TETRA COMMUNICATIONS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY

TETRA COMMUNICATIONS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY 1

P A S T , P R E S E N T A N D F U T U R E

TETRA COMMUNICATIONS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY

a Hytera company

INDUSTRY REPORT

sepura.com

TETRA COMMUNICATIONS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY2

© Copyright 2018 Sepura

TETRA 101The TETRA (TErrestrial Trunked RAdio) digital trunked two-way radio standard was originally developed for public safety and other mission critical users. The aim of its creators was to develop an open, interoperable standard to replace existing analogue systems and utilise the advantages of new digital technology. TETRA was developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), although it was initially aimed at Europe, the standard has been successfully adopted around the globe.

The advantage of having an open standard and air interface is that products from different manufacturers can interoperate with each other at both infrastructure and terminal level. This provides economies of scale and promotes competition, ensuring greater choice in the market.

TETRA Release 1 (1995) delivered eight key interfaces. However, it was agreed that not everything inside the switching and management infrastructure – for example, the base station interface – would be standardised. This was largely due to the fact that different manufacturers had proprietary ways of configuring their networks for optimum performance and design flexibility. This meant that vendors could differentiate their infrastructure solutions.

The standard interfaces include two air interfaces for trunked mode operation (TMO) between radios and base stations, and direct mode operation (DMO) for direct communications between radios without using the network. Other interfaces cover:

• Peripheral equipment – connection between radio and external device

• Remotedispatcher–limitedtoTETRAmanufacturerspecificinterfacespecifications

• PSTN/ISDN/PABX – interface with telephony networks

• Inter-systeminterface–allowsequipmentfromdifferentTETRAmanufacturers

to interoperate

• Network management

The agreed standard covered call group services, individual calls, short data services (SDS) and packet data services (PDS). TETRA Release 2 (2005) added a number of new features but is best known for the introduction of TETRA Enhanced Data Services (TEDS), which enables greater amounts of data to be sent faster. It is sometimes referred to as wide band, as opposed to narrowband (PMR) or broadband (Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G).



DID YOU KNOW? TETRA is based on Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology with four time slots or channels on one radio carrier and 25 kHz spacing between carriers, compared to two available on DMR. The maximum number of carriers for one TETRA base station is eight, providing a total of 32 time slots.

The first time slot is used for the control channel, which provides signalling and broadcasting information from the network. The TDMA time slot structure enables a radio to support simultaneous voice and data transmission from the radios. It also supports both half-duplex and full duplex voice calling.

The network is controlled by switches, which contain the ‘intelligence’ of the network. Switches control the basic voice, SDS messaging and packet data functions, switching them between radios.

Switches also hold the subscriber databases and network management information on which radios are authorised on the network and what services they can access. Switches also configure the talk groups, assign the traffic channels on the base stations and keep track of the affiliation of mobile radios to the base station.

Trunked solutions are generally more spectrally efficient than conventional systems, as they allow a small number of communication channels to be shared among quite large numbers of users, which helps provide an equal grade of service to all subscribers.Users are automatically assigned a channel, rather than having to queue for a designated channel as with conventional systems. Automatic handover between base stations removes the need for manual channel selection, while the dynamic and random allocation of channels makes it more difficult to eavesdrop.



TETRA has the major advantage over cellular mobile systems in being able to support a wide variety of specialised, instant Push-To-Talk (PTT) voice call applications, including group, broadcast and individual calling, not to mention Direct Mode Operation (DMO) communications.

Also, unlike commercial cellular networks, TETRA provides coverage and capacity exactly where it is required, even during busy periods, and delivers much higher levels of redundancy, reliability, availability, robustness and security.

TETRA 101Depending on the architecture, the network is controlled by a central switch, or a hierarchy of switches. Alternatively, a distributed architectural design can be used to move the switching intelligence into either master nodes connected to a number of base stations or into each individual base station. The choice of architecture is up to the customer.

Centralised networks are vulnerable to switch failure, so public safety networks are designed with redundant switches, sited in geographically separate locations, to take over immediately in case of one failing. In distributed networks, individual base stations can provide a full service to the radios linked to it, even if the neighbouring base station is out of action.

TETRA supports end-to-end encryption with a variety of options, including Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) depending on the level of security required. Encryption key management is fully integrated into TETRA standard functions. Encryption is a major requirement for police forces, although somewhat less critical for fire and ambulance services.

