Partnership of Cobham Satcom, Hypha by Wireless Innovation could aid critical-comms transitions

Critical-communications entities throughout the world seeking to make a resilient, cost-effective step in the transition to broadband technologies could benefit from a recently announced partnership between Denmark-based Cobham Satcom and Australia-based Hypha by Wireless Innovation, according to Hypha CEO Neil Jamieson.

Known as the PRISM solution, the Cobham-Hypha initiative uses LTE and satellite to extend the effective coverage footprint of existing LMR systems. PRISM has been used within Australia, providing mission-critical voice communications to P25 radios that have the resilient option of being backhauled via satellite through small terminals on emergency vehicles that can act a node in the broader system, Jamieson said.

“Our whole push-to-talk-over-sat exercise has always been based on a Cobham platform,” Jamieson said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “Going back to our early days, we pioneered this with Cobham, when the whole world thought we were crazy by trying to bring satellite into public safety. We were laughed at and heckled, but we persisted.”

“The whole platform that sits underneath it and does all of the configuration over the air and manages all of those devices in the Cobham PRISM system actually was created by us—we designed that software.”

Jamieson said that the key to adoption is delivering a solution that let first responders continue using the device and accessory of their choice effectively, regardless of their location and proximity to a terrestrial network.

“In Australia, we realized that the only way you’re going to get traction with this satellite push-to-talk [offering] was if you did a full integration on both the vehicle end and the core end into like a P25 network,” Jamieson said. “Because you’re not going to get someone to pick up a different fist mic in a different situation and use that just because this is the one you use for satellite and this is the one you use for LMR.

“So, the user just uses the same radio as he’s always used, can go anywhere, and he wouldn’t know the difference [whether he is using a terrestrial network or satellite].”

This approach has been successful in Australia, where the Cobham-Hypha solution supports more than 1,000 satellite terminals on vehicles in Queensland, so “it’s not bleeding-edge” technology, according to Jamieson.

“What’s interesting are the ways that some of them are using it,” he said. “Take ambulances, for example. They’re patching their entire statewide analog network into those sat channels. That’s been a massive challenge, because you’ve got one network with no floor control can patch with a network with floor control. But it works, and it’s doing pretty well.

“The idea is eventually to phase out the analog network, so the rest of state—ambulance and fire—[in Australia] are going for an entire primary connectivity of satellite LTE and phasing out their LMR network completely.”

And the usefulness of the satellite-centric system is not limited to agencies in rural or remote areas, as Hypha recently announced a contract with Fire & Rescue New South Wales (FRNSW) to equip more than 700 vehicles with satellite gear.

“This project will be transformational for our frontline firefighters across [New South Wales] ,” Graeme Tait, operational communications systems officer at FRNSW, said on social media. “In a state the size of ours, satellite communications is an essential piece of the communications puzzle Once the rollout of this technology is completed, firefighters will have the benefit of voice communications, automatic vehicle location and mobile data, no matter where they are or what emergency they are dealing with.”

Jamieson said he hopes Cobham is able to duplicate this type of success outside of Australia, while Hypha concentrates its efforts outside of Australia on the adoption of the company’s intriguing HyphaMesh technologies that let first responders establish robust 4.9 GHz LTE mesh networks quickly at a scene.

Now, Cobham will lead the effort to deploy the satellite-based PTT solution outside of Australia. Jamieson said he believes the timing is good, because PRISM with the vehicle-as-a-node approach could be attractive to entities that have long depended on LMR as their primary communications tool but are unsure of their next step.

“I think there are so many agencies that need really this, because it gives them the stopgap,” Jamieson said. “If you have an analog network and you have to make a decision now, what are you going to change over to? You’re not going to build out a P25 digital system now, because that’s crazy expensive, and it’s a 15-year investment for narrowband voice only.

“You might say, ‘Well, I want to get to PTToC, but that transition period’s really difficult for them—changing user equipment, going over to LTE, trusting that change in the network, meeting operational requirements.

“When you put in what we have, it’s kind of like a stopgap, because there’s no investment in infrastructure. You don’t have to build out a network, so that’s easy. Every component that we put in that vehicle—whether it’s a satellite modem or an LTE modem—are all relevant to whatever system you’re going to deploy in the next 10 or 15 years anyway.”

That’s an important consideration, because no entity wants to have stranded investments, Jamieson said.

“You’ve got all of the components that you need to go to the next step,” he said. “What it does is that it gives them that feeling that ‘Hey, I can still use my LMR, and I’m going digital—and I’m going to get all of those digital things. I’ve got data connectivity now, because I’ve LTE and [satellite communications]. So, I can still use my radio, and I can use PTToC at the same time on the same equipment.

“This is a transition phase to getting them into first, the investment cycle that they need to do it—that’s a no-brainer. Second, it’s future-proof, because it will take them wherever they need to get, no matter what they rely on in the future. And third, it gives them voice, data and digital network from Day 1. And since there is no infrastructure build, they can go from Day 1.”

Henrik Norrelykke, Cobham Satcom’s vice president of land systems, said that he believes the satellite-based solutions with Hypha will improve first responders’ access to critical data information while also enhancing the reliability of communications.

“As consumers, we have a high level of expectation when it comes to our connectivity—we view Wi-Fi and mobile data as a human right, yet emergency responders and blue-light services … are working with voice capabilities when they also need real-time data comms to do their jobs and remain safe,” Norrelykke said in a prepared statement. “Partnering with Hypha by Wireless Innovation enables us to bring this new level of resilience for critical-communications networks.”

Ken Rehbehn, principal analyst at CritComm Insights, also expressed optimism about the Cobham-Hypha partnership.

“Going beyond narrowband voice communications opens up opportunities for new command-and-control functionality,” Rehbehn said in a prepared statement. “But the opportunity quickly faces coverage and reliability concerns. Incorporating a policy-based blend of terrestrial broadband and supplemental satellite services helps forward-looking enterprises and government agencies deploy cost-effective rich-communications capabilities with confidence.”

IWCE 2022 can learn more about Hypha by visiting the company at Booth 2332 during exhibit-hall hours on Wednesday and Thursday.