History of Broadband for Public Safety

Brief History Overview of Broadband for Public Safety

History of Information Exchange in PS - From Smoke Signals to 4G
The use of technical means to convey information in a mobile environment has existed for hundreds and even thousands of years.  Information has typically been encoded and relayed through a variety of methods, yes, including smoke signals for eons.  In more recent eras more sophisticate methods have been developed including optical such as flags, heliographs, visible light, and yes, even carrier pigeons. 
Even more recently, we see the development electricity and electromagnetic energy as a carrier of information, thus the advent of telegraph and telephone.   The pace of development has been truly mind boggling when we consider that in the last 150 years we have good from pre-telegraph all the way to radio, television, and now Internet Protocol (IP) based operations.  The more recent advances from cellular telephone 1G , to 2G, 3G, and now 4G have been even more staggering in the degree of advancement and capability.

Technical Definition of Broadband

Broadband is a reference to the exchange of data over physical systems capable of high speed and high capacity. These systems may function over a variety of physical systems using copper wire(including telephony and cable television ), fiber optic cables, cable television type cables, and wireless which may include both optical (line of sight) and radio signals (microwave fixed location, commercial cellular 2G/3G//4G.  Wireless also may include terrestrial as well as satellite services to both fixed and mobile users. 
There is no definitive metric to define broadband, but it is typically accepted that as data transmission speeds in excess of 256 Kbps.  Typical T1 circuits are capable of raw speeds of 1.544 Mbps .  Other aggregates of T1s such as DS3 etc. are capable of multiples of the basic T1 speed.  The recent publicity surrounding LTE wireless systems currently being planned and deployed are advertised as providing capabilities up to, and in excess of, 100 Mbps.  The result of broadband as opposed to older sub-broadband systems means much larger files, and/or, number of users can concurrently be carried on a given system.  Multiple integrated parallel pathways can further increase aggregate speeds.

History of Wireless Broadband in Public Safety Land Mobile Radio (LMR) Narrow Band

To date, the primary use of narrowband wireless has been to supply the basic instant, one-to-many voice requirements of critical incident communications for public safety. The primary means of instant communications with field personnel has been narrowband land mobile radio for the last 60 years.  This dependence on narrowband radio will not be relieved by broadband technologies as a core element of support. 
Broadband is capable of providing a form of voice, but it does not now, nor is it likely to supplant the critical service nature now supplied by narrowband voice radio in support of critical incident command and control communications without significant new development.  Broadband voice communications will, however, provide a much needed supplemental service by taking on non-critical services and even providing some form of backup to basic critical voice systems.
The role of broadband thus far within public safety has been to provide value-added features beyond critical voice by providing data connectivity to and from field personnel.  Current wireless broadband has been an extension of the use of narrowband data.  Narrowband wireless provided the basic introduction of digital (data) communications in service to public safety. 
Typically, narrowband radio channels are limited to providing around 9.6 kbps which greatly limits the applications which can effectively take advantage of this form of communications.  While individual narrowband land mobile radio channels can be shared with voice operations, typically they are relegated to channels exclusively reserved for only data links due to the complexities and basic time/access requirement differences differentiating voice and data.  Voice operations can tolerate virtually no signal delay, whereas data transmissions, while in some case may be time sensitive, are usually not “instant” time sensitive. 
All narrowband public safety frequencies are licensed through the FCC.

Commercial CDPD, Wi-Fi, and 2G/3G

Whereas narrowband wireless had severe capacity restraints due to the very narrow bandwidth of the channels, other methods capable of higher data speeds have been deployed over the years.  Typically, these systems have been on commercial platforms because the spectrum sufficient for wider channels was not available to public safety entities. 
Many agencies contracted with commercial carriers (cellular) for access to their data systems which operated in conjunction with their voice commercial systems.  The first such broadly used type of operation was called CDPD or Cellular Digital Packet Data.  CDPD utilized idle capacity on existing analog (AMPS) cellular systems at typical speeds of 19.2 kbps, roughly twice the capability of narrowband radio channels.  While not a great leap in capacity, CDPD did allow more data and more advanced applications.
Coverage and range was limited to the location of the cell systems capable of processing CDPD operations, typically with the same range as the commercial voice cellular operation.

