Relief Efforts in Haiti Benefit from TETRA Via Satellite

A TETRA-via-satellite solution was developed by Teltronic to allow Venezuelan aid teams to use their own TETRA radios in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following the massive earthquake in January.

The Venezuelan government responded to the crisis on the morning following the earthquake by sending its first aid plane. Aid teams consisting of doctors, engineers, search and rescue experts and civil protection arrived in Port-au-Prince from Caracas. Venezuelan officials wanted to use their existing TETRA solution sourced from Teltronic via a satellite link.

However, very small aperture terminal (VSAT) links introduce significant delays in communications between the node and remote zones. When implementing a TETRA-via-satellite solution, communications is less fluid, because of response times above 1 second for call setup and push to talk (PTT), even after network optimization. Users need to adapt their use habits, because of the effects of the delays, both regarding control signalling and voice communications. Timing mechanisms must be configured to allow transport delays in excess of 500 milliseconds and service quality must be introduced into the VSAT transport network to prioritize voice communications traffic.

Source: www.radioresourcemag.com