Contract Award: Harris to provide interoperable communications for Montgomery's safety operators

News Report

As announced in a recent press release, Harris has been awarded a $7.3 million contract by the Montgomery Metro Communications Cooperative District (MMCCD) to design and implement a standards-based digital radio system in the City and County of Montgomery, Alabama, home to more than 222,000 residents. The contract was awarded in June, 2011.

The Harris P25^IP 800 MHz radio system will enable reliable, interoperable communications for MMCCD's 2,400 users, including upwards of 1,500 first responders, with surrounding agencies. The Harris P25^IP system will provide a cost-effective migration path from Montgomery's legacy EDACS system, minimizing disruption to public safety agencies. The contract also includes Harris M7300 mobile radios, P7300 and P5250 portable radios and CS7000 control stations for future-ready P25 Phase 2 operation.
The Technology

Public safety radio systems (such as those used by police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians) operate in several portions of the 800 MHz band, which consists of spectrum at 806-824 MHz paired with spectrum at 851-869 MHz. The 800 MHz band is also home to commercial wireless carriers and private radio systems. In 2004, the FCC reconfigured the band plan for 800 MHz to separate public safety systems in the band from commercial wireless systems using cellular architecture.

APCO (Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International) Project 25 is a suite of digital Land Mobile Radio standards developed by public safety professionals, for public safety professionals operating in North America within the FCC assigned bands. P25 specifies a number of “interfaces” between different system elements including the Inter Subsystem Interface (ISSI) and the Common Air Interface (CAI). These standard interfaces are necessary to achieve two of P25’s most important goals – Interoperability and Competition. In this regard, P25 fills the same role as the European Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) protocol, although not interoperable with it.

Harris P25^IP terminals, using the P25 CAI, provide maximum flexibility because they can operate on Harris P25^IP systems or on Project 25-compliant systems from other manufacturers. In addition to P25IP, Harris’ multi-mode radios support several different wireless protocols including OpenSky, EDACS and analog conventional. This multi-mode capability allows customers to migrate from legacy systems to P25IP systems gradually, as permitted by agency budgets.

The Harris P25^IP system uses the power of the Harris VIDA network, which provides network-level interoperable communications with other public safety agencies. The Harris P25^IP system will consist of five sites to accommodate the needs of first responders across Montgomery County, and can expand to accommodate the communication needs of neighboring counties in the future if needed.

The Harris VIDA network platform is a unified IP-based voice and data communication system based on APCO P25 industry standards. VIDA delivers full IP management features, including interoperability without intervention of console operators; IP consoles; and other benefits inherent in open IP architecture systems. The new P25 system complies with both the current P25 Phase 1 standard and the emerging P25 Phase 2 industry standards.

The Context

In the examination of their current and future needs, public safety communications agencies identified several factors that pointed to the need to develop advanced digital two-way communications to replace aging and spectrally inefficient analog systems, i.e. the growing scarcity of available radio spectrum, better voice quality over greater areas, the growing demand for the integration of new, bandwidth intensive, data functions, and security concerns. In the U.S., the Project 25 initiative has brought together a wide array of local, state, and government agencies with support from the U.S. Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) to evaluate and develop a new standard for digital two-way radio. Co-chaired by APCO International and the National Association of State Telecommunications Directors (NASTD), a steering committee was given the job of evaluating the plethora of technologies. Several sub-committees, in-turn, provide the technical expertise to research a number of specialized areas. Aeroflex, through its association with the Telecommunications Industrial Association, has been a key contributor to researching and defining testing parameters for the new standard.

The principle guiding the work of the steering committee was to establish an open narrowband digital radio standard so that multiple vendors could compete for contracts to supply compliant networks with interoperable products. Secondary principles include achieving maximum radio spectrum efficiency and simplifying P25 equipment.

Comments

"The MMCCD is committed to providing the best possible service to citizens and responders, and we recognized the need to migrate to a standards-based system to increase the interoperable capabilities of our emergency response," said Chief Deputy Derrick Cunningham, Chairman of the MMCCD Board. "After a thorough evaluation and review process, we selected the Harris P25^IP system as the best choice to meet the needs of public safety forces today and moving into the future. We are investing in standards-based equipment while still utilizing our legacy equipment to reduce costs."

"With the Harris P25^IP system, the MMCCD is receiving one of the most flexible, scalable and reliable radio solutions available today," said Steve Marschilok, president, Harris Public Safety and Professional Communications. "This solution allows the City and County of Montgomery to undergo a seamless migration from the existing EDACS system to their communications platform for the future."

References: Harris (1,3), FCC (2), P25.com (3)

Contract Award: Brazialian Military Police of Sao Paulo to upgrade its IT infrastructure

News Report

As reported in a recent press release, Midas Medici Group Holdings, Inc., an innovative green IT company in the fields of virtualization, cloud computing and data management, announced that its CIMCORP brand has been awarded a $1.3 million contract from the Military Police of Sao Paulo, Brazil, known locally as the Policia Militar do Estado de Sao Paulo (or "PMESP"). CIMCORP will be upgrading the Military Police's server infrastructure and enhancing its virtualization environment.

