2014 International TETRA Awards

The winners of the third annual International TETRA Awards have been announced. A collaboration between the TETRA and Critical Communications Association (TCCA) and TETRA Today, the awards have been designed to recognise excellence in the field of TETRA radio communications.

The range of award categories offered opportunities for products, applications and solutions of merit across the full range of TETRA activity, in both mission- and business-critical organisations. A panel of communications experts and authorities from across the globe assessed each entry for evidence of flair, initiative and enterprise beyond the ordinary.

Best use of TETRA for public safety

Winner: CERN - TETRA services at CERN

The TETRA network deployed in 2012 currently serves over 350 different users from CERN’s dedicated fire and rescue service, site security services and teams from the transport and maintenance services with outdoor coverage over an area of 400 km². This requires two main transmitters each delivering two aggregated TETRA frequencies with overlapping coverage sufficient to maintain an acceptable radio network in case of single transmitter failure. The judges praised it as being “a uniquely challenging requirement of amazing complexity”.

Best TETRA innovation

Winner: Motorola Solutions - MTP6750 TETRA radio and the Photograph and Intelligence Communication System

This solution involved the creation of a simple-to-use image management system that enables public safety organisations to realise the operational benefits of photographic intelligence, in terms of making frontline policing more effective, while minimising the administrative overheads of managing large volumes of images and minimising the risks of breaching data protection and privacy laws. Judges commended it as a solution with practical value to frontline officers.

Green TETRA award

Winner: Rohill Engineering - Energy-efficient TETRA

The low-power TETRA switch from Rohill is designed for continuous industrial applications. Rohill’s switching functionality is 100% realised in software, consisting of a server only. The absence of hardware in Rohill’s switches makes them very energy efficient. The judges pointed out that green elements have been integrated into the whole TETRA system and the benefits are therefore available to all users of the system.

Best use of TETRA for transport

Winner: MTR Corporation - MTR 800 MHz TETRA System Project

MTR has been using TETRA for 10 years to serve 900,000 passengers and has committed to implement a single TETRA system to serve another six lines as a replacement for the original analog radio system for train and station communications. The new TETRA network serves around 140 trains, 1500 hand-portable users in stations and maintenance offices, and over 60 consoles in control centres and a fallback control room. One judge said, “The Hong Kong Metro’s TETRA project, ambitious in scale and scope, is full of superlatives. It truly shows what TETRA is capable of in a railway environment.”

Best use of TETRA in utilities

Winner: Motorola Solutions - Next-Generation TETRA Radio Network to Provide Project Infrastructure Communications

Taking over two years to complete, this is now one of the largest TETRA wireless networks in Australia. The evolving data capabilities of the digital technology have enabled Queensland Gas Corporation (QGC) to use the TETRA network for all of its critical communications in the field. One judge said, “This large TETRA installation featuring intrinsically safe radios is a critical safety element in a major Australian gas supply network.”

Outstanding single-site TETRA installation

Winner: CERN - TETRA services at CERN

The CERN nuclear test facility in Switzerland gave telecoms engineers challenges for their Sepura equipment. They needed to ensure compatibility between French and Swiss RF regulators, emergency services, high-risk indoor and underground facilities, and solve the problem of high radiation levels disrupting broadcast IDs. The judges said of this nomination: “Smallish but highly complex, it is the fruit of a creative and successful collaboration involving suppliers, the customer and regulators.”

Best integration of future broadband with TETRA

Winner: Rohill Engineering - SETAR Critical Voice and Data on LTE

The pilot project for integration of TETRA and LTE with SETAR of Aruba has been the first major installation that proves the maturity of the technology and business case of the LTEtraNode Solution. Rohill is committed to integrating CVDP with, and later migrating to, the emerging standard for TETRA-like functionality on top of LTE, as defined by ETSI. This ensures their customers receive a futureproof solution that works both with private and public LTE networks based on open IP and LTE standards. The judges felt it could indicate a pathway for future TETRA and broadband integration.

The awards were hailed as a great success by Phil Kidner, CEO of the TCCA.

“As an awards judge, I can testify firsthand to the quality of the submissions and the impressive achievements that TETRA has enabled,” he said. “I congratulate all the organisations that took the time and effort to enter the awards.”