How to get more from your TETRA network and build your future, too. White paper

Transcription

1 How to get more from your TETRA network and build your future, too White paper

2 Contents New opportunities call new strategies... 2 User value driving the investment strategy... 3 Service continuity the first priority... 3 How to get additional user value from new TETRA capabilities... 4 The driver of broadband is mobilized data... 4 Data apps today mission critical voice on broadband will take some time... 5 Hybrid model allows gradual investment... 5 How to build your critical communications investment strategy... 6 Suite more value for today s TETRA users and support for new opportunities... 7 Conclusion... 8 New opportunities call new strategies Communications technology continues to evolve rapidly. The new opportunities offered by mobile broadband technologies to public safety have been well covered in the media. There are also encouraging messages about the development of broadband for mission critical purposes, such as the continued progress in standardization. This has led many public safety organizations and PMR operators to ask fundamental questions. Can mobile broadband provide additional value for public safety operations? What is the role of TETRA technology in the future? Could the services of commercial mobile operators be used within public safety? What about hybrid solutions, combining TETRA and broadband services? And ultimately, what is the best strategy for critical communications investments? In this paper, we examine these questions from the point of view of a public safety organization that uses TETRA technology as an established communications solution for its mission critical operations. We discuss investment strategies for the coming years, specifically, how to get the most user value today while also building capabilities to take advantage of future opportunities?

3 User value driving the investment strategy Investments in digital public safety subject and easy to pin down. When quires the user organization to choose networks based on TETRA technol- asking a police officer, what is the among the available options based ogy have been driven by the need most important tool he/she is carry- on user needs rather than technol- to provide additional value for users. ing with them, the answer is clear: it ogy. The user organization defines These investments have substantially is a TETRA radio. It offers a reliable the needs. Subsequently, a service improved the efficiency and mission and secure way to communicate with provider, for example, a PMR opera- effectiveness of public safety opera- the control center and directly with tor, makes a proposal about potential tions, bringing a huge leap in securi- other officers in the field. Also, cross- solutions to implement the service ty and safety, as well as more robust authority communications is easy, with which fulfills users needs. The ser- systems and a wealth of features. This a rich set of features for management vice provider is also in charge of the has guaranteed that critical communi- of talk groups, organizations and user business effects, hence the proposal cations services match the operation- rights. Additionally, in the event of a needs to be financially feasible and the al needs of demanding public safety dangerous situation, an emergency investments built on a sound basis. users - very high availability, reliability, call is connected immediately with ex- Finally, the solution to implement the uncompromised security and special treme priority, pre-empting other calls service is an outcome of the negotia- operational needs. if necessary. tions between user organizations and For first responders in the field, Bringing value to the user is the key the user value of TETRA is a tangible driver in investment decisions. This re- the service provider. Service continuity the first priority When planning investments, the num- tributes to more reliable services by organizations, users, groups and se- ber one priority is to ensure that the replacing older equipment with new curity. Integration with control rooms existing services will continue without technology. Usually this reduces op- and field command solutions are oth- risking reduced service levels. The erational expenditures (OPEX). And er important topics that need to be safety of citizens and first responders naturally, we cannot forget the oppor- checked. must not be jeopardized. A police of- tunity for new services when modern- ficer carrying a TETRA radio must be izing the network. In addition to service continuity, users want new applications and devic- able to rely on the TETRA communi- Service continuity also needs to be es to solve their daily challenges in the cation supporting their demanding du- taken into account when introducing field. This calls for close co-operation ties, now and in the future. In practice, new applications, services and devic- with user organizations and a PMR this means life-cycle management of es. The operational procedures of pub- operator to set the right priorities for network equipment and terminals. lic safety organizations are very stable, planning the next investment steps. The life-span of public safety net- with changes taking a long time and works is typically around years. being thoroughly planned. Any new As such, they need to be modernized services or applications thus need to every years, as well as under- support the existing operational mod- go more frequent minor upgrades. els. In practice new solutions need to The modernization of a network con- be integrated with the management of 3

