Home of the Higgs gets new comms

CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research located near Geneva, has confirmed its decision to implement a 3T/Sepura TETRA infrastructure for communication.

3T Communications, a Sepura company, has been appointed to install the infrastructure in two phases, the first of which saw 123 radios made available to firemen, guardians and rescue workers at the end of 2012, along with three base stations and numerous repeaters and gateways, to address the site's immediate operational needs.

The second-phase deployment of STProtect Beacons will be carried out in 2013 and will equip third parties, such as scientists and experts working at the laboratory, with further radios.

The laboratory has a unique layout, featuring more than 600 buildings on its surface, as well as many underground facilities, including the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), its flagship accelerator, which sits in a ring tunnel with a circumference of 26.7 kilometres, located between 50 and 175 metres below ground.

The solution, consisting of Sepura radios and 3T infrastructure, addresses CERN’s requirement for a consistent and reliable communications system to serve the needs both of the emergency services and of staff operating and maintaining the CERN systems.

CERN has selected a suite of radios including the SRG3900, the STP8000 and the STP8X. The SRG3900 includes dual console support and 10 W RF power - putting it into the higher category of TETRA radio operational range available on the market today - and supports the same enhanced colour user interface as Sepura’s flagship STP8000 hand portable, which offers enhanced power, loud audio and a magnesium alloy chassis. CERN’s main considerations after successful tests in a magnetic environment (up to 4 TESLA) were the excellent water and dust resistance of this radio, and the fact it is perfectly suited to deliver high performance to underground users.

To complete the suite, the STP8X, the only IP67-rated intrinsically safe TETRA hand portable on the market, and STProtect - which allows operatives to be located quickly and easily in an emergency - will be deployed in 2013. This will add beacons and STProtect software to the infrastructure to provide a complete built-in communications and location system.

“For us, the ability to communicate with, and to track, workers in the area and underground was a crucial criterion," says Aurélie Pascal, CERN Project Manager.