National Public Safety Telecommunications Council
NPSTC’s - Current Events and Activities in Public Safety Communications
IWCE 2008Thursday – February 28, 2008 – 11:15am – 12:30pm
Moderator – Marilyn WardPanelists – Tom Sorley, Douglas Aiken , Ralph Haller,
and John Powell
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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NPSTC Member Organizations
Member Organizations:• American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials• American Radio Relay League• Association of Public Safety
Communications Officials - International• Forestry Conservation Communications
Association• International Association of Chiefs of
Police• International Association of Emergency
Managers• International Association of Fire Chiefs• International Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies• International Municipal Signal Association• National Association of State Chief
Information Officers• National Association of State Emergency
Medical Services Officials• National Association of State Foresters• National Association of State
Telecommunications Directors• National Emergency Number Association• National Sheriffs’ Association
Associate Members:• Canadian Interoperability Technology
Interest Group• Telecommunications Industry Association
Liaison Organizations:• Department of Justice
• National Institute of Justice• Federal Communications Commission• National Telecommunications and
Information Administration• U.S. Department of Interior• U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Office of Interoperability & Compatibility
• Office of Emergency Communications• Federal Partnership for
Interoperable Communications• Federal Emergency Management
Agency• SAFECOM
• U.S. Department of Interior
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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How is NPSTC organized?
• NPSTC’s Governing Board
– Representatives from each of its member organizations.
• Executive Committee– The Executive Committee comprises a Chair, two
Vice Chairs, and the four Committee Chairs.
• Four Operational Committees– Interoperability Committee
– PSST Advisory Committee
– Spectrum Management Committee
– Technology Committee
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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NPSTC Organization
National Public Safety Telecommunications Council
Tom SorleyTechnology
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
In-Building Working Group
• Vendor Neutral Best Practices Document• Participation from Industry and Public Safety
Paper published December 2007– The main document can be downloaded from the
NPSTC website http://www.npstc.org/documents/20071212_NPSTC%20IBWG%20White%20Paper.pdf
– The Appendices can also be downloaded from the NPSTC website http://www.npstc.org/documents/20071212_IBWG%20White%20Paper%20Appendix%20A-E.pdf
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Broadband Standards Working Group
• Public Safety Requirements• Massive effort by industry and public safety
community.• Document contained requirements of PS• Opportunity for Review and Comment was
provided to over 256,000 public safety users• Received and responded to over 400
comments• Published November 2007
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Broadband Standards Working Group Activities
• Handset Requirements• 4.9GHz Standard• Harmonization of PS broadband
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Technology Education Work Group
• Investigating Topic Area Deficiencies• Determining Target Audience(s)• Investigating Training Vehicles• Participation Welcomed & Encouraged
National Public Safety Telecommunications Council
Douglas AikenVocoder
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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Background
• In the Fall of 2006, a couple of U.S. fire departments discovered that the voice audio from digital radios in the presence of background noises (common to the fire operations) may cause distortion to the degree of becoming unintelligible.
• These Departments after not being able to get resolution to the problem or identify the cause other than it being in digital radios notified the IAFC, and the IAFF.
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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Example of the Issue
AnalogAnalog(no background noise)(no background noise)
P25P25
(no background noise)(no background noise)
AnalogAnalog(fire truck)(fire truck)
P25P25(fire truck)(fire truck)
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Actions Taken on the Issue
• March 20, 2007, the IAFC issued a Member Alert.
• The IAFC also approved the formation of a Working Group to determine the scope of the problem and work with manufacturers and other stakeholders to identify and/or develop short and long term solutions.
• On May 8, 2007, the Working Group convened and established two sub groups (Testing and Best Practices).
• The Testing Group is focused on more long term solutions while the Best Practices Group is focused on quicker solutions through behavior and/or operational modifications.
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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• On July 24, 2007, the Best Practices Group met and finalized forwarded its recommended best practices to the Working Group and to the Testing Group for follow-up. – Includes things such as microphone
placement and specific issues that should be addressed in training.
• Developed a PowerPoint presentation for educational and outreach purposes
Best Practices
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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• In July, the Testing Group met in Denver and worked with NIST to develop a practical testing strategy. NIST started the testing on 11/9/07 using an intelligibility test call the Modified Rhyme Test (MRT)
– 9 noise conditions
• With and without mask, noises like fire trucks, chain saws, low air alarms, PASS alarms
– 4 radio systems
• 25 KHz analog, 12.5 kHz analog, baseline P25, P25 with enhanced vocoder
– 54,000 sample files generated
Testing Group
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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• 15 of 30 subjects tested• 12 additional subjects currently scheduled• Expect testing complete this month• Analysis expected by 2/28/08
Testing Status (as of 1/11/08)
National Public Safety Telecommunications Council
Ralph HallerBorder Issues
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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General Propositions
• Radio communications are essential for successful Public Safety operations
• Interoperability is vital– Between agencies– Across borders
• Interference poses a significant threat to successful communications and to the safety of life of public safety responders
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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Border Goals
• Borders should be transparent for public safety operations
• Interference must be eliminated quickly
• Note: Canada and Mexico present different challenges
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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Major PS Bands
• 150 – 174 MHz• 450 – 470 MHz• 470 – 512 MHz• 700 MHz• 800 MHz (including NPSPAC)• 4.9 GHz wideband
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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Mexico
• NPSTC supports the HLCC and its Directory of Bilateral Issues for 2007-2009– Protocols for VHF/UHF spectrum use– Reconfiguration of 800 MHz band– 700 MHz compatibility– Interference resolution procedures
• NPSTC supports the cross-border microwave network solution for PS interoperability
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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Mexico, cont.
