire and Rescue New South Wales (FRNSW), Inspector Richard Gibb described his agency's pioneering moves towards a connected firefighter. The FRNSW program combines a Vehicle as a Node (VaaN) concept for resilience and IP connectivity with cloud-based software for command and control.

In the FRNSW VaaN deployment, each front-line fire apparatus has multiple connectivity bearers: P25, LTE, and satellite. When out of range of the P25 network, a Motorola Solutions P25 mobile unit will fall back to the Motorola proprietary SmartConnect transport over IP. A Sierra Wireless router in the apparatus is a hub to forward the traffic over LTE or satellite links using a least-cost routing policy.

The impact of the FRNSW Vehicle as a Node architecture is two-fold. First, VaaN creates a highly resilient communication fabric that will operate when FRNSW units get deployed outside the LMR network or when network towers are destroyed, both LMR and cellular. Secondly, by delivering IP connectivity to each vehicle, FRNSW can deploy advanced software solutions for command and control.

The result is a Common Operating Picture (COP) achieved by deploying the Adashi Systems Command and Control (C&C) solution at FRNSW. Adashi C&C provides incident commanders with comprehensive task management and monitoring capabilities. The Adashi Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) software provides unit supervisors with computer-aided dispatch information, maps, and hazard information.

L3 Harris fills a gap left by Motorola Solutions

Perhaps the most important capability of the Adashi C&C is the monitoring of firefighter safety. Motorola Solutions has not agreed to integrate its radio support for Emergency Button Activation (EBA) with the FRNSW Adashi C&C deployment. Motorola restricts integration to deployments using the APX Personnel Accountability Application (APAA) software from partner Systems Definition Inc. (SDI).

At Comms Connect, L3Harris demonstrated a solution for the gap left by Motorola Solutions restrictions. The company showed an integration of Adashi C&C with an L3Harris mobile P25 unit. The P25 device monitors the fireground channel and relays important messages to the Adashi C&C software. Because P25 is a standard, the L3Harris approach can successfully capture essential personnel safety alerts generated by devices.