national public safety telecommunications council npstc’s - current events and activities in...

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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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 Organization


Tom SorleyTechnology

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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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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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Broadband Standards Working Group Activities

• Handset Requirements• 4.9GHz Standard• Harmonization of PS broadband

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Technology Education Work Group

• Investigating Topic Area Deficiencies• Determining Target Audience(s)• Investigating Training Vehicles• Participation Welcomed & Encouraged


Douglas AikenVocoder

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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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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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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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• 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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• 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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• 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)


Ralph HallerBorder Issues

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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


John PowellInteroperability

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Statewide Planning

• National Interoperability Information eXchange (NIIX)

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100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

NIIX Users

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46

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79

43

19

50

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54

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112 198 279 321 3580

1500

3000

4500

6000

Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

NIIX Documents Accessed

Available

Accessed

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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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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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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