Dec 1, 2005 1:38 PM, By Donny Jackson

Under the name of parent company Tyco Electronics, M/A-COM this week announced that its IP-based VIDA Network Platform can support the TETRA digital standard commonly used by public-safety entities in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

At a fundamental level, the VIDA platform transforms all voice traffic on given networks—regardless of air interface or frequency used—into packets on an IP backbone, allowing “cooperative communications” and smooth migration paths between legacy analog systems and state-of-the-art digital communications. M/A-COM has used the strategy successfully in North America, most notably in winning the contract to build a wireless communications network for first responders in the state of New York.

John Vaughan, vice president and general manager for Tyco Electronics’ wireless systems business, said the primary challenge for his company was maintaining all the signaling information associated with TETRA that supports various features that customers want.

Having solved those issues, company officials have noticed “a lot of interest” in the VIDA solution at this week’s TETRA World Congress concluding today in Frankfurt, Vaughan said.

“I think the two big surprises for [conference attendees] have been the ideas of a migration path and an open architecture,” he said.

Tyco Electronics will use VIDA to bid in multiple procurements for TETRA systems in the near future, Vaughan said.

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