• Further issues for consideration– 4.9 GHz– TV channel 15 vacated in Mexico and should be
considered for Public Safety use– Adoption of common nomenclature for public safety
communications across the border
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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Canada
• 700/800 MHz progressing• Above 30 MHz Agreement needs revision
– Too many US applications being denied– No common interference standards
• No protocol for interference resolution• No 4.9 GHz agreement• NPSTC working directly with sister PS
organization in Canada on common issues (under guidance of DOS and FCC)
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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Conclusion
• Resolution of border issues is essential for national security– Seamless interoperability across borders– Several additional bilateral agreements to share or
coordinate use of spectrum are needed– In the new agreements spectrum should be
distributed equitably and procedures for coordination streamlined
– Interference resolution procedures similar to those used with Mexico are needed for Canada
National Public Safety Telecommunications Council
John PowellInteroperability
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Channel Naming
• Background– Initially an NCC Interoperability Committee
recommendation that was approved by the NCC and forwarded to the FCC, but FCC refused to require it
– Resurrected by NPSTC in 2006, with drivers being Katrina and Wildland fires
– Plan developed, nationally circulated, and revised on 5 Feb 2007 in Orlando
– Nationally vetted for 90 days, revised and adopted by NPSTC Governing Board in June, 2007.
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Channel Naming
• New 700 MHz Channel Plan Overview– Has a placeholder for Federal interoperability
channels managed by NTIA– Notes that there may be changes to the 700 MHz
interoperability channels• Recent FCC action that consolidated the narrowband
voice blocks
• Petition submitted by NPSTC to modify 700 MHz interoperability/itinerant channel use
– One National Calling channel– Voice secondary on one data channel– Deployable trunked infrastructure– Increased power on itinerant (analog) channels
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Channel Naming
• Also included in NPSTC Report– Standardized tone squelch (156.7 Hz)– Standardized digital NAC ($293)– Recommended subscriber channel configurations– Costs associated with changing to the
recommended standard– Timeline for implementation, noting least/no cost
options for updating programming
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Channel Naming
Naming structure: Btype##M
B Band L,V,U,7,8Type CALL, DATA, FIRE,
GTAC, LAW, MED, MOB, TAC
## A unique number from 01-99 that also identifies the band
M Modifier: “D” for direct or talkaround (simplex on output of pair)
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Channel Naming
• Recent changes– Modifications to account for 800 MHz displays with
fewer characters• CAL90, TAC91, TAC92, TAC93, TAC94
• ANSI standardization– APCO, an ANSI-accredited Standards Definition
Organization, will be the lead in partnership with other NPSTC Governing Board organizations to standardize this system.
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Channel Naming
• What is coming in the future?– Plan has now been adopted by a number of states
• Example: California, where use of the names per associated timeline is a condition of eligibility to use SIEC-managed interoperability channels
– Once plan is ANSI-certified, will be returned to the FCC as a Petition for Rulemaking
• Katrina and 9-11 Commission Reports noted lack of standardized interoperability channel naming as a major issue
• ANSI certification carries significant weight
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Statewide Planning
• Background– All 57 states and territories submitted their SCIPS by
the 3 Dec 2007 deadline– SCIPS and PSIC Investment Justifications are in
final SME review at DHS– Quality and substance of plans varied widely across
the country– It is clear that some states did not understand that
the SCIPs required local input and approval, and were not a “state” plan, rather a “statewide” plan… stay tuned!
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Statewide Planning
• National Interoperability Information eXchange (NIIX)
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Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
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NIIX Documents Accessed
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Hot Off the Press
• Communications Unit Work Group– NIIX Community– Summary from Seattle meeting
• COML Course Curriculum• Communications Unit Awareness Class• Delivery Schedule
• Statewide Plan (SCIP) Review
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
Plain Talk
• Background– Aural Brevity Codes (10/11/900/Q codes)– Not an easy change since plain text replacement
language needs to be standardized, too – Recent activity: State of Virginia
• SAFECOM Initiatives– Plain Language Brochure
• Where is this going?– Publication, and potential eventual online
SAFECOM tool to assist with transition
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NPSTC is a federation of organizations whose mission is to improve public safety communications and interoperability through collaborative leadership.
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How Can You Have A Voice In NPSTC?
• Come to NPSTC’s quarterly meetings and have a voice in this important work.
• Participate in quarterly NPSTC meetings via conference call.
• Join a Committee or Working Group and participate in their working conference calls.
• Join NPSTC’s listservs and stay abreast of issues and activities.
• Remain current with the postings, publications and other resources on the website at www.NPSTC.org