Interoperability between people, organisations, regions and

equipment

Middle East TETRA Conference

Dubai May 2004

Risto Toikkanen

Nokia

11.05.2004

Various dimensions of Interoperability

- Global issues in Public Safety & Security

Organisational interoperability– Between agencies/organisations– Between people

Regional interoperability– Between regions– Across national borders

Technical interoperability– Between equipment

Organisational dimension

Hurdles• Legislation and/or regulation• Operating procedures &

practices• Information security• Radio spectrum• Incompatible equipment

Organisational interoperability:“Capability for agencies to communicate with

each other”– On a daily basis– In emergency situations

Inter-regional dimensionInter-regional interoperability:“Capability for peer agencies to communicate

across borders”– Between regions– Across national borders– New dimension: cross-agency & cross border

Hurdles• Legislation and/or regulation• Politics• Operating procedures & practices• Information security• Radio spectrum• Incompatible technologies/equipment

In Europe thecross-borderinteroperabilityis high on theEU/Schengen agenda.

In Europe thecross-borderinteroperabilityis high on theEU/Schengen agenda.

Technology dimension

Technical interoperability:“Process to ensure that equipment from multiple

vendors are compatible”– Problem-free operation– Wanted functionality– In practice it is about protocol conformance

Hurdles• Standardisation• Standard conformance• Verification and certification• Competitive environment• Customer preferences• Backward compatibility

Organisational interoperability: solutions

Operating procedures– Agreements– Training

Dedicated radio channels– Common technical specification– Agreed procedures

Radio spectrum harmonisation– In some form this is a must

Technology harmonisation – standards– Necessary to gain radio compatibility

Shared networks– By far the most efficient tool– Requires high-tech system to ensure privacy– Both operational benefit and cost benefit

BEST RESULT

Regional interoperability: solutions1. Political & organisational readiness

2A. Conventional technical measures• Extra equipment like cellphones• Extended coverage across border or repeaters• Control room interconnect by wireline• Radio swap between control rooms e.g. Belgium & France• Radio swap between users

2B. Network interconnect• TETRA Inter-System Interface (ISI)• Three-country pilot Belgium – Germany – The Netherlands• Cross-network PMR functionality, first time• True cross-agency & cross-border opportunity

Three-Country Pilot (1)• Agreement between the governments of Belgium, Germany

and The Netherlands• Based on the requirements of the Schengen Agreement on

cooperation of police forces and customs across the national borders

• To pilot cross-border functionality with TETRA ISI• To create operational scenarios

Three-Country Pilot (2)

• Phase 1 pilot testing completed in 2003 by use of pre-ISI solutions

• Operational scenarios built and tested in practice

• final report published at www.3countrypilot.com

• Phase 2 ongoing now with operational requirements specification for the TETRA ISI produced in 2004

• Winner of Outstanding contribution to TETRA award in TWC 2003

• please see www.3countrypilot.com

Solutions are deeply technicalDecisions are done in early development phase

Cross-technology interoperability• Specific operating modes like analog FM radio channels

TETRA Interoperability• The TETRA Interoperability (IOP) concentrates on

technical interoperability certification of multi-vendor TETRA equipment.

• Successful IOP certification is fundamental in creation of open multi-vendor market.

• Open multi-vendor market is fundamental for the success of TETRA - and it has happened

Technical interoperability: solutions

Benefits of open multi-vendor market

User benefits• wide choice of compatible certified terminals• specialised product for special needs• continuous and genuine competition• less dependency - lower risk of market disturbances

Industry benefits• wider market, bigger volumes• more possibility to invest – faster product creation• longer lifetime of market

TETRA MoU Association runs the IOP certification process to guarantee open multi-vendor market

TETRA IOP Certification process

STANDARDS

MoUOperator/User Association

Technical ForumMembers’ Enquiry

TIP SPECS

TMO AI groupDMO AI group

ISI group (PEI group)

approx 12 suppliers

TEST PLANS

MoU

Certification Body ISCTI *) – Rome/Italy

ACCEPTED into OPERATION(Also need CE mark or TA)

CERTIFICATE

*) Instituto Superiore delle Comunicazioni e tecnologie dell'Informazione

TETRA IOP deliverables• TETRA Interoperability Profile (TIP) documents available to members

– V + D Air Interface TIP’s Parts 1 to 17 are published or agreed– DMO TIP’s Parts 1 to 3 are published or agreed– TETRA ISI TIP’s Parts 1 to 6 are published

• TETRA Interoperability Test Plan documents available to members– V + D Air interface Test Plans Parts 1-5, 7, 9-11 are published and used in

certification– DMO Test Plan Part 1 is published and used in certification

• Certification test sessions arranged at manufacturer’s premises to run the test cases specified in the Test Plans

• TETRA IOP Certificates are public documents and published at the TETRA MoU website

– A process is ongoing to improve the layout of the certification document to be more easily readable

• Most customers today require their equipment supplier to provide IOP certificates on the features they purchase

TETRA IOP achievementsTested products

from:• Cleartone• DeTeWe• Frequentis• IFR (tester) • Marconi/OTE• Motorola• Niros• Nokia• Rohde & Schwarz• Rohill• Simoco/Sepura• Teltronic• Thales

Certificates at: www.tetramou.com

Tested products from:

• Cleartone• DeTeWe• Frequentis• IFR (tester) • Marconi/OTE• Motorola• Niros• Nokia• Rohde & Schwarz• Rohill• Simoco/Sepura• Teltronic• Thales

Certificates at: www.tetramou.com

Tested and certified functionality

V + D Air Interface TIP’s:•Part 1: Core (incl MS-ISDN dialling) •Part 2: Short Data Service •Part 3: Dynamic Group Number Assignment•Part 4: Authentication•Part 5: Packet Data•Part 7: Fleet Specific Short Number Dialling•Part 9: Ambience Listening•Part 10: End-to-end encryption with CVO•Part 11: Air Interface Encryption

Direct Mode Operation TIP’s:•Part 1: Core

THE AMOUNT OF CERTIFICATES VARIESBETWEEN COMPANIES – AND IS GROWING

ConclusionsOrganisational interoperability• Best cooperation is achieved by a shared

network• Current TETRA technology allows privacy

and sharing• Not to forget the cost savings by sharing

Regional interoperability• Becoming more & more important• TETRA ISI is the tool for network

interconnect

Technical interoperability• TETRA created a true multi-vendor market• Benefits to both users and industry• TETRA IOP Certificate is the paper to ask for