Wi-Fi and 4.9 GHz

The next significant step in wireless data communications involved a commercial development called Wi-Fi.  Wi-Fi’s official standard designation is IEEE 802.11.  Wi-Fi is a digital wireless transport service operating in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands of frequencies.  The channel bandwidths are sufficient to allow true broadband capability, but are by design limited to very low power limiting the range from around 100’ indoors and up to 300‘ outdoor with no obstructions. 
Wi-Fi operates in unlicensed spectrum which means the FCC has provided a blanket approval for type accepted modems and access points allowing anyone to install equipment virtually anywhere.
With the commercial success of Wi-Fi, many public safety agencies installed equipment in and around certain areas to provide high speed access to upload and download data.   Typical installation allowed mobile users to load critical data to their mobile laptop computers and upload reports and other significantly large files to agency servers.  Connections in some cases were internal while others provided access to the Internet through these connections depending upon agency policy and procedures.
Channel congestion can be a significant detraction to using Wi-Fi as it has become very popular and ubiquitous given that it is shared with the public at large and it requires no licensing or coordination of use by the FCC.
Recognizing the usefulness of Wi-Fi and its limitations as an unlicensed service, the FCC allocated 50 MHz of bandwidth in the 4.9 GHz band exclusively for public safety.  The original rules essentially mimicked the Wi-Fi 2.5/5 GHz rules as to bandwidth and power limitations.  While 4.9 GHz was limited to public safety and licensed, the FCC does not require coordination other than to suggest local cooperation.  Essentially, any public agency/entity/jurisdiction could apply for a license to cover their requisite jurisdictional area of operation.  In many areas of the country, this results in locations which may have dozens of concurrently geographically located licenses to operate. Local cooperative coordination as envisioned by the FCC is not mandated and therefore is spotty at best.
Public safety agencies quickly identified that the 4.9 GHz while limited by rule to supporting mobile operations was an excellent platform for linking remote fixed location sites.  This use included remote offices, remote radio sites and other situations where expensive landline connections could be bypassed and where conventional fixed microwave was either too expensive, or in many cases, no clear microwave channels were available.  The FCC later altered their 4.9 GHz rules to allow some limited use for fixed infrastructure operations.

2G, 3G, and Beyond

Commercial data platforms have evolved through what is noted in the industry as “generations” with early cellular analog systems being referred to as 1st generation wireless technology (1G).  As technology progressed, later systems have been developed and deployed as 2G and 3G systems.  Implementation of 2G systems paralleled 1G systems often with multiple generation capable cell phones with the ability of roaming across both platforms.  More recent developments include 3G which has also been implemented in cell phones in a multi-mode manner as well as being offered in the form of air cards for laptops.  As time has progressed, the earlier 1G analog systems have been largely phased out of service due to the increased efficiencies of digital 2G and 3G in order to free up the frequencies used by 1G.  As a result CDPD data services have been largely eliminated in most, if not all, areas of the country.
One of the most significant features of 2G and 3G commercial systems has been their capacity to provide ever increasing types of data applications to the consumer.  Whereas 1G cell systems provided voice in an analog manner, the introduction of 2G and beyond transmitted voice connections digitally.  This move to digital made it much easier to integrated data operations right along side the voice operations for enhanced efficiencies. 
Many public safety agencies utilize 2G and 3G commercial data services in support of their missions.  Typical installations are an “air card” supplied by the commercial carrier inserted into an agency owned laptop computer.

