Real-world interoperability testing

The P25 Solutions Centre has come a long way since its launch in mid-2011. Its latest features and live demonstrations are expected to attract more partners and vendors to the centre.

Although it has only been open for a short time, the centre will soon be able to demonstrate interoperability with encryption and there are plans to install data services before the end of the year, according to Airwave Solutions, home to the centre.

“The adoption of encryption by commercial organisations and the shift by policing agencies to AES encryption algorithms has driven the PSC to consider the interoperability of key loaders and key management systems; and, of course, everybody has public safety broadband applications in their sights,” said Mark Ward, from Airwave Solutions.

Installed data services, which will include GPS positioning systems and over-the-air applications, will open up the centre to more vendors.

“The PSC continues to grow in stature and it has been considered a model for other standards internationally. It enjoys continued investment from the participating organisations (who need to be thanked for their support); and together, we look forward to the opportunity to share more of the benefits with our customer base,” said Ward.

The solutions centre was introduced as an industry initiative to help demonstrate the P25 open standard to the Australian and New Zealand market. It is a partnership between Airwave Solutions, Harris RF Communications, Tait Radio Communications, Auria Wireless, Simoco, RFI, Icom and Zetron.

The facility, hosted at Airwave Solutions’ head office in Sydney, provides a way for users to test and verify equipment and applications from multiple vendors. They can participate in live demonstrations of the equipment working together to test its interoperability.

Glenn Sneddon comments on Simoco’s involvement with the centre.

“As a company committed to the P25 open standard, participation in the P25 Solutions Centre is a must. Simoco supports customers’ ability to have freedom of choice, flexibility and confidence that their communications will make it through when they matter most, regardless of their supplier,” said Sneddon. “The centre is living proof of true P25 interoperability with multivendor systems.”

The centre also provides a place where potential buyers and vendors can test the Inter Sub System Interface (ISSI), which allows a connection to be established between two different networks and for calls and messages to be passed between them.

Three network vendors (Auria, Tait and Harris) have each supplied a small-scale demonstration network consisting of core network equipment and a P25 base station system. The ISSI is used to connect all three vendors’ equipment together into a single network, and the Console Sub-System Interface (CSSI) connects the Zetron console into each radio subsystem. The terminals in the centre are configured to work on any one of the three networks so that they can roam across the ISSI.

Zetron’s Acom system is so far the only P25-compliant console participating at the centre.

“We are very proud to be a part of Airwave’s P25 Solution Centre,” said Zetron Australasia VP and general manager Ranjan Bhagat.

“It gives us an opportunity to demonstrate how our consoles perform with equipment from manufacturers who have also developed a P25 CSSI or DFSI. It also allows us to demonstrate interoperability to customers so that they can make informed purchasing decisions about their communications solutions.”

The PSC is driven by the users and the availability of released equipment.  In some cases it is influenced by the integration of unique equipment into the open standard, such as a P25 soft radio working across an ISSI into another [manufacturer’s] trunked switching platform.

“The P25 Solution Centre is a significant milestone for buyer choice and multivendor compatibility. Tait is proud of the demonstrations such as the ISSI, but even more exciting is the open invitation to use the centre as a test facility, for data, encryption, applications or other integration requirements," says Anthony Blyth, marketing manager for Tait Communications.

The centre was represented by all participating members at the recent AFAC conference in Perth, and while a small collaborative effort, was able to successfully and practically demonstrate common feature sets and interoperability of P25 equipment and consoles from multiple vendors to a large number of delegates.