4 How to get additional user value from new TETRA capabilities If new user segments are to start tween Norway and Sweden, oper- using TETRA services, it is good to ational from early 2017, followed by check the network capacity and other Nordic countries. also the available communications IP Backbone is a valuable invest- feature set. Might there be any new ment, which pays off now and in the features available, which could be future by offering lower operational valuable for new kinds of use cases? costs, easier system level integra- TETRA End-to-end Encryption tion, better disaster recovery today enables encryption of all radio traffic and more capacity and flexibility to- between TETRA terminals and dis- morrow. patchers. It offers maximum security TETRA networks analytics: View- by using strong cryptography. End- cor from Airbus provides real-time The modernization of a TETRA net- to-end Encryption is a powerful tool time visibility of field operations for work is a good opportunity to intro- against increasing cyber threats. TETRA operators and user orga- duce new services and to assess the The TETRA Inter-System-Inter- nizations. With Viewcor, a TETRA existing service level. The topics worth face (ISI) standardized solution con- operator can monitor the network considering include: nects TETRA networks from different load, locate disturbances on the TETRA radio coverage: is it good manufacturers to support, for exam- network and analyze trends to sup- enough in all areas including indoor ple, cross-border authority co-oper- port network planning. User organi- coverage? Are new base stations, ation between neighboring coun- zations can plan special events, like for example handy TB3p variants, tries. TETRA ISI has been boosted VIP summits, major sport events needed to fill the holes in the radio by cooperation between the TETRA and hazardous chemical move- coverage? New base stations of- industry and users, backed by the ments, and monitor the network fer better coverage with the same EU-funded security project ISITEP, behavior within planned locations number of sites. leading to the first deployment be- and events. The driver of broadband is mobilized data The mission critical voice remains in For example, first responders to an TETRA many years to come. At the accident could send video and photo- same time the key to gaining most graphs from the scene, allowing com- value from mobile broadband is the manders at the control center to make deployment and use of applications, better decisions. Using reporting tools by mobilizing existing ones and in- supported over broadband, police offi- troducing new apps. Broadband and cers could spend more time in the field bandwidth-hungry apps are made for with people and less at the police station. each other. New capabilities enabled With new applications, existing proce- by fast access to data in the field make dures can be simplified and automated. possible innovative ways to maintain This would improve the efficiency of po- the safety and security of citizens. lice work. It would also offer more safety They also help organizations improve for citizens, while also improving relations the efficiency of their operations. between the community and the police. 4

5 Data apps today mission critical voice on broadband will take some time Existing LTE technology is a good based on group voice communications, within public safety. There are already platform to mobilize data applications. which must be available always without 3GPP standards which define the basis LTE today provides good capacity and any breaks. For example, when a smoke for Mission Critical PTT (Push to Talk) in enables the use of new devices and diver is in a burning house and needs 4G/LTE networks. Also, 5G technolo- mainstream application development guidance via a radio to navigate in poor gies will offer many new capabilities of platforms. Data apps, at least initially, visibility - it s literally a question of life and value within public safety. For example, are meant to complement the opera- death. 5G will include new tools for security and tional communications provided by to- Without doubt, the requirements of improved reliability. day s TETRA networks. Hence, public mission critical voice communication will One major point to take away is that safety organizations can start mobiliz- be met with broadband technologies in the best user value can be harvested by ing data using current LTE technology. the future, even though this is not the enriching the existing voice services of However, mission critical voice for case today. 3GPP, the standardization TETRA with mobile apps. public safety operations is a much more organization of mobile communication challenging proposition. The field man- technologies, is standardizing main- agement of public safety operations is stream 4G/5G technologies to be used Hybrid model allows gradual investment The need for service continuity and the option is to use the broadband services services as one element of hybrid net- desire to cause least disruption to exist- of commercial mobile operators. works ensures the support for existing ing operational models can be met by a The hybrid network model is also operations. Mobile broadband apps hybrid network model. In this approach, well justified from the view of risk man- and new devices will complement a public safety organization can contin- agement. The continuity of public safe- TETRA. Once standards and technol- ue with a TETRA network for mission ty operations must not be jeopardized ogies evolve, mobile broadband can critical voice and data and introduce and therefore group voice services gradually take on the role of a critical mobile broadband services step-by- are the first priority. Having TETRA communications technology. step. These services can be based on a dedicated broadband network, commercial services with a Secure MVNO, or a combination of the two. A potential evolution towards mission critical broadband Using a hybrid network means investments can be made gradually as and Managed transition towards LTE when needed. The broadband network Mission Critical Broadband Data and Voice can also be developed in different ways depending on which applications are needed and the level of investment that can be supported. Another key issue is the availability of radio spectrum. If spec- Dedicated broadband data Hybrid solutions with secure MVNO on Commercial 3G/4G/5G TETRA Mission Critical Voice and Data trum is not available for dedicated public safety broadband networks, the available 5

6 How to build your critical communications investment strategy Elements of critical communications investments strategy applications and new devices to solve their daily challenges in the field. Hybrid Networks New TETRA capabilities Service Continuity 1st priority TETRA Broadband User Value Driver of investments Added User Value Mobilizing applications The value of mobile broadband is in the mobilizing of data applications, both through mobilizing existing ones and introducing new apps and new devices. Standardized mobile broadband technologies are not yet mature enough for mission critical voice Safety of first responders and citizens Efficiency of missions services; hence TETRA services will be needed for many years to come. The hybrid networks model com- Investments in digital public safety net- Because the user value is driving bines the best of TETRA and mobile works should continue to be driven by the investments, close co-operation broadband - TETRA for mission crit- the need to provide additional value for between user organizations and a ical services and mobile broadband users. The figure above summarizes PMR operator is a must. for mobilizing the data apps. the key elements of the critical com- The service continuity is the first pri- This list reveals the need for a solution munications investment strategy for ority, as uninterrupted high-quality bridging the investments for TETRA a public safety organization that uses communications services must be and broadband, that is, a hybrid net- TETRA technology as an established ensured for public safety operations. works solution is needed. The solution communications solution: 6 Users also want new services, new from Airbus is called Suite.

