Current Systems Overview Radio communications within the State of California s adult correctional institutions are vital to the daily safety and security of the institution, staff, inmates, visitors, and the public on a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week basis. There are currently 27 standalone analog 800 MHz public safety trunked radio communications systems serving 34 adult institutions located throughout the state (there are instances where multiple institutions are serviced by a single system). The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation s (CDCR or the Department ) Radio Communications Unit (RCU) is responsible for implementing, monitoring, and overseeing all of the Department s public safety radio communications systems. In December 2010, the RCU identified over 17,000 portable and 2,200 mobile radios in service. Within each adult institution, the current 800MHz systems are used to provide communications among officers and between officers and control stations. There are currently no dispatch consoles used at the adult institutions (e.g., communications from officers to control stations occur on an advise and assist basis versus a command and control basis). However, the desire for dispatch operations (including dispatch priority) is being considered as a requirement in future replacements. Since the public safety radio systems are standalone and not interconnected, communications between institutions cannot occur directly via the radio systems. Also, radio communications between users at adult institutions and all other CDCR groups (such as Statewide Transportation) and all other external law enforcement agencies (including local and other State agencies) occurs via the California Multiple- Agency Radio System (CMARS), a statewide set of standalone analog conventional 800 MHz repeaters that uses various combinations of frequencies and CTCSS tones to segregate radio traffic. Scope While the RCU is also responsible for the public safety radio communications systems used by CDCR programs other than those at adult institutions (such as Juvenile Justice facilities, Statewide Transportation, Parole, the Office of Correctional Safety, etc.), this Request for Information is focused on trunked public safety radio communications systems that are to be based on Project 25 (P25) digital technologies to replace those currently in use at adult institutions. Problems That Must Be Resolved The CDCR s public safety radio communications systems infrastructure has far exceeded its expected life cycle. Most of CDCR s systems are over 20 years old and poses serious health, fire, and life safety risks due to the age of the systems and their potential failure. In the event of a catastrophic failure, routine day-to-day radio communications, and most importantly tactical emergency, fire, life and safety communications, will be lost, which in turn will seriously jeopardize the safety and security of the institution, staff, inmates, visitors, and the public. It is required that new systems be provided that address the following issues inherent in the current systems; lack of reliability, difficulty of support, insufficient capacity, and lack of interoperability. In addition, CDCR s current public safety radio communications systems are not compatible or compliant with the legislative mandate for P25 digital standards for public safety radio communications interoperability (Govt. Code 8592, et seq. Public Safety Communications Act of 2002). It is required that the systems be improved via significant upgrades or replacement in order to bring CDCR s systems up to current standards of other public safety agencies and ensure compliance with this legislative mandate. 1 of 6
Desired System Features Scope of Project A new, digital mobile radio system-of-systems for the CDCR is needed to replace the Department s outdated radio communications systems. Throughout this RFI, the term system-of-systems will be used to designate an integrated network created by the interconnection of the multiple systems deployed at the adult institutions while the term system is used to designate the infrastructure that will serve just one institution (or two institutions that are in very close proximity to each other). The CDCR is seeking to replace all public safety radio communications systems serving its 34 adult institutions but intends to do so with a phased approach. The CDCR envisions releasing an initial RFP to procure a system-of-systems that serves an initial set of approximately 5 to 7 adult institutions. CDCR may release one RFP to include both the infrastructure and subscriber portions of the system or the Department may release two RFPs, one each for infrastructure and subscribers. Over subsequent years, the CDCR intends to procure additional systems for additional adult institutions, and to incorporate them into the system-of-systems. Therefore systems and equipment purchased in this initial phase will necessarily need to be compatible with equipment procured in later phases. It is envisioned that all systems serving all adult institutions be interconnected in some way into the system-of-systems to allow communications between users at the various institutions. This interconnection may be by one integrated system that relies on one or more centralized control switches/controllers/points and many remote systems located at the institutions. Alternatively, this system-of-systems may be multiple, self-sustaining systems (one each at the institutions or pairs of institutions) that are interconnected through various interoperability mechanisms. The CDCR is seeking, by the questions asked below, input on the advantages and disadvantages of these two architectures, as well as on others that could achieve these same goals. Again, regardless of the configuration, CDCR is seeking a solution that can eventually accommodate radio communications between adult institutions and even to other CDCR programs (beyond adult institutions) as well as to support the goal for statewide interoperability between federal, state, local public safety organizations. Required Features The system-of-systems infrastructure architecture shall be scalable such that expansion in the following manners can be accommodated without replacement of initial procurements: Expansion by addition of channels of