4G - LTE/WiMax

The definition of 4G represents data speeds in excess of 100 Mbps when moving and as high as 1 Gbps when stationary, however some commercial operations are slightly below this target.  WiMax™ is based on IEEE standard 802.16, an extension of the Wi-Fi standard and has been offered in several cities through large national commercial operators.  The original WiMax™ was intended as a fixed location technology, but has evolved into mobile capabilities.
LTE, which stands for Long Term Evolution or 3GPP Long Term Evolution, is the standard which the major commercial carriers have chosen for their next migration from 3G technologies.  The number of major commercial carriers announcing their plans to move to LTE as opposed to other 4G platforms (including WiMax ™) is significant .
Based on the shear scale of commercial commitments along with the known capabilities of the LTE standard, and discussions with commercial carriers, public safety has endorsed LTE as the platform of choice moving forward both as support for the commercial carriers as well as for future planned public safety broadband systems.
Multiple Mobile Platform Integration
The requirements of many public safety agencies have led to the development of mobile routers installed in vehicles which connect a number of wireless modems to a single mobile PC devise.  The end result is a mobile unit which will as one example automatically connect to agency servers through 4.9 GHz system while near an agency owned/operated 4.9 GHz wireless access point, commercial 2G/3G systems when in range of commercial coverage, and even to a narrowband land mobile data agency owned system in more re mote areas where commercial coverage may not exist and 4.9 GHz in impractical. 
Satellite
Satellite systems have been available to the public safety sector for some time and also undergone significant evolutionary changes.  Virtually all systems used by public safety are commercial in nature due to the cost of the orbiting and terrestrial terminal based equipment.  Satellite systems support many different operational platforms ranging from fixed locations connectivity, to deployable fixed operations, to fully mobile operations including handheld devises.  The first prerequisite for all satellite based service is direct sky access. 
Satellites often are used as a backup to disasters where local communications infrastructure is temporarily unavailable, but can also be an effective tool for daily operations connecting rural and remote fixed locations and facilities.  Virtually all large national chain stores utilize satellite connectivity to supply internal data and in some cases, voice throughout their organization.
Cost for satellite operation varies greatly with the bandwidth required and type capabilities of individual satellite systems.  Satellite systems come in three basic space configurations, Low earth orbit where the satellite (or satellites) travel around the globe, often in a network of satellites at 100 to 1,200 miles above earth; medium earth orbit at about 1,240 miles above earth; or high earth orbit where they are located in a geostationary location which does not vary with the rotation of the earth.  The later tend to have a detectable transmission delay due to their distant location of 22,000 miles above the earth.

Efforts to Identify Broadband Operational Requirements

There has been significant previous effort to identify the operational requirements of the public safety community for broadband systems, but none specifically focusing exclusively on the operational aspects alone.  The first primary effort took place resulting in the Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee Report (PSWAC Report) issued in 1996 as a joint effort by the FCC and NTIA.  Various scenarios were addressed and resulting operational needs were identified for many public safety disciplines.  The final intent of the PSAWC Report was not to focus on the operational needs, but by identifying operational basic needs in order to quantify the spectrum bandwidth requirements.

More recently, an effort sponsored by NPSTC created a Broadband Task Force of which one subcommittee was tasked with identifying operational requirements.  This effort did not rely exclusively on filed practitioners however, but did identify certain critical operational requirements .  This information was used to supply the FCC with critical information used to develop pending Rules for the National Broadband Initiative.

Overview - Current Status of Broadband Initiatives

First in most peoples minds is the development of a nationwide integrated broadband wireless system.  The National Broadband Plan was created by the FCC at the request of Congress in 2009 to ensure every American has “access to broadband capability.”  Chapter 16 of the Plan is devoted to the promotion of public safety broadband wireless capability primarily through leveraged technologies from the commercial sector.
As quoted from FCC material:

• To allow first responders anywhere in the nation to send and receive critical voice, video and data to save lives, reduce injuries and prevent acts of crime and terror.
• To ensure all Americans can access emergency services quickly and send and receive vital information, regardless of how it is transmitted.
• To revolutionize the way Americans are notified about emergencies and disasters so they receive information vital to their safety.
• To reduce threats to e-commerce and other Internet-based applications by ensuring the security of the nation's broadband networks.

