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Support for TETRA

TETRA is proving itself to be a key technology for emergency services and business users with networks rolling out throughout Europe and beyond.

The system for the U.K. police, the BT airwave project, has now reached the rollout of the pilot system, and a similar system for the police in the Irish Republic, the Garda is also progressing towards full implementation. Other networks are either being rolled out or being planned throughout Europe.

At ATDI, we have gained significant experience in TETRA through our involvement in several major projects.

Although we cannot identify specific customers due to commercial constraints, we can outline some of the activities we have carried out.

At the beginning of the project lifecycle, ATDI have assisted network operators to refine their network specifications and to identify objective metrics against which infrastructure supplier bids can be evaluated. We have also assisted in the tender evaluation process itself, providing specialist advice that gives confidence to the evaluation team.

ATDI developed methods to refine network specifications to such a degree that there can be little or no discrepancy between the specification and the eventual design. Often, we have had to train network operators to help them see precisely how the network needs to be defined, because this is not always obvious. Most people would consider that a metric such as «the network will cover 95% of roads within the service area» would be sufficient definition, but when we point out that it is necessary to define which categories of road are to be included, which data set will be used to define the roads, what constitutes an acceptable level of coverage, what length of coverage gaps along the roads are acceptable and a range of other factors, including what the word «coverage» means, it is apparent that the task is more complex than first thought. Having developed the specification to the required degree, ATDI have developed special methods to optimise network design in order to minimise infrastructure requirements while exactly meeting the networks specification. These methods have been proven on nationwide networks. When designing networks in this way, we have been able to balance the requirements of meeting overall network performance while also being constrained by site selection preferences based on varied costs of site configuration and maintenance. All of this experience has given ATDI the skills necessary to design the most cost-effective networks.

As well as being able to design networks, we also have the tools to verify network performance, based on our Libra field strength measurement system and the Gemini network quality survey tools. Libra can be used once the network is implemented, to help determine whether the delivered network meets the original specification for end-to-end quality. As well as determining and analysing call metrics such as call setup, call success and call failure (by bad audio, system busy, call setup fail, call dropped, no service), Gemini also assesses call quality using proven digital speech analysis methods. ATDI has also been called upon to perform analyses of many other aspects of TETRA networks, including determining spectrum requirements, concluding frequency plans and redesigning networks to ensure that they meet laid down criteria for international coordination between European countries. ATDI has been able to accept all of these challenges because of our experience in these diverse areas.

ATDI’s success in TETRA is undoubt- ed, and is amply demonstrated by our success in providing tools and services to all elements of the network equation. We have provided tools and services to national regulators such as the U.K. Radiocommunication Agency for the regulation and international coordination of TETRA networks, provided design and evaluation services to government, local government and commercial network operators and assisted systems integrators to optimise their offerings to the network operators.

We are happy to share our skills and experience with anyone directly involved in implementing TETRA networks, whether it be end-users who need to confirm that the network will perform adequately in their region, network operators determined to ensure that they get value for money from systems integrators or systems integrators keen to offer the best possible network solution.