At IWCE Daniels will be launching its new P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System which provides a small, compact, low power standalone system for customers requiring digital P25 communications for a large number of users from a single site. For Police, Fire, or Utility applications the Daniels Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System is a complete radio system that can be quickly deployed on a temporary or permanent basis without necessitating complex network or console interfaces. The Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System from Daniels builds on the existing MT-4E P25 Conventional Hardware platform and requires no changes to the RF hardware.

       

In developing the Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked product, Daniels identified six market differentiators. They are:

           

  1. Small Size - 5 Traffic Channels - There is a market need for a small trunked system capable of offering 5 traffic channels to address single site applications for rural regions. The Daniels 5 + 1 channel (5 voice + 1 control) trunked radio system is housed in a compact 3 shelf configuration that provides capacity for ~200 users. This is adequate for a small police or fire department in most small cities or to serve any industrial plant (oil & gas, nuclear & utility) that needs P25. Dependant on antenna location, a single site could serve a community 20 kms in radius. 

           

  1. Low Current - Daniels has a well established and respected reputation in the industry for providing low current products. The ability to extend this into trunked applications is unique to Daniels. Since the 5 + 1 channel radio uses the same conventional hardware and one channel is always active the Daniels trunked radio would consume ~ 10-15 A @ 12V based on a 30 Watt RF output. This is significantly lower then the competitive trunked offerings and a benefit for rural sites (highways) or temporary deployments where power is an issue.

           

  1. Console Less (Dispatch) Operation - The Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System does not require a dispatch console. This simplifies the installation and provides a complete radio solution for fixed deployments where direct handheld to handheld communications is the norm. 

           

  1. Transportable - The small (9U) rack space required by the Daniels Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System enables the entire trunked system to be packaged in a series of  transportable cases (Radio, Power Amplifiers, Combining Equipment) allowing for rapid field deployment.

           

  1. Common Hardware Platform - The Daniels Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System uses the identically same MT-4E hardware Daniels currently offers for P25 conventional applications. Daniels Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System will use the same conventional hardware for VHF, UHF, T-Band or 800 MHz trunked applications. In the future 700 MHz and 380 MHz bands will also be supported.

           

  1. Scalable - The modular nature of the Daniels Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System enables the system to grow beyond 5 traffic channels. In the future the system can be expanded to support 10+ traffic channels by adding additional RF shelves.

 

 

  Product Configurations

 

The Daniels Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System is configured in 3 subracks as shown below with a 1 U industrial PC performing the function of the trunking controller. A Universal Interface Card (UIC) in each shelf provides the IP communication path between the radios and the trunking controller.

 

Daniels offers its Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System in two main configurations:

 

1.     7' Rack for Fixed Installations - For permanent fixed site applications such as a small town police force or a nuclear power plant, the Daniels Standalone P25 Five Channel Trunked Radio System is mounted in a standard 19" 7' equipment rack as shown to the right. 10U of shelf space are required for the 3 RF subracks and the trunking controller industrial PC. Other accessories such as power supplies, power amplifiers, duplexers and combiners (not shown) can also be installed in this rack.

 

2.     Transportable Cases - For temporary deployment by fire fighting agencies, police departments involved in search and rescue or security details setting up temporary communications to protect dignitaries the Daniels Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System can be packaged in a series of transportable cases for ease of deployment. A series of cases such as the one shown below will accommodate the RF racks and the industrial PC, while other cases can support power supplies / batteries, power amplifiers, combiners and duplexers and preconfigured handhelds. This is very similar to our existing conventional P25 briefcase repeater but offers increased traffic capacity.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standalone Trunking Controller

 

The Daniels Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System will be controlled by a Daniels Electronics Trunking Controller. This is a software application running on an industrial PC housed in a 1 U package as shown to the right.

 

Daniels has developed the trunking controller software using Solaris to provide a robust reliable operating system for managing critical public safety communications. The software for the trunking controller contains a number of Graphical User Interface (GUI) screens to support trunking controller programming, operation and maintenance. Typical GUI screens are show below. The main window will enable the programming of the key trunking controller parameters including:

           

·         Port  - IP communication port dedicated to communication with the GUI

·         IP - IP Address of Trunking Controller

·         Connect - establishes connection between the GUI and the Trunking Controller.

·         Save - saves communication parameters only.

·         Exit - closes connection between the GUI and the Trunking Controller

 

 

    

       

After establishing connection between the GUI and the Trunking Controller, the Status Window is opened. The Status Window enables monitoring of the status of Trunking Channels and Subscriber Units. Channel and Unit associated events are recorded into an events list.

 

The Standalone Five Channel Trunking Controller supports the following key features:

1.     Programming

a.     Registration of Portables

b.    Authentication

2.     Operation

a.     Traffic Channel Assignment

b.    All Trunks Busy Reports

c.     Automatic Control Channel Redundancy

3.     Maintenance

a.     RF Alarms and Failures

b.    Call Records

           

 

Features Supported

           

The Daniels Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System supports the following P25 features in accordance with the referenced standards:

           

References:

[1] TIA-102.AABD APCO P25 Trunking Procedures (Issue R5, July 13, 2007)

[2] TIA-102.AABB-A APCO P25 Trunking Control Channel Formats

[3] TIA-102.BAAA-A APCO P25 FDMA Common Air Interface

       [4] TSB-102.BAFA-A APCO P25 Network Management Interface Overview

Planned Future Releases

           

Future releases are planned for the Daniels Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System to enhance its functionality. For all releases it is Daniels intention to obtain P25 CAPP compliance as the standards are defined and completed.

           

The next planned release for the Daniels Standalone P25 Five + One Channel Trunked Radio System is the addition of the Inter subsystem Interface (ISSI) connection to support connectivity to dispatch consoles and other RFSS sites as illustrated below.

           

 

 

 

ISSI support will enable the Daniels Trunked Radio System support trunked applications that require a console such as:

 

·         Medium sized towns

·         Serving the Police and Fire departments (together or separate)

 

As well ISSI connectivity will enable the Daniels Trunked Radio System to be used in applications where it is desired to be able to connect into a large provincial / state wide trunked network.