TNO: LTE as technology for Public Safety

There are various professional domains in which people set very specific demands for telecommunication facilities in order to employ such means as optimally as possible in a variety of processes and operations within these domains. The Safety Domain is a good example of such a domain. This domain includes the Police, Fire Department and Ambulance Services, the Justice Department and the Ministry of Defence (with Domestic tasks), as well as a number of private organisations engaged in (physical) safety and security services.

In the Safety Domain, telecommunication is considered to be ‘mission-critical’. This means that degradation or failure of communication results in serious risks in the execution of tasks or business. Communication failure can very quickly result in life-threatening risks or situations. Therefore, extremely high reliability and availability are specific demands. We also see such demands in other sectors, such as the railway sector, the maritime and offshore industry, and the financial sector.

Tailor-made

On the basis of those specific demands set by the customer, the suppliers have responded by developing ‘dedicated’, customised solutions. However, this customised approach is under pressure; on the one hand because of increasing costs of specific systems with regard to mass market solutions, on the other hand because the functional possibilities in that latter category are increasing incredibly fast and for relatively low costs (in the opinion of professionals). In the field of mobile communication, there is an interest in LTE technology in a variety of domains, and in the Safety Domain in particular. There are two reasons for this:

• A global market for this technology is developing, with positive effects on costs and availability of equipment that meet the LTE standard;
• The need for broadband mobile/wireless connectivity is increasing in a number of tasks and processes, especially in the Safety Domain. This is also stimulated by the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ trend.

In the past, the ‘dedicated’ solutions used for mission-specific needs have often been purchased on the basis of a planned operational life cycle, typically longer than 10 years. An example of this in the Safety Domain is the C2000 network that is based on TETRA technology, a technology that was developed especially for this sector in the nineties. Upgrading such systems is expensive. This gives rise to an increasing gap between the possibilities of existing operational systems in the professional sector, such as Safety, on the one hand and the operational needs in terms of communication support and what is available to the masses at the moment on the other hand.

Crucial

To illustrate, we would briefly like to describe a number of developments in the Safety Domain and specifically for the Police, Fire Department, and Ambulance (also referred to as Public Order and Safety, or POS abbreviated) that clearly show that new, additional demands are set to communication facilities. First, this domain shows a growing attention for the safety of emergency responders. Mobile communication plays a crucial role in this. Think of reliable communication and emergency facilities, but also of cameras as part of professional equipment and vehicle equipment.

Safety of emergency responders is considered a top priority. If a camera application is implemented as a standard component of the operational business management, broadband and highly reliable communication facilities are necessary. Secondly, a clear trend is visible with regard to more networked cooperation: working in an information-oriented way on the basis of an up-to-date, shared image. Arriving at an up-to-date, shared image first requires all those involved to focus on sharing available information quickly and widely. The topicality of the image can only be achieved by entering information early, close to the source, and by keeping it up to date, sometimes even before the ‘owner’ works with it (‘publish before process’).

Additionally, information must also be shared widely. The scope concerns both the spread and the information content. Relevance of information can be evaluated more effectively by the receiver than by the source. This trend of an information-oriented way of working occurs both within a column (for instance, within the Police force) as well as between various columns. The trend towards more networked cooperation and information-oriented action leads to the fact that mobile functionaries are increasingly dependent upon (broadband) flows of information. Moreover, they are expected to actively contribute to up-to-date and shared images more and more. Especially mobile users need information that is exactly suited to the task to be performed. Matters such as signalling elements and situation descriptions can best be exchanged as images. Also, (streaming) video or audio can be especially effective; both towards mobile users and from mobile users towards public-safety answering points or information centres.

The latter refers to applications with regard to the safety of emergency responders, as well as to requesting remote medical care. Public-safety answering points are expected to play a larger role in the field of information management for mobile users. It is important to note that organisations will probably get used to new communication services and will apply these more and more in their way of working which, in turn, makes their organisations increasingly dependent upon communication services. A possible consequence is that a non-mission-critical tool has become a mission-critical tool over time. POS services seek to flexibly respond to current developments in telecommunication and ICT in general, but at the same time attach great value to reliability of service providing, security of information, and international interoperability.

Another factor that plays a role with regard to the adoption of modern communication technology, such as smartphones and tablets, is the fact that functionaries are also individuals in society as well. In the first place, communication within society occurs more often via social media. To be able to operate fully in that society – also professionally – direct access to social media is a must. Secondly, emergency responders experience the added value of easy access to open (Internet) sources in their free time. In practice, emergency responders often utilise these types of (private) possibilities if they hold a supporting function in the task execution. In this way, the operational functioning becomes more and more dependent upon smooth interaction with and via the Internet.

First Net

The United States is very driven in the implementation of LTE technology in the Safety Domain. In 2009, the National Public Safety Council (NPSTC) and allied organisations made the choice for the LTE standard for a national mobile communication network First Net for Public Safety purposes. In the US, there exists a great diversity in terms of operational mobile communication solutions for POS, which leads to faulty interoperability between services and high exploitation and replacement expenses. One national mobile broadband network must remedy these problems and must offer opportunities for future standard communication possibilities. An additional spectrum has been appointed to the 700 MHz frequency band (the so-called D-block) on a federal level and a budget of 7 billion US$ has been appointed for the development and implementation of the network based on LTE. In the beginning of 2012, this was recorded in a new law. Already ongoing replacement trajectories in individual states on the basis of LTE will most likely be incorporated into this new national network.

