Secure communications industry hosts PRS at TETRA congress06 June 2011For the first time, EU officials charged with developing the PRS met face-to-face with some of the most important manufacturers of professional mobile radio (PMR) systems, and they announced new funding of nearly €1 million to develop a PRS-compatible PMR unit. The curtains were raised on Galileo's secure Public Regulated Service (PRS) at this year's TETRA World Congress in Budapest. “The PRS is a highly accurate and very robust satellite-based location signal, with data encryption, and a wide bandwidth and spectral diversity to resist disruption," explained GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides. "This means a high level of continuity of service, backed by a secure and very reliable infrastructure chain – these are precisely the features demanded by the TETRA community." The GSA's Oliver Crop said, "What we are talking about is bringing new features to TETRA, basically developing synergies between PRS and PMR." What is……PMR?Professional Mobile Radio systems use portable, mobile, base station, and dispatch console radios. Typical examples are the radio systems used by police forces and fire brigades. Key features of professional mobile radio systems can include:
…TETRA?Terrestrial Trunked Radio, formerly known as Trans-European Trunked Radio involves the use of a mobile two-way transceiver, colloquially known as a walkie-talkie. TETRA was specifically designed for use by government agencies and emergency services, including police forces, fire departments and ambulances, for public safety networks, transport services and the military. A European Telecommunications Standards Institute standard, TETRA is endorsed by the European Radio Communications Committee and is mandated for use in Europe. By all accounts, satellite-based navigation and location data are rapidly becoming 'mission-critical' to today's PMR users. Simply put, the ability to locate in space of handheld or vehicle-based radio users and to record those locations is an extremely powerful capability for managers, dispatchers and controllers, as well as users in the field.  Carlo des Dorides. ©Peter Gutierrez Crop says, "The problem is that satellite navigation [GNSS] signals today are vulnerable. For example, a ‘GPS jammer' is a simple and inexpensive device, now available on the open market, that can easily disrupt a GNSS satellite signal." The PRS will be highly jam-resistant, and it will protect users against other more sophisticate threats such as 'spoofing,' wherein an apparently genuine but in fact false signal is generated to fool the GNSS user. With these features, the PRS has the potential to become a key asset for European government agencies, says Crop, including police and security services and, potentially, the military. Industry respondsIn his address to a special 'PRS for PMR' workshop at the TETRA congress, des Dorides assured the audience that Galileo is en route and that the PRS will be operational as soon as Galileo initial operations commence in 2014-15. Jean-Christophe Martin of the European Commission concurred, "There have been delays, but these have been political in nature, not technical. Now all the right decisions have been taken, we have the political backing and the funding we need. Galileo is real. It is going to happen. You will see the satellites and you will have access to Galileo services, including the PRS." Alessandro Ambri of Selex Communications responded: "PRS looks like an important opportunity for those of us working with TETRA, and I see no reason not to begin immediately to develop new equipment that will allow us to capitalise on this opportunity." Sébastien Sabatier of Thales Communications expressed a similar sentiment: "We now need to look ahead to what is coming and to start to prepare ourselves as manufacturers, so that we are ready for this new Galileo service, this new capability. "And, in parallel," he added, "we have to anticipate the future of TETRA, the so-called 'Long-Term Evolution', including the need to develop solutions for in-door positioning." Nigel Davies of QinetiQ is also convinced. "GNSS is playing an increasingly important role in business and in our daily lives. Location-based services, which rely on satellite navigation are also becoming increasingly important for TETRA applications.” Meanwhile, said Davies, the world since 9/11 has become increasingly concerned with questions of security. “In a post-9/11 world, where we have to guard against the possible subversion of our infrastructures and key technologies, the PRS will offer a high level of security and availability, and it will be controlled by EU Member States, independent of GPS and Russia’s Glonass.”  Nigel Davies ©Peter Gutierrez New funding available for PRS-PMR prototypeStill speaking in Budapest, GSA chief des Dorides also made a key announcement: a new call for tenders is to be launched in mid-June of this year, making available €900 000 for the development of a new PMR receiver that is PRS-ready. The GSA’s Xavier Bertinchamps said the selection of contractors would be fast-tracked and is expected to be completed by October 2011, with actual work under the contract hopefully beginning by the end of the year. Anyone interested, he said, should watch the GSA website for further details: http://www.gsa.europa.eu/. “All in all, this has been a very interesting event for us,” concluded Bertinchamps, as the congress drew to a close. “The PMR community is a cohesive group that includes high-tech manufacturers along with their user segments. Meanwhile, those of us who are involved in the development of the PRS are also very well organised and, I believe, on top of our game. The TETRA World Congress has been a very good opportunity for these two groups to finally come together. We all know now that we have a lot in common and we are eager to work together to make the PRS an integral part of PMR technologies.” More information:'The PRS - Secure EU satellite navigation for government use' (brochure) PRS for PMR Workshop (Programme and Presentations)
|