Mar 10, 2011 11:30 AM, By Donny Jackson

LAS VEGAS — Raytheon recently committed to give UCLA $1 million over the next three years for the establishment of the UCLA Center for Public Safety Network Systems, an independent consortium focused on the development of communications to be used by first responders.

Although the charter of the new UCLA center — part of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science — has not been determined completely, the entity is expected to help research and develop various technologies for public-safety communications, said Jagannath Chirravuri, the chief technologist for the northeast region of Raytheon’s network centric systems division.

 “It’s really going to be an environment for public-safety technology in two parts--developing new technologies and then validating that these are relevant to public safety,” Chirravuri said. “Effectively, Raytheon would be a member of this consortium, along with UCLA and will help bring along other members.

“This is, by no means, a Raytheon showcase. This is an independent environment for the development and validation of public-safety technology.”

In addition to looking at broadband and narrowband network technologies, the new UCLA center could consider other aspect of public-safety communications beyond the networks, Chirravuri said.

“It could be moving from pipes to applications,” he said. 

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