THE KEY BENEFITS OF TETRA COMPARED WITH ANALOGUE:

IMPROVED SECURITY

BETTER RF COVERAGE

NON-VOICE DATA SERVICES

IMPROVED VOICE QUALITY



TETRA - ADOPTION IN EUROPE

Since its development in the 1990s, TETRA has become the predominant public communications standard for public safety professionals in Europe. As of 2017, there were a total of 27 Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) national networks in Europe.1



These 27 systems are made up of 22 TETRA networks, 4 Tetrapol networks and a P25 network. In some countries, there is more than one PPDR network architecture, for example Latvia has both a P25 and a TETRA network, while Spain has a mix of mostly Tetrapol, plus some smaller regional TETRA systems, including the police network in the Basque Country.

France’s public safety users rely almost entirely on the country’s two major nationwide Tetrapol networks, but there are also some small TETRA networks. The Czech and the Slovak Republics both use Tetrapol, although the city of Prague has opted for a TETRA network.

Almost all European networks operate in the 380-400 MHz band, as part of a deliberate pan-European strategy to achieve harmonised spectrum and to help standardise chipsets and achieve economies of scale for manufacturers. The UK public safety network covers 99% of the UK landmass and supports over 300,000 users. For a time, it was the largest TETRA network in the world, but has since been surpassed by the German public safety radio network operated by BDBOS.



TETRA - ADOPTION IN EUROPE

NUMBER OF TETRA USERS BY COUNTRY

300,000

UK

37,000

FINLAND

692,000

GERMANY BELGIUM NETHERLANDS SWEDEN

70,000 70,000 70,000

= 10,000 users

EUROPE ALONE R E C E I V E S

50% OF WORLDWIDE

TETRA SHIPMENTS

B Y 2 0 2 1 THERE WILL BE

5 MILLION TETRA USERS W O R L D W I D E

Source: IHS Markit report October 2017



SIZE OF NETWORK BY NUMBER OF TETRA BASE STATIONS

UK

FINLAND

BELGIUM

NORWAY

GERMANY

3,466

500

1,200

2,170

4,300

= 100 base stations



TETRA ADOPTION IN ASIA & THE MIDDLE EAST

In Vietnam, work began in 2006 to build a TETRA network for the police in Ho Chi Minh City, the first TETRA system to operate in the country.

South Korea has a mix of analogue VHF and TETRA networks, but no interoperable national public safety network. However, it is now constructing a national network based on 4G broadband technology.

VIETNAM SOUTH KOREA

CHINATETRA has also been adopted outside of Europe for public safety communications. For example, the largest network in Asia is the Beijing Government Shared Network in China, which began in 2003. It has 9 switches in 2 switch centres,

more than 550 base stations and serves approximately 110,000 subscribers.

Similarly, the Shanghai Government Radio Network serves 50,000 users from different government agencies in Shanghai, while another city-wide system has been deployed in Tianjin.

= 10,000 users

= Within Shanghai= 50 base stations

BEIJING GOVERNMENT SHARED NETWORK

11,0

00 U

SERS

550

BASE

STA

TIO

NS



MALAYSIAMalaysia also has a nationwide TETRA network based on an initial deployment built in 2007 and complemented by a further roll-out completed in 2012, which links with the existing networks.

The Middle East has been a keen adopter of TETRA for public safety networks. Jordan has a network of 160 base stations supporting 30,000 users.

The United Arab Emirates has deployed TETRA systems for the police in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In 2008, the UAE set up Nedaa to extend TETRA to other pulbic safety and commercial users.

MALAYSIA

JORDAN

THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Saudi Arabia has a number of TETRA networks, the biggest of which is the one operated by the Ministry of the Interior, which has recently been upgraded. But there are other networks for the Royal Guard and the National Guard. Saudi Arabia are trialling 4G for public safety and looking ahead to what 5G might bring.

SAUDI ARABIA

Qatar has a TETRA public safety network, recently teaming up with Nokia for the construction of an LTE public safety network for data, the first phase of which went live in 2012.

QATAR



TETRA ADOPTION AROUND THE WORLD

BRAZILBrazil has no nationwide public safety network, but procures public safety networks on a state-by-state basis. Teltronic, part of the Hytera Communications Group with Sepura, has been supplying the Public Safety Secretariat of Rio de Janeiro State with TETRA solutions since 2000. The State of Bahia chose a Teltronic TETRA and over 2,000 Sepura hand-held TETRA radios.

