Office of Emergency Communications IWCE Conference - Project 25 Compliance Assessment Program and Beyond Wednesday, March 26, 2014 4:15-5:30 PM Chris Essid Deputy Director DHS Office of Emergency Communications
DHS Continued Support for P25 As discussed yesterday, mission critical voice land mobile radio is going to be around for a some time We feel Project 25 is the correct choice for enhanced interoperability DHS - OEC continues to be committed to Project 25 P25 is the recommended technology of choice for interoperability in the SAFECOM Grant Guidance P25 is a significant part of the NECP DHS OEC actively participates as a voting member in TIA for the P25 development process and currently provides the Chair of the P25 Steering Committee 2
P25 Background Project 25 (P25) is focused on developing open architecture standards that allow radios and other components to interoperate regardless of manufacturer 13 Interfaces were identified for standardization The standards for 5 Interfaces were basically completed in 1995 Standards for the remaining 8 interfaces are nearing completion Multiple manufacturers produce equipment that operates at various levels of interoperability with other P25 hardware In a multiple vendor environment compliance testing is one of the paramount needs 3
DHS Continued Support for P25 CAP DHS has been the leading proponent of the P25 CAP since its inception DHS recognizes all of the efforts that have been done to date, but also realizes that there is a lot of work left to be done DHS is currently working with PSCR to revise existing documents, create new compliance assessment tests and re-engage the P25 CAP Governing Board 4
P25 CAP Recommended Interim Step Realizing there is significant documentation still being developed in the CAP, DHS recommends agencies perform due diligence when planning system updates and implementing new P25 systems Review the existing P25 CAP documentation to determine if the proposed technology has been tested in the P25 CAP Review the existing list of published P25 Standards to determine if the performance, conformance and interoperability tests are applicable to the new system planning o A current list of P25 Steering Committee approved standards can be found on the PTIG website at www.project25.org 5
P25 Testing Recommended Standards There are approximately 20 published standards addressing conformance, performance and interoperability testing, some examples include: TIA-102.CABC-B, Project 25 Interoperability Test Procedures, Voice Mode Trunking TIA-102.CABC-B-1, Project 25 Interoperability Test Procedures, Voice Mode TDMA Trunking TIA-102.CACD-B, Project 25 ISSI Interoperability Test Procedure for Trunked Voice Operation Additionally, there are approximately 12 published Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) addressing recommended compliance testing, including: TSB-102.CBBL, Project 25 Recommended Compliance Assessment Test, TDMA Voice Channel Air Interface 6
Summary DHS supports the P25 CAP The P25 CAP is vital to interoperability The user community has repeatedly emphasized the need for P25 CAP testing Grant guidance strongly recommends P25 CAP testing DHS encourages agencies to seriously consider the existing tests and test standards for interim compliance testing until the P25 CAP tests are published and labs are validated 7