by AllThingsECC.com | May 6, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
From April 24 – 29, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) hosted JamX 22, an exercise to counter electronic jamming at White Sands Missile Range with federal, state, local and industry participants. Building on the lessons learned from past JamX exercises in 2016 and 2017, S&T and CISA have partnered on research, technology developments, and new training to increase federal and first responder resilience to signal jamming threats…
by AllThingsECC.com | May 5, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
During its quarterly meeting May 4, the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) approved reinvestment into the FirstNet network that will help improve indoor coverage for first responders.
At the meeting in New Hampshire, the board approved an investment to expand services for network coverage via small-cell technologies. The investment aims to increase FirstNet coverage where public-safety agencies operate indoors, such as police headquarters, fire stations, emergency communication centers (ECCs), and other critical sites and field locations…
by AllThingsECC.com | May 5, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
Those who have been reading the Advocate for any length of time know I rarely feature individuals in my articles but when I do, it is to impart information that is unique in some way. This first issue in May is written to tell you more about one of the people who made FirstNet possible and then joined the FirstNet Authority to serve as its CEO for almost nine years. Now he has decided to take his talents to the private sector to pursue a new opportunity.
Many articles have been written about Ed Parkinson this past week, but I have yet to see one that reaches back to when Ed was a staff member for the House of Representatives, Homeland Security Committee, Chaired by Representative King…
by AllThingsECC.com | May 4, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
For almost a century, radios have been the primary means of communication within the public safety community, linking personnel to their dispatchers and each other. Since the advent of Project 25 (P25) more than 30 years ago, land mobile radio (LMR) systems have become interoperable and acquired a long list of enhanced features and capabilities. While designed primarily for group and individual voice services, LMR systems today offer end-to-end encryption and low-speed, non-broadband data applications for location services, over-the-air rekeying (OTAR), and limited data exchange. The Joint SAFECOM/National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC) P25 User Needs Working Group (UNWG) developed the Land Mobile Radio (LMR)/Long Term Evolution (LTE) Integration: Best Practices whitepaper to share a snapshot of best practices and integration use cases identified by a variety of public safety members across the country during interviews conducted by P25 UNWG members and supported by CISA…
by AllThingsECC.com | Apr 29, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
In 1993, Congress established the world’s first spectrum auction authority, empowering the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct bidding for radio frequency licenses. The innovation has exceeded expectations, earning Nobel prize recognition in 2020 and bringing $230 billion in revenue to the Treasury. The FCC has conducted over 100 auctions with the recent C-band earning more than a record $90 billion. These monies have been used for taxpayer relief, the FirstNet public safety communications network, and funding to the Department of Defense and other agencies…
by AllThingsECC.com | Apr 29, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
Proximity Services (ProSe), first introduced in Release 12 of the 3GPP specifications, is a D2D (Device-to-Device) technology that allows LTE devices to detect each other and to communicate directly.
In comparison to existing D2D and proximity networking technologies, ProSe offers a number of distinct benefits including better scalability, manageability, privacy, security and battery-efficiency. Current efforts to commercialize ProSe are being spearheaded by the public safety and critical communications sector. However, although initial investments in ProSe-enabled devices will be driven by these two sectors, there also exists a much larger opportunity in the commercial arena. Mobile operators can leverage ProSe to offer a range of B2B, B2B2C and B2C services that rely on proximity, including advertising, social networking, gaming, relaying traffic for wearables and V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) connectivity, among others…
