https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Call Center/Command


Making wireless magic a reality

Making wireless magic a reality

Performance testing is a critical component of the design process
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 1st October 2004

Today’s wireless communications needs are complex, as, in turn, are the networks designed to support them. Variables such as coverage requirements, environment, topography, efficient use of available spectrum, and user needs and expectations must all be weighed carefully to ensure optimal system performance today and in the future.

But even the most straightforward RF system designs require not just science but the art of engineering to make them a reality — art and comprehensive testing, which is a critical benchmark for system integrity. Comprehensive performance and analysis tools for wireless networks become even more important as new technologies enabling the use of higher frequencies continue to change the wireless landscape. System designs must accommodate the resulting changes in frequency-dependent characteristics.

As a rule, equipment vendors or consultants that design wireless networks should guarantee them. Users should demand it. In addition, system design coverage and performance descriptions should be tied to an Acceptance Test Plan (ATP) that demonstrates delivered network performance. The contract terms should take into account potential deficiencies and resolutions. To avoid future coverage issues, all stakeholders must understand the level of coverage being contracted for and its limitations to avoid future coverage issues.

Why is testing important in wireless network design? Simply, to ensure the integrity of the system configuration and that it delivers necessary coverage and system capacity to meet specified existing and future communications needs. Motorola and other suppliers invest significant resources in proprietary coverage prediction and analysis tools and standards to ensure accurate, efficient and cost-effective system designs.

These tools assist engineers in accurately determining coverage and traffic for radio system architectures and protocols. Specifically, Motorola uses proprietary products to do the following:

  • Model coverage, and traffic, for wireless packet networks

  • Model coverage of, and interference to, voice radio systems (digital and analog; simulcast, voting

  • Verify coverage of digital and analog voice, packet data systems

  • Model traffic for trunked voice radio systems

  • Design wireless systems to specific coverage standards.

RF systems design tools historically have been created and implemented by wireless system manufacturers. However, as spectrum and standards have evolved, third parties are entering into the marketplace with their own performance-analysis tools. It’s important that users understand that off-the-shelf options may be less suitable than proprietary tools because they are frequently intended to work over a wide gamut of applications. While manufacturers remain the best sources for these system tools, users who wish to encourage competition should request that the performance of the system, the system design and evaluation tools, testing procedures and fault remedies become part of a delivery contract.

While design and system analysis tools are valuable components of the system procurement process, ongoing system performance and maintenance tools are growing in availability and importance. These tools assist in system problem identification and repair, as well as planning for system expansions as a result of increased capacity requirements or changes in areas of jurisdiction.

Despite the amount of planning that goes into RF system design, changes in signal coverage cannot always be avoided. Changes to the landscape (i.e., the construction of a building in the coverage area) or migration to new technologies can often create the need to move or add sites. However, moving and developing new sites can add millions to the cost of system infrastructure.

As more vendors adopt Project 25 standards and incorporate new 4-level digital modulation, implementing simulcast systems will create new challenges, and traditional techniques will need to be retooled. Synchronizing 4-level digital modulation is more difficult than 2-level modulation or analog FM, thus launch time and frequency precision are even more critical.

Moving to the 6.25 kHz channel spacing — and/or other system modulations with different characteristics/bit rates — will require existing sites to be modified to accommodate differences in the coverage footprint. This is of particular concern to the mission-critical user community, because it will significantly impact existing coverage.

RF system design is a complex process that requires numerous checks and balances. Performance-analysis data is critical to ensure that the network performance delivered meets user expectations and that system integrity parallels identified standards. As spectrum continues to be mined for expanded communications applications, testing techniques and analysis tools will continue to be a critical component to optimizing wireless system performance today and in the future.

TSB-88-B: The Newly Revised Spectrum Planning Standard

As wireless communications systems technology evolves, the complexity in determining compatibility between different types of modulation, separate or concurrent operational geographic areas and applications usage increases. There is a need to support the development of “best practices” in wireless system design, and TIA TSB-88-B provides a baseline metric.

