Public safety: FirstNet update; IWCE news

The First Responders Network Authority is on the path of a strategic roadmap to build a national wireless network for first responders.

FirstNet’s board met earlier this month and has voted to proceed on its preliminary strategic roadmap for that network, which is aimed at getting FirstNet a definitive business plan as well as comprehensive plans for state outreach and consultation.

“We want to make rapid progress for public safety, while balancing the need for robust design and cost-effectiveness,” said Bill D’Agostino, FirstNet’s GM, in a statement. “We plan to have significant coverage across the [United States] through use of terrestrial coverage similar to what wireless carriers have today. We believe we have charted a course to prove out a successful FirstNet for public safety.”

The approved roadmap focuses on the following steps:

• Getting the organization the staff and resources it needs.
• Completing an “open, transparent and competitive process for comprehensive network proposals based upon FirstNet LTE performance requirements, operating standards and certified devices.”
• Completing a similar process for network equipment and service proposals.
• Getting proposals for leasing agreements”that will provide value for [FirstNet’s] excess network capacity.” 
• Testing and validating the features and functionality of the network.
• Conduct outreach to states and complete consultations with the states.
• Determine pricing for approval by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Anritsu is already looking toward that testing phase, with news at last week’s International Wireless Communications Expo that it has developed the industry’s first PTCRB-approved protocol test for IMS emergency services. The testing company said it is currently the only supplier of such test cases, which are on the radar of both the PTCRB and the GCF for support.

Among other announcements from IWCE, which focuses on public safety, transportation and industrial wireless uses: 

–PCTel launched a multi-band vehicle antenna for public safety, fleet management and asset tracking. The new LTE antenna incorporates MIMO, high-rejection GPS and dual-band MIMO 802.11n Wi-Fi.

PCTel noted that the need for spatial differentiation with MIMO “makes it difficult to achieve the desired performance in a low-profile antenna” but says it has overcome that challenge. 

–According to the Police Executive Research Forum (as cited in a Motorola white paper), a full 90% of police departments expect to ramp up their use of predictive policing in the next five years. Motorola Solutions is looking to support that with its Real Time Crime Center, which integrates information from disparate sources and analysis to help safety agencies turn that data into actionable intelligence based on video streams, historical data, alarm information and other information resources. 

The company recently launched the latest version of its MVX1000 Digital In-Car Video System and Real-Time Video Intelligence solutions. The in-car system records audio and video within police vehicles, and the new version improves the user interfaces and includes the ability to add external video and audio files to incident timelines in the back-end Digital Multimedia Management System at headquarters.

The RTVI transits real-time video from cameras on the street or in vehicles, so that officers can watch on the device of their choice.

–-Industrial machine-to-machine company FreeWave Technologies launched WavePoint, a high-speed wireless networking platform to enable secure communication of data over long distances for M2M, broadband and SCADA applications.