The project is a major upgrade for the Military Police and will consist of 8 brand new physical servers, provided by HP, to replace the old server cluster. These servers will be setup and run using virtualization software to provide anywhere from 400 to 500 virtual servers to run the Military Police's entire intranet environment. This intranet environment must perform a wide variety of tasks, including: operational intelligence systems, email, monitoring end-to-end services, 190 call centers (equivalent to 911 in the United States), etc. The old servers will not be discarded, but rather reused for the Military Police's internet environment, which will be run on 50 to 60 virtual servers.

The Context

The Military Police of Sao Paulo is the largest state police force in the country of Brazil, with over 100,000 personnel in its ranks, distributed across several battalions all over the state as well as within the Greater Sao Paulo region (Grande Sao Paulo) which itself comprises 40 cities and towns.

Operating in Brazil since 1988, Midas' CIMCORP brand provides and manages a complete spectrum of IT infrastructure services and solutions to commercial and government markets. CIMCORP specializes in data center services with an emphasis on complex solutions that enable Brazilian companies to virtualize and implement cloud-based systems.

Comments

"This is another major project for Midas and our CIMCORP brand in Brazil," stated Nana Baffour, CEO and Co-Founder of Midas Medici. "Due to the sensitive nature of fighting crime, the Military Police will need a state-of-the-art system with sophisticated security architecture and data storage requirements, combined to protect mission-critical data and police records. We remain committed to providing the Military Police with CIMCORP's industry recognized quality of service, and look forward to announcing additional projects with other government agencies and large businesses throughout the remainder of 2011 as our organic sales continue to increase."

"Improving our virtualized environment while adding additional security and backup capabilities are our primary objectives and that is why CIMCORP, with its highly regarded reputation in these fields, was chosen through our selection process. Although this represents our first engagement with CIMCORP, we are pleased with how smoothly our interactions have been so far and look forward to working with them on a more consistent basis as our IT upgrade project gets underway," said Marcos Botaro Xavier, Data Center Manager at PMESP in Brazil.

References: Midas Medici (1)

Alcatel-Lucent's solution for real-time traffic management

News Report

As reported in a recent press release, Alcatel-Lucent announced it will conduct a six-month trial of a new system to ease road congestion in the City of Vélizy-Villacoublay, a key enterprise zone south-west of Paris. The system will improve information to motorists, providing advance warning of delays and suggestions for alternative routes, reducing journey times and the impact of pollution created by traffic congestion. It will also play a part in regional traffic and road planning in the area.

Vélizy -Villacoublay is located 14km south-west of the center of Paris. With major corporate offices, a large shopping center, factories and a French military airbase in the area, its roads are frequently congested at peak hours. 

The Technology

The Vélizy-Villacoublay Traffic Measurement Trial is to use Alcatel-Lucent’s Intelligent Travel Time System (ITTS) and Bluetooth® technology to measure traffic flow in real time, with roadside sensors detecting the presence of Bluetooth devices embedded in vehicles such as mobile phones and navigation systems. For local traffic authorities, real-time information gained from being able to observe traffic patterns throughout the day can help improve future planning of road and lane systems.

For motorists, using information based on route selection using on-line maps, the system provides accurate, real-time monitoring, advanced warning of road conditions and of special events such as sports competitions. It also predicts road congestion, providing personalized travel-time predictions and alternative route plans.

The ITTS system delivers this information to the motorist through road signs, radio, and mobile devices including phones and television, and through the use of internet sites such as Twitter.

Under the trial, Alcatel-Lucent is providing its Intelligent Travel Time System including ITTS Sensor and ITTS Traffic Monitoring System (TMS) to monitor the traffic congestion. Alcatel-Lucent is also providing installation, consulting, design, software integration and remote technical and maintenance support as well as system training to the City of Vélizy-Villacoublay.

Comments

Monique Loison, Deputy Mayor of the City of Vélizy-Villacoublay said:“Following the release of Alcatel-Lucent’s new real-time information technology, we were keen to test this solution so that we can help our citizens and those who work in our business area, Inovel Parc, to estimate their daily travel times. In this way, all of us can adapt our daily travel schedules and therefore better plan our professional and personal lives. Velizy-Villacoublay welcomes this trial with great interest, especially since we are the first town in France to test this real-time traffic management innovation developed by the world-renown Bell Labs”.

Pascal Homsy, CEO and Chairman of Alcatel-Lucent France said“Alcatel-Lucent’s expertise in the management of transport systems allows us to offer a cost-effective, easily deployable solution that benefits motorists and local authorities by providing increased information and improving road-safety. By reducing traffic congestion, the ITTS indirectly helps to reduce fuel waste and pollution and the roadside sensors are powered by alternative energy sources, so there is also a positive effect on the environment.”

References: Alcatel-Lucent (1)