a system at one institution Expansion by addition of talk groups of a system at one institution (without direct/cable-based reprogramming of subscribers) Expansion by addition of adult-institution systems beyond the initial quantity of 5 or 7 to the ultimate goal of the replacement of all 27 systems and the delivery of communications to all 34 adult institutions Expansion to other systems; be they P25 trunked, P25 conventional, or analog technologies; through intersystem connections Each system at each adult institution, as well as the overall system-of-systems, must be capable of providing the following performance attributes: Coverage o It is envisioned that each system will deliver 95% service area coverage reliability at a delivered audio quality (DAQ) level of 3.4 for a portable radio used on-hip, for system talk-in and talk-out o The service area for each institution shall be locations throughout institutions (inside of adult institutions) as well as a radius of approximately 2 miles around each institution o Roaming between all institutions equipped with a replacement system shall be allowed for subscriber units that are so authorized 2 of 6
Capacity o It is envisioned that each system will deliver between 3 to 7 total talk paths (not including any control channel used to provide trunking operations) o Frequency coordination services may be required to help acquire additional channels at those systems that are currently operating above the capacity allowed by their current set of licensed channels Capabilities (Features): o It is envisioned that each system will initially support full compliance with Project 25 Phase I Common Air Interface (CAI) including Compliance Assessment Program (CAP) certification of all CAP-supported equipment as well as software-only reconfiguration to achieve a future upgrade to Project 25 Phase II CAI o It is also envisioned that each system will be capable of being compliant with the Project 25 ISSI interface at its current release o Each system will also support the features / capabilities listed in Question #2, below: Control: o It is envisioned that each system will allow dispatch priority through wire-line dispatch positions, as well as other features consistent with dispatch operations (i.e., patching (talk groups and conventional resources), multiple-select (talk groups and conventional resources), individual call, channel/talk group alert tones, display of unit-id or alias, etc.) o It is envisioned that each system will support management functions of: Overall inventory of infrastructure components and of all subscriber equipment Health of all major system components and alarms (local to management point and alarms sent to pagers, cell phones, or email address) for major and minor failures Remote diagnostics, configuration, and statistics Reliability: o It is envisioned that each system, and the overall system-of-systems, will provide the following levels of reliability: 99.99% availability for each system and for the entire system-of-systems 99.999% availability for the network backbone used to interconnect the systems o It is expected that fault-tolerance and redundancy will be used as needed to prevent the failure of a component, a connection, or an entire site from disabling the ability of the system to provide trunking features Security: o It is envisioned that each system, and the overall system-of-systems, will support the use of DES/AES encryption standards for all user-to-user communications as well as providing: Electronic security of the radio network infrastructure (protection against intrusions, attacks, etc.) o It is envisioned that each system, and the overall system-of-systems, shall be capable of operating with encryption that conforms to Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 46-3, Data Encryption Standard (DES) using Output Feedback (OFB) mode, or later NIST approved standards (e.g., AES) for use within the United States o It is envisioned that each system, and the overall system-of-systems, shall support the ability to remotely remove a radio from the network (i.e., disable its access and inhibit the unit s ability to transmit and receive) Interoperability: o As noted above, it is envisioned that each system, and the overall system-of-systems, will support radio communications between adult institutions and even to other CDCR programs (beyond adult institutions) as well as to support the goal for statewide interoperability between federal, state, local public safety organizations (such as California Highway Patrol 3 of 6
Enhanced Radio System CHPERS, California Department of Transportation (CalTrans), and CALFIRE) o Each system and the system-of-systems shall allow users that are connected through a common, IP-based network infrastructure to participate in conversations (i.e., radio over IP ) Questionnaire (please put responses in red or italics) Identify any part of any answer that represents or includes a technology this is not part of the TIA-102 P25 standard and relies on proprietary technology. 1. In an environment of several distributed trunking systems (with non-contiguous coverage areas), what options exist to provide interoperability among/between those systems and what are the advantages and disadvantages to each? 2. Please describe how your company would deliver each of the following feature / capability in an environment of multiple vendors. Describe if you provide such services with the equipment of other vendors as part of the P25 Phase I and/or Phase II standards, if you provide them as part of a feature set based on technology that you would share with other vendors (a licensed interface), or if you feel you cannot support them in a multi-vendor environment. Please provide details as to which standard, if any, is used in the provision of such features or any features rely on proprietary technology that leverages a standard (such as using P25 ISSI to carry signaling that is beyond the ISSI standards). a. Ability to identify the identification of incoming user communications b. Ability to immediately transmit an emergency status by pressing or holding down an emergency notification button c. Ability to support short messaging capabilities (e.g., texting - limited to short text string - 256 characters) on hand held units and mobile units d. Ability to record and log radio communications (i.e., voice recording, PTT logs) e. Ability to encrypt sensitive communications so they cannot be intercepted by unauthorized outside parties f. Ability to authenticate radio equipment on the radio system g. Ability to report current geographic location via GPS or other method using the hand held units h. Ability for subscriber radios to offer an interface for low-speed data applications such as unit-to-unit text messaging, etc i. Ability to perform real-time performance monitoring and reporting (with extended historical log files) 4 of 6
