operating in the 380–470?MHz band (a band which many TETRA users already have access to), it will provide similar radio coverage to the voice network, avoiding the need for additional radio sites, while also allowing re-use of base station assets such as antennas;

it will provide a smooth migration path to LTE.

Alcatel-Lucent will provide the 400?MHz BTS and packet core, plus all-IP backhaul, while Cassidian is developing terminals and other network elements. “So the result is this end-to-end solution which is a world first”, M. Agard declared. “You have now LTE at 400?MHz available for PMR users.”

Easy upgrade

Alcatel-Lucent’s LTE base station equipment will be designed to fit inside Cassidian’s cabinets, making for an easy upgrade for existing TETRA users. “They can go from the same base station operating TETRA and progressively LTE without having to do a major investment”, said Jean-Marc Nasr, chief executive of communication and public safety activities for Cassidian. “So it’s exactly what we want to have.

“It’s completely integrated as a solution, from the control room to the vehicle and to the first responders in the street. There is video over LTE that will be captured from the vehicles or from the first responders and back to the control room using the LTE upstream, and also the push-to-talk over TETRA LTE will be integrated at the same time.”

“There will be progressive migration of terminals from TETRA to TETRA-plus-data-over-LTE, and then to a full LTE solution when the frequencies will be available.”

Cassidian’s first LTE-enabled terminal, demonstrated on both the Cassidian and Alcatel-Lucent stands, is a multi-bearer router for installation in vehicles such as police cars. It will support data communications via TETRA (or any other digital PMR network) as well as via private or commercial LTE networks, for maximum security and resilience. But to see the first LTE handportable suitable for operational usage, users may have to wait until 2017.

Push-to-talk over LTE

Meanwhile, the two companies have also been evangelizing their scheme to PMR users in transport, energy and in the utilities, where it could provide a solution to future ‘smart grid’ requirements. Cassidian has also been targeting defence users, because in NATO countries they already have access to the 400?MHz band.

Now Cassidian and Alcatel-Lucent are to propose their development to the TCCA’s new Critical Broadband Communications Group as a basis for its private broadband wireless solution. Nonetheless, M. Nasr warned that the transition to broadband would not happen overnight. “I believe today, having spoken to our customers”, he said, “that until 2026–27 there will be a lot of narrowband TETRA networks in the world, and so narrowband will still be the mission-critical voice solution for the next 10–15 years.

“And then we will see broadband PMR voice and data happening, we hope around the year 2020 – maybe later, depending on the country. We will have developed by this time full capacity of solutions for this activity, push-to-talk-over-LTE, and we will have developed in Cassidian all the features that you find today on TETRA, on top of the LTE layer.”

M. Nasr underlined the value of creating a standardized technology. “The push-to-talk-over-LTE, PMR over LTE, has to be standardized as a solution”, he said. “The TCCA will help us to do so. There is no point for us to deliver features and capacity which is not standardized enough for our customers to be able to benefit from an ecosystem which is sufficiently open to allow for competition and cost-effectiveness.”

But he also emphasized the importance of developing a technology specifically for private LTE networks. “Going for a commercial LTE network is possible technically, but you will never get the safety and security and resilience which you will get with our solution, which is dedicated to first responders”, he said. “We are strongly believing that data will become mission-critical – and when you have mission-critical data, you cannot rely on commercial operators and commercial networks. It’s not the same thing to serve teenagers in the streets and to serve police officers. It’s a different thing.”

In another cross-industry collaboration, Thales, well known in the defence and security markets, and Nokia Siemens Networks announced a memorandum of understanding aimed at developing a broadband LTE solution for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Through the intended agreement, Thales’ full-IP distributed architecture will provide the public safety and first responder communities with a reliable solution that will improve incident response. Nokia Siemens Networks plans to contribute its Single RAN Advanced Flexi Multiradio Base Station to support LTE access as part of the broader Thales solution. A small, high-performance, modular and energy-efficient LTE-capable base station, the Flexi Multiradio Base Station, can easily be integrated into existing sites. It also provides high-grade security functions for connectivity with a security gateway.
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