In 2005, TELTRONIC won an important contract to supply Bahia State Public Safety Secretariat a TETRA network composed of 22 base stations (SBS) and a total of 4000 mobile (MDT-400) and portable (HTT- 500) TETRA radios with GPS.

In 2015, the State of Sergipe selected Sepura to provide a network with more than 15 base stations and in excess of 3,000 hand-portable and mobile radios. In 2016, Sepura won a contract to provide the State of Amapá with a TETRA network comprising 8 base stations and 300 radios.

TETRA networks in many European countries are now largely complete, although there is still a strong demand for upgrades and renewals and there will be for some years yet. P25 is the chosen technology for first responders in the USA, where TETRA is not utilised for emergencies, but is used in a number of public transport systems. In terms of new markets, the APAC region and Central and South America represent the best growth opportunities for the technology.

Most analysts Expect that the TETRA market will continue to expand for some years yet. According to an October 2017 IHS Markit report,3 the number of global TETRA users will rise to five million by 2021. The report stated: “This trend underlines that there is a strong demand for innovations and next-generation TETRA communication solutions to drive safer cities and communities. The demand is mostly generated out of EMEA.

$4.40 Billion By 2020, the terrestrial trunked radio market is expected to reach 2

17.08% between 2017 & 2022

at a CAGR of

EMEA accounts for 70% of the global TETRA market

TETRA PROJECTIONS

Source: IHS Markit report October 2017



NUMBER OF TETRA USERS BY COUNTRY

9,000

BRAZIL

5,000

MEXICO

15,000 18,500

ARGENTINA PERU

= 1,000 users

NUMBER OF BASE STATIONS BY COUNTRY

45

BRAZIL(Sergipe 15) (Amepa 8) (Bahia 22)

40

MEXICO

50

ARGENTINA

= 10 base stations



OPERATIONAL MODELS

Operational models vary across the globe. However, most European TETRA networks are run via agencies staffed by network operations professionals on behalf of national governments, regions or cities.

The TETRA networks are therefore publicly-owned assets, although tower sites and copper wire, fibre or wireless backhaul links may be leased from commercial providers. This allows governments to remain fully in control of the asset and able to upgrade networks as and when they please.

In some instances, network technology operations and maintenance are contracted to private commercial entities, which, in most cases, are established vendors of TETRA or other communications infrastructure.

The UK is an exception - the Airwave contract was let as a Private Finance Initiative, where a private firm or consortium had to raise the finance, build, own and operate the network. Police, fire and ambulance services then negotiated individual contracts with Airwave.



VENDOR CHOICE

TETRA is an open standard designed to promote interoperability between vendors and to generate a competitive ecosystem of manufacturers and solution providers.

Should a terminal manufacturer cease trading, the customer is not left stranded, as standards compliant kit and terminals can be supported, maintained and upgraded by other manufacturers.

The Critical Communications Association (TCCA) represents a wide variety of end users, operators, manufacturers, consultants, integrators, test houses, application developers and telecom agencies. It promotes the ongoing development and use of TETRA technology and oversees interoperability testing between vendors.

TCCA also works closely with the organisations responsible for the development of standards relating to critical mobile communications. These include ETSI and 3GPP, who are responsible for developing and maintaining standards for public mobile networks.

Sepura has an unrivalled TETRA terminal solutions portfolio to offer customers, including the SC20 broadband-ready hand portable providing data capabilities through Wi-Fi, the SC21, ideal for covert use – as well as the STP9000 range with options for multiple environments, ATEX terminals can be found in the STP8X000 range. The SRG3900 is Sepura’s main mobile radio offering for setup within multiple vehicle installs or as a desktop setup.



TETRA + DATA

Over the last 20 years, the primary market trend has been the transition from analogue to digital communications. Public safety communications networks have been a key driver behind this change, as national governments have instigated and led the migration to modern digital solutions such as TETRA. As far as public safety networks in Europe are concerned this trend is now mostly complete.

However, the major trend today is the move towards digital broadband networks capable of supporting newer applications such as high-speed video transmission. This transformation has been driven by the rapid commercial development of cellular mobile technology aimed at consumers.

Unlike the specialist public safety market, this has given cellular technology companies a massive consumer market to aim at, generating huge commercial returns, which have then been invested in further development of the technology.

Public safety users still have the best, fastest and most feature-rich communications technology for PTT voice services in the shape of TETRA, but they also all use fast broadband technology every day on their smartphones.