To provide system managers with guidelines in determining compatibility between system types and even within single systems, TIA commissioned TSB-88-B (“the Bulletin”) to help address interference and frequency management issues between different types of technologies across different bands. It was prepared in part as a response to requests from user organizations and is intended to assist system designers as they work to design and implement new systems based on narrowband technologies and potentially incompatible types of system deployments. Some of the key issues that the document covers are the following:

  • Design and frequency coordination of bandwidth-efficient narrowband technologies to be deployed as a result of the FCC “Spectrum Refarming” efforts;

  • Quantification of the impact of new narrowband/bandwidth-efficient digital and analog technologies on current technologies;

  • Migration and spectrum-management issues regarding the transition to narrowband/bandwidth-efficient digital and analog technologies. Including channel-spacing issues from 30 and 25 kHz to 15, 12.5, 7.5, and 6.25 kHz.

Additionally, the Bulletin provides preliminary information regarding narrowband and wideband data coverage issues in 25, 50, 100 and 150 kHz channel bandwidths for use in the 700-MHz band.

The overall focus of the standard is on methods of modeling, simulating and verifying Noise- and Interference-Limited Systems. This is important, because system managers have more choices than ever in terms of modulation techniques, and the number of entities involved in wireless communications systems continues to climb.

This Bulletin gives guidance on modeling and simulating narrowband/bandwidth-efficient technologies in a “post-Refarming” environment and provides performance guidelines for the same. It summarizes these in a “Spectrum Management Tool Kit” for use by frequency coordinators, systems engineers and system operators. In addition, there are guidelines for acceptance testing of completed systems to provide a comprehensive list of issues and techniques to determine acceptable coverage and performance for shipped systems.

For those interested in discussing TSB-88 in its various versions, a Yahoo Group has been created. The group name is TSB-88.

Tags: Call Center/Command content Operations Wireless Networks

Most Recent


  • AT&T FirstNet unleashes robotic dogs for emergency services
    AT&T is releasing robotic hounds from Ghost Robotics as part of the service provider’s FirstNet emergency responder service. In a blog, AT&T VP Lance Spencer explained that the robotic dogs will be connected to AT&T’s network and deployed for public safety, defense, federal and state agencies, local police and fire departments, and commercial customers. “Network-connected robotic dogs can deliver a […]
  • Federal agencies infested by cyberattackers via legit remote-management systems
    It has come to light that hackers cleverly utilized two off-the-shelf remote monitoring and management systems (RMMs) to breach multiple Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agency networks in the US last summer. On Jan. 25, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA), and Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) released […]
  • How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient
    It’s a scenario we’ve all experienced: an ambulance with a blaring siren racing against time to get a person in medical distress to a hospital through traffic. What we don’t see is 5G connectivity enabling paramedics to communicate with hospital staff via video conference and coordinate care in real-time before arriving at the emergency room. […]
  • MCPTT interworking for critical communications
    The goal of mission-critical communication systems is to minimize the response time of first responders in emergency situations across several agencies. A dedicated push-to-talk button offers an efficient mechanism that simplifies the speaker-to-listener process to a minimum. This feature is useful when coordinating large group activities and to enable the instant flow of tactical status […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Making wireless magic a reality
    Newscan: Feds recover millions from pipeline ransom hackers, hint at U.S. Internet tactic
  • Cyber is the new Cold War, and AI is the arms race
  • Private wireless networks in the US start going public
  • Microsoft patches 6 zero-day vulnerabilities under active attack

Commentary


How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023

3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024

18th January 2023

Do smart cities make safer cities?

  • 1
6th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

AT&T FirstNet unleashes robotic dogs for emergency services dlvr.it/ShW7p8

27th January 2023
UrgentComm

Federal agencies infested by cyberattackers via legit remote-management systems dlvr.it/ShVhn3

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient dlvr.it/ShVS1h

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

MCPTT interworking for critical communications dlvr.it/ShTm3P

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

Self-driving cars present terrorism risk, FBI director says dlvr.it/ShTTHx

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

UK Home Office officially will cut ESN ties with Motorola Solutions in December dlvr.it/ShNjfN

24th January 2023
UrgentComm

Newscan: Police software vendor breach exposes personal data, raid plans dlvr.it/ShN0q2

24th January 2023
UrgentComm

RT @IWCEexpo: We're so excited about our awesome list of speakers! Today we highlight Budge Currier, a 9-1-1 Branch Manager at CAL OES, res…

24th January 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.