7 Suite more value for today s TETRA users and support for new opportunities Suite from Airbus offers pub- Dabat is both an Android lic safety organizations products and smartphone and a TETRA radio in a solutions for hybrid networks com- single device. It is designed for profes- bining TETRA and broadband. The sional users. It offers mission-critical suite of solutions gives public safety TETRA communication with the famil- organizations maximum flexibility in iar Airbus multi-purpose push-to-talk managing their users in TETRA and buttons. The large touch-screen is ide- broadband networks, including mo- al for smart apps and designed for use bile operator networks and dedicated with gloves. All information on broadband networks. There is a solu- Dabat is kept secure. tion for handling security management and integration with mobile operator Secure MVNO enables PMR networks. Thanks to Suite, operators or user organizations to TETRA and broadband users can be make best of their communications connected with shared group com- budget by introducing broadband munication services, including apps services based on commercial mobile Cell is a tactical LTE network, on standard smartphones and profes- operators services. At the same time which can be installed in a vehicle sional hybrid devices. it allows them to control the security and used to deploy coverage cost-ef- of communications and subscribers. fectively whenever and wherever it is Suite has several components Several mobile operators can be sup- needed. It can be connected to Tac- that add value for public safety users. ported simultaneously, ensuring that tilon Secure MVNO and to These include Agnet, which a number of networks can be used. Broadband to connect the users of the allows a smartphone user connected Secure MVNO grows into Tac- tactical network to nationwide services. via broadband to use TETRA voice tilon Broadband by adding dedicated and messaging services, while TETRA LTE base stations to areas where ded- Management provides con- and smartphone users can use the icated coverage is needed, from hot trol and management of organizations, same talk groups. spots to nationwide networks. groups and subscribers using the same processes and operational model for hybrid networks. It also manages Suite, value for TETRA users today and for future opportunities Agnet users. Suite Combines the best of PMR and broadband LTE Devices Applications Infrastructure Smartphone with full TETRA radio inside Group comms on smart devices Unified provisioning for all services Secure broadband data with commercial networks Dedicated broadband data for guaranteed capacity Tactical broadband coverage where needed Dabat Agnet Management Secure MVNO Broadband Cell 7

8 Conclusion Learn more Providing added value to the user is the key driver in investment deci- Learn more about modernization of sions. Technology is a means to get solutions for user needs. Today, TETRA networks: TETRA users perceive their TETRA radios as a most valuable tool in their daily work. They must have confidence that the TETRA communications com/tetra-network-modernization services will also support their duties in the future and with a good level of service. In addition users want new services, applications and devices Are you interested in Suite for their practical needs. and how it brings more value to Getting the most value from broadband comes from mobilizing data TETRA users: - mobilizing existing data applications, new apps, new devices. These new capabilities enable innovative ways to solve the daily challenges of com/tactilon-suite first responders, maintain safety and security of citizens and also help organizations improve the efficiency of their operations. Are you considering a hybrid network Hybrid networks provide a cost-effective and secure way for public approach and the first steps of the safety organizations to evolve TETRA towards mobile broadband. Using broadband evolution? Do not hesi- only broadband technologies like LTE for mission critical voice is not yet tate to contact us: realistic. This means that existing TETRA networks will need to be main- marketing@ tained and upgraded to ensure they continue to meet the needs of public securelandcommunications.com safety organizations for years to come. By introducing a hybrid network, public safety organizations can also take advantage of mobile broadband to deploy new apps for greater operational effectiveness. The key to successfully deploying and cost-effectively using a hybrid network is to ensure that the TETRA and broadband networks are tightly integrated and can be provisioned and managed by a single system. It is also important that existing operational procedures are supported while at the same time maintaining the highest levels of security. Airbus Suite achieves all these aims to bring substantial new value to public safety users. 03/2016 Copyright 2016 Airbus Defence and Space. All rights reserved. This document is not contractual. Subject to change without notice. is a registered trademark of Airbus Defence and Space. marketing@securelandcommunications.com For more information please contact Airbus Defence and Space Hiomotie Helsinki Finland T: Airbus Defence and Space Wörthstraße Ulm Germany T: +49 (0) Airbus Defence and Space MetaPole 1, bld Jean Moulin CS Elancourt Cedex France T: +33 (0)