Technology to boost public safety

[Nick]

Stronger networks to ensure connectivity

Published: 2/06/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Database
 
SINGAPORE : Motorola is taking public safety solutions to a new level with the launch of the industry's first Tetra 2 in-car radio with high-speed TEDS data along with far-ranging improvements to its command and control and intelligence systems that help support mission-critical operations in policing, fire, oil and gas through to transportation, airport, seaport and other industries.


Teck Moh Phey.

Teck Moh Phey, Corporate Vice-President of Enterprise Mobility Solutions for Motorola in Asia-Pacific, explained how Tetra networks were different from civilian cellular radio. In the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the cellular phone network was not physically damaged, but it did go down as so many people tried to make a call.

Another example was at an airport located near a train line. The airport used standard cellular phones for its operations. On one occasion the train was delayed and the sheer number of people calling to tell their friends and relatives that they would be late meant that planes could not take off.

Today the top threat is not from terrorism, but from weather-related disasters.

Security is also a major concern. Gone are the days people can listen in to police radio. Tetra has multiple levels of encryption, often with custom government protocols and has not been compromised yet since its launch.

The device has to be second nature and simple so users can operate it in high-stress situations, with fire-proof gloves and when under stress. Since the 1980s, Motorola's alarm button has always been placed at the base of the aerial so that it can be pressed in an emergency without having to think about where it is.

Tetra is designed for groups talking to groups, not to other individuals. A nationwide government Tetra network will make it easy for different first responders (for example, the police or an ambulance) to talk to other officers on the scene (such as train networks) who would not normally need to communicate. It is also different from the consumer world in that it has priority. If the police chief has a special announcement to make or there is an emergency, that call must go through.

Tom Quirke, Vice-President and Global Director for Marketing, Enterprise Mobility Solutions at Motorola, spoke of how converged dual-mode devices will pave the way for mobile broadband in public safety networks.

Eighty to 90 percent of data applications can run on TEDS networks, except for high-quality streaming video. It is video that is transforming the nature of policing and the way emergency services operate. Prosecution rates rise as video turns juries into witnesses.

With GPS in phones and tens of thousands of cameras installed across a city, it is possible for a command and control centre to not only see where officers are on a map, but should the emergency button be pushed, all CCTV cameras in the area can turn towards the incident and data from all entry and egress roads to the incident can be bought on on secondary screens.


Jens Kristiansen.

Biometric sensors on officers' and firefighters' bodies can also provide valuable information to command and control with heart rate, respiratory rate and even analysing voice for stress levels.

4G broadband providing megabit speeds to users are about to come online in public safety networks. In the United States, LTE (Long Term Evolution) on 700 MHz (former analogue UHF television) has been selected for public safety. Other countries are looking towards WiMAX.

This means that the mission-critical voice and basic data are still always present via Tetra, but are augmented by LTE or WIMAX (or even HSPA 3G or WiFi) for video and other data-intensive tasks.

Many cities start with a few CCTVs here, 10 there, and before long there are thousands of feeds. To prevent being inundated with raw data, PremierOne, Motorola's integrated command and control system, engages in analytics to push only relevant information to the event commander. It can take input from multiple sources, from 20-year-old analogue feeds to the latest digital IP TV streams, and use them for real-time information.

For instance, if there is a fire in an underground station, the system by looking at video data from entry and exit points, can immediately tell command and control how many people are still in the station at the time of the event.

Analytics can also spot patterns in crime, for instance, cars being stolen every day at 3am in a certain area, or people loitering around ATMS.

It is also about pushing information to the officer on the scene who is most at risk. GPS data from the Tetra radios can be correlated with crime databases and officers can be warned if they are entering a house with prior arrests for drug crimes.

Converged devices can might include touchscreens and fingerprint readers. It could even use commercial cellular networks and switch to Tetra TEDS when the networks go down. This is all the more important as the cost of processing an arrest, by running background checks and more, is up to $6,000 (195,000 baht) in the United States. Being able to push that information out to the field and able to issue a court summons on the spot greatly reduces cost. The biggest problem is that people do not tell the truth when asked for their identity and fingerprint and photo checks need data networks.

Jens Kristiansen, Vice President and General Manager for Tetra at Motorola, said that the major trend driving growth was the rollout of government shared networks which are shared by all government agencies rather than just an airport or seaport. This is happening in 15 European countries, as well as in Delhi and South Korea. Casinos are also have a need for the technology as there is so much money on the table. The Sands in Singapore relies on Tetra.

Metro rail networks are also set to explode across Asia. In recent years, China has added 58 lines, 46 of which use Motorola Tetra. Another 158 lines are expected to be rolled out in the region across the next decade.

China is also planning a high-speed rail link between Beijing and London and another one between Beijing and Singapore. Today, many depend on an ''antiquated'' technology called GSM-R (for Railway).

Motorola has unveiled the world's smallest Tetra Base Station, weighing just 20kg, and a new large base station for cities such as Beijing, Hong Kong or London where capacity demands more capacity, time slots and bands.

Tetra 7.1 now supports high-speed data (around 100 KBPS) Tetra Enhanced Data Services (TEDS). Most base stations bought within the last two years can be upgraded to TEDS.

Launched at Tetra World Congress 2010, Motorola's new MTM5400 car-radio is its first Tetra 2 TEDS device. In addition to voice, it provides wireless capabilities which can extend data services through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and open the door to new data-rich applications. It can also run in Gateway repeater mode, which means that when installed in a car, officers out of range of the main Tetra network can use the MTM5400 as a repeater to access it.

About the author


Writer: Don Sambandaraksa
Position: Database Reporter


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