j. Ability to remotely monitor the health of key RF and infrastructure (including base stations / repeaters as well as controllers, voters, etc.) components k. Ability to remotely reprogram user radios including those operating in a mixed P25 Phase I and Phase II system l. Ability to remotely rekey (change the encryption key) user radios including those operating in a mixed P25 Phase I and Phase II system m. Ability to remotely reprogram RF infrastructure components including those operating in a mixed P25 Phase I and Phase II system 3. The Department currently has 34 adult institutions and over 19,000 radios in service. Describe the tiers of your system offerings in terms of overall system capacity. Will the procurement of a switch/controller that meets the needs of a Phase 1 procurement (5-7 institutions) be able to meet the anticipated needs of a full system build out (34 institutions)? a. Describe your system offering tiers in terms of number of sites. What constitutes a site? Is a simulcast cell considered a single site for purposes of determining the number of sites? Are console dispatch locations considered a site? b. Describe your system offering tiers in terms of number of active subscribers. How many talk groups can the system accommodate? 4. The Department envisions an environment of several distributed trunking systems (with noncontiguous coverage areas) that are deployed over several phases (with each phase consisting of several systems that are interconnected into the overall system-of-systems). a. What steps can the Department take to ensure that each component in each system and in the overall system-of-systems does not limit future expansion? In other words, how would your company ensure that the system-of-systems that are deployed in this initial phase could accommodate the end goals of: a) incorporating systems for all 34 adult institutions, b) allowing interoperability to other CDCR groups, and c) allowing interoperability to other State Departments and Offices? b. What would the architecture look like for a 5-7 site system with 5 channels per site? What would the architecture look like as it is expanded to be a 27 site system with 5 channels per site (future delivery of communications to all 34 adult institutions)? c. What options exist to interconnect a 5-7 site system (with 5 channels per site) to systems that are owned and operated by other departments or by local municipalities? d. Describe the bandwidth requirements required by your offerings to interconnect various types of sites including the following: central-to-remote, central-to-central (for redundancy), simulcast remote-to-simulcast prime and console-to-central. Include the bandwidth requirements for other interconnections that may apply to CDCR. 5. Assuming there is the possibility of an environment of interconnected P25 radio system infrastructures and subscribers that have all come from a mix of vendors, how could the 5 of 6
management tools/products/services that your company provides be used to manage such a mixed-vendor environment? a. What management features would be enabled across all systems (and to all subscribers) and what features would be restricted only to the systems/subscribers provided by your company? 6. What is required to upgrade a P25 Phase I system provided by your company to P25 Phase II operations? What components need to be upgraded or replaced? If upgrades are required, describe how they are to be implemented (at each piece of equipment, from one central location, etc.). 7. What products does your company offer to allow radio-system access to a user that has IP connectivity to the same network that is used by the radio system (assume the user is outside the coverage area of the radio system)? a. Describe how such products would function in an environment of multiple vendors. Describe any limitations on their use in an environment of multiple vendors. 8. What innovative solutions does your company have to meet the specific needs for radio communications by individuals working in Adult Correctional Institutions? 9. Describe the levels of fault protection included in your offering? Describe how failures of components, links, and entire sites (including remote and central ( master ) sites) affect system performance and how failures are reported and how recovery from outages occurs? 10. What options does your company offer for the ongoing maintenance of the software used throughout a system or a system-of-systems as described in this RFI? a. What obligations and responsibilities are placed on the owner of a system (i.e., how often must system-wide upgrades take place and what resources are expected from the customer)? b. What components (controllers, stations, dispatch consoles, etc.) must receive upgrades at the same time in order for a system-wide upgrade to occur? 11. CDCR s coverage requirements focus mainly on the need for highly reliable coverage throughout the in-building areas of their Adult Institutions. What capabilities do you have to guarantee coverage, including testing with pass/failure criteria and remedies, in in-building areas such as prisons? What do you expect from a client such as CDCR in order to provide such a guarantee? 12. What experience does your company have in providing radio communications solutions for use in correctional institutions and what factors do you see as critical to the successful implementation of such projects? 13. What procurement options do you offer customers? Options being considered by CDCR include outright capital purchase and capital finance (lease) but the department desires to hear of other options, if available. If both capital purchase and capital finance are offered, how is the cost of the capital finance calculated (as a percentage of the capital purchase)? 6 of 6