Demonstrated at: TCCA CCBG#28

Before public safety agencies can successfully transform public safety push-to-talk group communications from legacy radio technologies to mobile broadband LTE/5G, devices supporting off-network transmissions must be available. Alea, Qualcomm, and Softil delivered a compelling proofpoint of progress towards this critical objective at the Fall TCCA Critical Communications Broadband Group (CCBG#28) meeting in Krakow, Poland, with a live multi-vendor test.

Sidelink is the 5G capability that allows user devices to communicate directly without a 5G network, much like a traditional push-to-talk radio system. While the capability originally appeared in LTE as Proximity Services (ProSe), no modems with ProSe support entered the market. The situation changes with 5G, as vehicle (V2X) communications use cases expand opportunities for the technology. Now called Sidelink, the ability for devices to communicate without a network sets the stage for direct mode device-to-device communications as well as relay links to devices with network connectivity.

In October, Alea, Qualcomm, and Softil provided live demonstrations of 5G Sidelink as a direct mode solution at the ETSI Mission Critical Services (MCX) Plugtest. In Krakow, the companies repeated the demonstration for participants at the TCCA CCBG meeting. The audience included government officials, critical communications network operators, and industry leaders.

Many challenges remain before 5G Sidelink takes the place of trusted VHF and UHF device-to-device communications. But a live demonstration of multiple vendor implementations interoperating on physical devices is an encouraging step forward.

Thanks to Qualcomm's Raja Sattiraju and Dr. Walt Magnussen from the Texas A&M University Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center (ITEC) for the demonstration. Thanks also to Softil's Anatoli Levine and Alea's Giuseppe Merlino for supporting the effort. Motorola Solutions served as host of the TCCA CCBG#28 meetings. Thanks to Tim Clark and Ricardo Gonzalez for providing terrific Motorola hospitality.