Radio round-upTexas boasts state-wide level four interoperability
Announcement puts Texas in the forefront of radio compatibility efforts; recent success at Dallas Love Field provides a welcome model
Don’t mess with Texas, at least when it comes to radio interoperability. Readers may recall, for instance, Seattle, Washington-based CoCo Communications’s breakthrough installation at Dallas Love Field, which ties together airlines, law enforcement, and airport officials into a single network. Such efforts have not escaped the notice of the state’s highest officials, who have made interoperability a major policy priority. Last week, Governor Rick Perry announced that great strides had been made. “As a result of local leadership, I am proud to report to you today that Texas has achieved level four radio interoperability throughout the state, and in some areas, it is as high as level six,” Perry said.
BLUE BOX
The interoperability levels used in Texas are the same developed by DHS. They are:
BULLET POINTS:
Level One Swap Radios: The simplest and most basic level of interoperability is the physical exchange of radios with other agencies involved in an event. However, it is impractical for every agency to have extra radios on hand for each member of every other possible agency that could appear on-scene, especially for larger scale events.
Level Two Talkaround or “Directed Net”: Talkaround provides interoperability where multiple radio users talk radio-to-radio on the same transmit and receive frequency in the conventional mode. In this situation, communications are tightly bound by the air interface: the same frequency is required and transmissions are digital-to-digital or analog-to-analog, not analog-to-digital.
Level Three Mutual Aid: Mutual aid channels provide operability for first responder radios and interoperability between radios within the same frequency band…i.e. VHF users can only talk to (or on) other VHF systems. The effectiveness of Mutual Aid Level-3 can only be achieved through adherence to predetermined protocols and procedures as part of the National Incident Command System (NIMS) which is used in the event of an emergency.
Level Four Gateway (Console Patch): A gateway is a generic term for devices that connect multiple frequency bands and/or coverage areas and thereby provide interoperability between them. Overlapping coverage areas may use wired or wireless gateway devices. For overlapping coverage areas operating in different frequency bands, wireless gateway devices provide cross-band interoperability for the radios (require separate Transmit Receivers (T/R) frequencies).
Level Five System-Specific-Roaming (Trunked and Conventional): Additional interoperable capabilities for first responder incident management can be provided by leveraging existing systems using mutual aid talk groups. These systems may be in a variety of frequency bands, may be analog or digital and conventional or trunked. Existing systems are owned by specific agencies and may come from a variety of vendors.
Level Six Standards Based Shared Systems (Trunked and Conventional): Standard based systems ensure that the radios and/or the infrastructures use technology and messages that are interoperable regardless of the equipment vendor. They must be based on the P25 CAI standards (ANSI/TIA/EIA-102) and conform to SAFECOM interoperability standards.