They can send texts, emails, photos, easily access the Internet and watch videos on high definition screens. Naturally, they would like to be able to do the same on their work communications devices.

It is clear that public safety networks will eventually migrate to some form of broadband solution based on cellular 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology. However, this realisation comes with the recognition that cellular technology, limited as it is to one-to-one person calling, is not currently capable of providing all the key mission critical features that public safety communications users simply cannot do without.



WHERE MOBILE DATA SITS

TETRA networks are predominantly used for voice, but as mentioned they also support status messaging, Short Data Services (SDS) or text messaging and multi-slot packet data (MSPD) which provides speeds similar to GPRS. TEDS provides speeds equivalent to cellular EDGE technology, and can handle video if the network is not too congested. Modern IP-based TETRA networks can also support SCADA, smart grid and telemetry applications.

Sepura’s newest hand portable, the SC20, support a second data bearer in addition to TETRA. The second bearer can be Wi-Fi. This provides a powerful combination of reliable, fast and secure PTT voice communications on TETRA and access to broadband data via the second bearer. This means users do not need to carry two devices, but have a trusted rugged handset that supports both narrowband and broadband technology.



DEVICE MANAGEMENT

TETRA networks provide operators with a variety of ways to manage radio devices remotely. For example, ambience listening allows the dispatcher to listen to a radio terminal without notifying the user, enabling background noise and conversations to be overheard.

The ‘call authorised by dispatcher’ feature allows the operator to verify call requests before they go through. This can be particularly helpful if talk group discipline needs to be imposed and helps to reduce radio traffic.

Sepura’s Radio Manager 2 fleet management tool enables the simultaneous programming of up to 32 radios per programming client application. Using automatic terminal detection and programming based on radio identity, radios can be programmed at remote locations, providing maximum flexibility and reducing operational costs.

Radio Manager 2 can also be used to remotely diagnose problems, increasing operational time and reducing the number of returns for repair or investigation. This means the radios, which are life lines for emergency services personnel, can be kept up to date with minimal interruption to everyday activities.



TETRA - THE FUTURE

TETRA was devised in the late 1990s to provide mission critical communications users with a versatile, reliable and secure means of communication to replace analogue systems with superior instant push-to-talk digital technology. It has since evolved into an immensely rich ecosystem of features making it the unrivalled choice for voice-based applications and messaging. Modern TETRA networks now use IP-based links and deploy commercial off-the-shelf switching technology and gateways, which has made network design and control much simpler and easier to manage. This has reduced power consumption and lowered both hardware and operational costs. Using commercial switches and servers also makes it much easier to interconnect TETRA networks with other communication technologies and IT systems to provide hybrid networks. TETRA has been a huge success, particularly in Europe where it is by far the dominant technology choice for nationwide public safety networks. The technology is still being adopted in the Asia Pacific region and Central and South America. Commercial cellular mobile technology is a major force in the consumer market. However, the general view is that at present cellular technology falls far short of meeting the necessary requirements demanded by mission critical networks.

Even as key TETRA features, such as the ability to make group calls, are being incorporated into the cellular LTE standards; it does not mean the networks themselves will provide the necessary levels of resilience, availability, failsafe redundancy solutions and security needed by public safety users. For this reason, most European countries are taking a cautious approach to migrating their emergency services communications over to LTE broadband. Older TETRA networks are being renewed, while new ones are expected to be in operation for at least 15 to 20 years. Due to spectrum scarcity and cost, nationwide private LTE networks for emergency services are unlikely to appear in Europe. If commercial mobile networks are to be used instead, then a lot of investment needs to be made to ‘harden’ the network to make it more resilient – not to mention provide full geographic coverage. For this reason, even though many countries may use commercial mobile networks to enable their emergency services personnel to access broadband data, they are likely to continue to use TETRA for mission critical voice services for many years to come.


© Copyright 2018 Sepura Sepura Public Safety Whitepaper_ENG_006F_220518

1 http://www.broadmap.eu/download-final-deliverable

2 https://technology.ihs.com/599406

3 October 2017 IHS Markit report

Sepura reserves the right to modify product designs and specifications.

In case of a printing error, Sepura does not accept any liability.

All specifications are subject to change without notice.

For more information on Sepura’s TETRA solutions for public safety, contact your local representative or visit www.sepura.com

a Hytera company

TETRA COMMUNICATIONS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY

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