LTE, as standardised by 3GPP up to Release 11 (issued in Q3 2012), is aimed at public mobile networks. The specific target groups, such as Public Safety, have not explicitly been taken into account. This is a shrill contrast with the TETRA standard that has been developed for mission-critical communication. In the Public Safety community, people are not looking for a development niche that would lead to an ‘LTE-PS’ version. After all, the potential scale- size advantage belonging to the application of LTE technology would be lost. The NPSTC is steering towards the implementation of 3GPP of a number of specifications important to Public Safety in future releases. Within 3GPP, the US has been pushing to standardise Public Safety-specific features within the standardisation process since 2012. They initially wanted to have accomplished this as of Release 12 (planning 2012-2013). In the standardisation process for Release 12, attention is especially paid to two topics that are highly important for Public Safety, namely LTE Direct (formally called Proximity Services of ProSe in 3GPP) and Group Calls (formally called Group Communication System Enablers for LTE or GCSE_LTE). LTE Direct concerns the possibility for a direct connection between LTE User Devices (mobile phones) and not via an eNodeB, the basic station in an LTE network. This is comparable with the Direct Mode option in TETRA and would make direct (broadband) communication between users without interference of infrastructure possible. As the name suggests, Group Calls has to do with basic possibilities that LTE must offer for (dynamic) group communication and accompanying functionalities. The original feature list for Release 12 was even adjusted in 2012 to make room for these two topics in the various stages. Various public mobile operators in Europe have endorsed this (re) programming because they see possibilities for future service providing to Public Safety organisations.

CCBG

Two other topics that receive attention are Critical Networks Resilience (measures to increase the robustness of mobile networks) and Push To Talk (PTT) communication. LTE is a data-oriented concept and the support of various communication services relevant to POS is not trivial. The TETRA and Critical Communications Association (TCCA) that deals with harmonisation of mobile communication requirements for mission-critical and business-critical purposes, and with the advancement of technological standards for communication systems, has also expressed a positive opinion of the (gradual) implementation of LTE. The TCCA is actively working on such developments and cooperates closely with 3GPP and ETSI. For this purpose, the Critical Communications Broadband Group (CCBG) was founded. In the CCBG, not only POS organisations are represented, also other user groups with specific demands (especially the Railways, but also the Ministry of Defence) are included. The CCBG focuses on a wide range of special users. In this vision, people often view the use of commercial broadband mobile services as a transitional phase towards a private LTE solution, first for data services and later followed by the support of communication services. The discussion about such an LTE-based roadmap for the benefit of mission-critical applications is still ongoing and differs between the European countries because situations and policy views are difficult to compare amongst the various countries in Europe. The decision to opt for a separate network is still open, and is separate from the choice for LTE. However, LTE does make it easier to share infrastructure with other users, and to roam to public networks. The latter can help to limit the costs and/ or increase the service level. Moreover, the availability of terminals/devices might have increased by the choice for a technology that is so widely used (here, spectrum use is a point for attention). In the CCBG, people hope to create a certain harmonisation in thinking about this evolution.

Threat

Currently, national organisations in Europe responsible for POS tasks possess a maximum of 2 x 5 MHz harmonised spectrum in band frequency 380 – 400 MHz for mobile communication on the basis of TETRA/TETRAPOL. In the Netherlands, the C2000 system works in this frequency band. The existing space is not sufficient for mobile broadband communication and therefore, people are looking for additional (harmonised) spectrum. We cannot currently describe the complex international process that has been ongoing for a number of years in striving for additional spectrum space for POS purposes. Herein lies a number of threats: The Law Enforcement Working Group (LEWP) was founded under the European Ministry Council (in this case the Justice and Home Affairs Council) a few years ago. This group was charged with the definition of future scenarios and operational requirements with regard to Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) and the determination of the resulting spectrum needs. This has resulted in the authoritative LEWP-RCEG matrix (RCEG: Radio Communications Expert Group). Within the European Communications Committee (ECC) under the CEPT, the workgroup FM49 was founded that is charged with identifying the available spectrum for Broadband PPDR (BB-PPDR). The LEWP-RCEG matrix is important input for this workgroup. FM49 is working on two reports: report ‘A’ (Requirements) and ‘B’ (Solutions). Report A (ECC Report 199) mentions 2 x 10 MHz as an additional requirement for BB-PPDR. FM49 has identified a number of candidate frequency bands. Several years ago, the European Commission published the Radio Spectrum Policy Program that acknowledges the necessity for spectrum for PPDR, among other things. Additionally, there is an ongoing discussion about the ‘Second Digital Dividend’, that is, the freeing up of broadcasting spectrum in the 700 MHz band for mobile use. In the long term, this can result in the reservation of mobile spectrum in Europe in the 700 MHz band for public ‘mission-critical’ tasks.

Complex

The conclusion we can draw is that the demand for broadband communication facilities in the Safety Domain and the fast development and spread of LTE mobile communication technology for the mass market have initiated a migration movement. This movement is evolutionary, but has been sped up by the situation in the US, and is aimed at gradually making LTE technology suitable for this domain and other domains in which communication can be mission-critical. However, the European situation is more complex than the one in the US, because national governments have to agree on matters such as technology-roadmap and spectrum. It is important that the possible specific ‘European’ requirements about which a consensus has been reached are accepted soon in the ongoing LTE standardisation process.