Nov 11, 2008 1:27 PM, By Glenn Bischoff

SAN DIEGO—Motorola this week is demonstrating public-safety wireless broadband applications over an orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM)-based, 700 MHz system at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference. The vendor giant is billing the demonstration as an industry first.

The demonstration utilizes a base station mounted on top of a building near the San Diego Convention Center, an in-vehicle video surveillance camera, and a second camera deployed in Motorola’s booth. A key component of the demonstration is the system’s ability to prioritize public-safety applications when the network is congested. Monitors in the booth displayed the video feed from the vehicle both when the data stream is prioritized and when it is not; in the former, the picture was crisp and clear; in the latter, it was fuzzy and, at times, pixilated.

“In a public-safety environment, prioritization is important,” said Motorola’s Doug Bartman.

The system utilizes standard video codecs and captures video at a rate of 30 frames per second (fps). In comparison, DVD-quality video is recorded at a rate of 24 frames per second.

OFDM is a digital modulation technology that is the basis of Long Term Evolution (LTE), the 4G platform chosen by both Verizon and AT&T Mobility, the nation’s largest commercial wireless operators. Motorola’s system also supports WiMAX, the technology favored by Sprint Nextel, the third-largest operator. “Whichever way the industry decides to go, we’re ready either way,” Bartman said.

Harlin McEwen, chairman of the Public Safety Spectrum Trust—the licensee for 10 MHz of public-safety spectrum in the 700 MHz that is being paired with 10 MHz of commercial spectrum in the same band to form the backbone of a proposed IP-based nationwide wireless broadband network for first responders—witnessed the demonstration. “The Motorola system looks very promising to me,” McEwen said.

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