Aviat Networks winds up public-safety interoperability tests
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Microwave networking provider Aviat Networks finishes testing the interoperability of its LTE networks in public-safety and first responder environments.
Microwave networking provider Aviat Networks Inc., said it completed an evaluation of its LTE interoperability by the Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program at the Commerce Department's Boulder Laboratories in Boulder, Colo.
The company said it is the first and only vendor to have deployed high-capacity microwave radios for LTE interoperability testing in licensed spectrum for the PSCR program. The PSCR network provides a wireless testbed to evaluate interoperability of equipment from a range of manufacturers that supply mission-critical communications solutions to the nation's first-responder agencies.
The Commerce Department lab also uses the information to provide feedback to committees involved in wireless and wireline standards for voice, data, image and video communications, according to the agency. The lab “serves as a gatekeeper for interoperability testing of LTE products for the U.S. public-safety broadband market," said Frank Ohrtman, a networking market analyst and author of the 2013 industry report Public Safety Broadband Market: Who's on FirstNet?
"Ultimately, it's critical that public-safety networks that want to join FirstNet purchase equipment that has been thoroughly checked out in real-world conditions, such as those that exist in the PSCR field lab," he said.
The Commerce Department’s FirstNet will provide emergency responders with the nation’s first nationwide, high-speed network dedicated to public safety.
In support of its 700 MHz demonstration network, PSCR needed high-bandwidth microwave backhaul radios to test LTE base stations. LTE microwave provides capacity for the needs of the PSCR program as well as for public-safety LTE in the future, according to the company
Aviat's Eclipse radio also delivers flexible all-indoor architecture and strong security to harden wireless communications and network management, field-measured reliability and low-cost upgradability, according to the company.
The PSCR program is a joint effort of the Law Enforcement Standards Office of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
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