The current focus on broadband requirements for public safety began with the PSWAC Report.  The report indicated a need for over 95 MHz of spectrum by the year 2010.  But beyond addressing the spectrum requirements for public safety, the Report also reviewed the operational requirements driving this need for spectrum and increase bandwidth.
The National Coordinating Committee (NCC) followed up on the PSWAC Report by assisting the FCC in establishing the Rules for operation of the recently allocated a 24 MHz of bandwidth in the 700 MHz band for public safety.  The resulting Rules were first published in 2001 as the Fourth Report and Order and Fifth Notice of Proposed Rulemaking WT Docket 96-86 .  These rules identified 12 MHz of spectrum for narrowband capability and 12 MHz for broadband capabilities. 
Over the ensuing years, the 12 MHz reserved for broadband was eventually licensed by the FCC to a single nationwide licensee known as the Public Safety Broadband Licensee (PBSL).  The Public Safety Spectrum Trust (PSST), a consortium of various public safety representative associations was incorporated and was successful in obtaining the PSBL license. 
The 700 MHz public safety band was originally part of the upper UHF TV broadcast spectrum which was re-allocated by the FCC through conversion of the TV analog based spectrum to digital spectrum.  Along with the 24 MHz allocated to public safety, significantly more spectrum was freed up and offered by the FCC for licensing by auction.  12 MHz was reserved for more conventional narrowband land mobile radio systems. A 10 MHz block of spectrum (known as the “D” block) immediately adjacent to the public safety spectrum was not successfully auctioned (2 MHz was designated as a guard band).  The original FCC concept required a successful bidder for the “D” block to work collaboratively with the PSBL to jointly use both the “D” block spectrum and the public safety broadband spectrum in a joint public safety/commercial venture to deploy a nationwide broadband system.  While the original “D” block auction failed to produce a successful bidder, the “D” block and the adjoining public safety block of spectrum have since undergone significant review and scrutiny leading to the situation as it stands today.
The FCC has recently determined to re-auction the “D” block with requirements similar to the first auction attempt and more definite rules and restrictions relating to the associative use with public safety and the public safety spectrum.  Significantly, the FCC proposes to use a significant amount of the anticipated auction revenue to fund the development and operation of a joint public safety/commercial nationwide broadband wireless system. At the same time, many public safety associations and individual agencies, states, or municipal entities and consortiums have favored the FCC re-allocated the ”D” block directly to public safety.  Both factions agree on the end result of a nationwide broadband wireless system which supports public safety’s requirements while capitalizing on the commercial collaborative deployment with the commercial wireless industry.  Congress is similarly involved as they have previously instructed the FCC to “auction” the “D” block with revenue going to the federal budget with no specific earmarks. 
Concurrently, several public safety entities or consortiums have petitioned the FCC with Waivers to use the public safety broadband spectrum for early development and deployment of localized and statewide broadband wireless systems.   These waivers are currently under consideration by the FCC.
Very recently, Congress has become more directly involved at the bequest of strong lobbying from many of the factions, including public safety.  Several bills have been recently drafted and presented at the time of this workshop which include language regarding the auctioning of the D Block and funding support for developing a national public safety broadband network. 

Examples of Broadband Use

A non-exhaustive list of functional operations which may be supportable or implemented via broadband systems:

• Prevention/monitoring
• Fixed location field video
• Gun Shot detection
• Face recognition
• Personnel biometrics
• Traffic and infrastructure control/monitoring
• Routine operational support
• CAD including mobile data
• Internet
• Report generation
• Automated ticket generation
• Resource management/control
• AVL
• Resource assignment
• Traffic status
• Emergency incident support
• Incident Management
• Data functional Interoperability
• Information integration – Inter-agency
• Public contact
• Reverse 9-1-1
• Amber Alert
• Social networking sites
• Interoperability
• Inter-disciplinary