communications Government Services, Incorporated Software Defined Radio for Public Safety Presentation to the National Conference on Emergency Communication 13 December 2005 Fred Frantz Director, Law Enforcement Programs, L-3 GSI Chair, Software Defined Radio Forum Public Safety Special Interest Group

2 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) Outline Background Potential benefits of software defined radio technology for emergency communication Critical issues in technology development and deployment Future steps

3 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) Background - 1 L-3 GSI activities funded by the National Institute of Justice CommTech Program –CommTech program goal is facilitate development and deployment of communications technology to (primarily) state and local public safety personnel/first responders Voice over IP Advanced wireless data Non-terrestrial communications Software defined radios Cognitive radios

4 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) Background – 2 What is software defined radio? –Technologies that enable reconfigurable system architectures for wireless networks and user terminals (SDR Forum) –E.g., technology that implements control of radio operating parameters (frequency, modulation type, power, etc.) in software.

5 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) Work with SDR Forum SDR Forum – international consortium of organizations dedicated to advancing SDR technology Established the Public Safety Special Interest Group –Representation includes public safety organizations, traditional public safety LMR vendors, commercial companies, regulators, military Over past year the Public Safety SIG has been drafting a report analyzing issues associated with developing SDR technology for public safety

6 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) SDR Technology for Public Safety Today’s public safety radios are SDRs—providing multi-protocol radios –Conventional, legacy, P25 Beyond multi-protocol –Multi-band –Multi-service –Cognitive applications

7 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) Potential Benefits of SDR for Public Safety Seamless interoperability –Multi-band –Multi-service Support for highly dynamic networks Support for “system of system” Life cycle cost reduction –Reduce cost of upgrading and reprogramming –Simplify technology upgrades Foundation for cognitive applications that can yield performance enhancements

8 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) Technical Challenges—Antennas and Front Ends Portable multi-band antennas across VHF/UHF/800 Size/weight/power constraints on processing in portable devices Support for processing across broad range of frequency bands Support for processing across diverse services –Linear vs non-linear wave issues may limit types of modes that can be cost-effectively implemented in single device

9 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) Technical Challenges—Security Capabilities such as potential over-the- air reprogramming add significant security challenges –Interoperability could be impacted if security regimes are not coordinated/interoperable

10 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) Technical Challenges—Standards Role of additional standards in public safety SDRs is open question –Traditional approach in public safety such as P25 defines standard interface between devices, between systems, between device and infrastructure –Alternative such as JTRS SCA defines standard interfaces within a device

11 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) Technical Challenge—Cognitive Applications Focus on performance enhancement –For example, adjust waveform parameters to adjust to dynamic RF environment Spectrum sharing requires significantly more spectrum utilization data –No comprehensive studies of spectrum utilization have been done to look at spectrum utilization across public safety and non-public safety bands during major events and incidents

12 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) Where Are We Headed? –SDR Forum Public Safety SIG Report scheduled for completion in January, 2006 Multi-band capabilities are on the near-term horizon –NIJ currently working multi-band operational pilot to collect operational lessons learned –NIJ currently sponsoring and soliciting R&D in multi-band SDRs Multi-service capabilities will require some additional refinement of functional requirements within marketplace Cognitive applications will be overlaid over time

13 © 2002 L-3 Communications Analytics Corporation Web: Park Tower Drive, Suite 800, Vienna, VA (703) Fax (703) So What Does This Mean for Emergency Communications? SDR multi-band radios can address multi-band interoperability issues –Does not directly address the issues of legacy proprietary systems Future capabilities such as multi- service SDRs and cognitive performance enhancing capabilities on the horizon