A strategic approach to radio technology

Chief information officers have a responsibility to make informed and balanced decisions when it comes to implementing strategic radio network plans.

The ubiquitous mobile phone works well for most of us, most of the time. Occasionally we get a dropped call or two when coverage plummets, or the odd network outage means we can’t download emails or browse the internet. It’s frustrating, but rarely life threatening.

Put yourself in the shoes of a police officer or utility worker in a hazardous situation or remote area and reliable coverage becomes much more than a nice-to-have - it’s an absolute necessity. It’s critical to be able to function properly and safely. That’s why it’s known as ‘critical communications’. While a chief information officer (CIO) wants to make sure the people they’re supporting have reliable radio communications, the idea of operating a stand-alone radio network may not be immediately attractive, particularly when all the other networks in their IT organisation are IP based. These are largely physically wired networks - local area networks (LANs) connected by a wide area network (WAN) - so they’re relatively straightforward to manage. But what about radio?

Well, radio technology has evolved significantly in the last few years. Today’s IP-based radio networks have much in common with modern IT systems and can increasingly interface with them. So it follows that there’s a host of benefits to be gained from managing them together.

IP radio networks

An IP radio network is similar to a physical network, where LANs are joined through a WAN. The radio network consists of multiple base stations serving a large geographic area, all connected through a WAN that can be wired, fibre or landline. This WAN may be a combination of a private network and a commercial vendor’s network. The IP radio network supports voice and some data, although voice communication is usually still its main use. But this is changing.

It’s already common for packets of data to be sent via radio networks. For example, sending the location coordinates of a public safety officer can be critical to their personal safety as well as to the command structure. Sending a status request and then monitoring a radio user’s response can be equally critical. Similarly, gathering data elements from utilities field staff, such as their location, task ID and time can provide key input to workforce management systems.

IP data packets can be transmitted over shared lines, but careful radio network design is needed to maintain the quality of real-time voice communications. However, there are potential cost savings because of the opportunity to share network resources.

Strategic fit

The CIO is responsible for making sure that all networks under their responsibility (and all the devices on those networks) will work together; information must be able to move seamlessly from one network to another, especially where public safety is concerned.

Any forward-looking organisation will understand the need to expand the use of their networks for closer partnerships between clients, partners and other entities such as government agencies.

Technology that has been in operation for many years can hinder effective business functions. The business itself may change, or the technology can simply fail to keep up. As a result, the CIO must be sure that the technology can remain effective and efficient over a long period of time, so that business needs continue to be satisfied.

As well as technology trends, CIOs must keep current with the proposed product roadmaps of their key vendors. Vendors whose roadmaps are not consistent with the CIO’s organisation’s strategy are clearly a risk to be addressed and managed.

Last century, proprietary standards were common, due to rapidly evolving technologies developed by companies using their own standards. These proprietary standards could be used to lock customers in to a single vendor for a long time, ensuring the vendor could maximise revenue from those customers. With the deployment and use of the internet, open standards managed by independent industry groups - such as the DMR Association or APCO - have replaced proprietary vendor standards, making it much easier to interoperate and to share networks, data and voice transmissions.

From a wider IT perspective, the ‘cloud’ has become the pervasive interoperability standard, using the TCP/IP communications protocol. Technology has converged on this standard, from radios, mobile phones, landlines (VoIP), traffic signals, security cameras, through to TVs and photocopiers. As a result, the CIO’s job and challenges have become a lot more extensive.

Coverage and reliability

Consumer telecommunications companies place their mobile phone towers where they can make the most revenue from as many connections as possible. As a result, poor, sparsely populated or semirural areas may not have reliable coverage. Conversely, these are areas where public safety agencies and utilities typically operate, and their communications requirements must be based on radio coverage, using radio towers that can be easily reconfigured to ensure uniform coverage across an entire region.

In an emergency, such as a natural disaster, or even at peak times of ‘normal’ demand (like New Year’s Eve), cellular networks quickly become overloaded. In the Christchurch, New Zealand, earthquake of 2011, the cellular network was immediately overloaded as members of the public sought to connect with friends and family. However, the radio network remained available to the public safety and associated agencies with a minimal interruption of service, and handled the much higher levels of public safety use. In some countries, terrorists have used cellular networks to detonate bombs via their mobile phones. As a result, one of the first things public safety does is to shut down the cellular network when a bomb is detonated in a public place.

Soldiers on duty during earthquake recovery in New Zealand. Credit: NSDF

While most networks are designed and deployed with built-in redundancy, the CIO must be absolutely sure that any new network vendor - and the proposed network being considered - must be at least as reliable as the network and the vendor they are planning to replace. The most common way to check this out is to talk with other organisations that already use this vendor’s equipment and services, as well as ensuring high availability through the RFP process with clear requirements, specifications and in contracts. Another way to manage the risk of unreliable vendors or their networks is to insist on open standards, to make sure non-performing entities or components can be replaced quickly.

Security

With increasingly sophisticated and aggressive cyberattacks, security has become a must-have. Not only is access security important, but high-level encryption has also become essential. Radio networks have very high security requirements, due to high government use, and are usually private, ensuring others cannot access transmissions as easily as they can on the public cellular network. The level of encryption within P25 networks is specifically designed for the higher requirements of law enforcement.

As an example, the São Paulo Police Force’s effectiveness had been previously limited by drug cartels intercepting their communications and disappearing before police arrived. The Tait P25 network commissioned in 2006 has yet to be cracked by the crime syndicates and São Paulo Police attributed the contribution of the secure communications to a reduction in crime of 60% between 2006 and 2011.

In São Paulo, Brazil, police say the establishment of a P25 secure communications system has led to a 60% reduction in crime between 2006 and 2011. Credit: Julio Boaro.

Scalability

While public safety entities may not be physically expanding, regional mutual support agreements are becoming increasingly common. New networks tend to expand and replace the older networks, so that all parties can communicate by consolidating on one standard. Utility CIOs understand that their companies may expand by procuring other utility companies. Either way, a smart CIO is going to make sure that the communications network can be scaled up, to cover any eventuality.

Converging on the TCP/IP communications protocol, an organisation’s networks can be managed from one console, irrespective of the content of the TCP/IP packet (voice, data, etc). Such convergence has already occurred in locations from a 60,000-resident city, to the Los Angeles basin with 14 million residents. The communications can involve any device (including desktop PCs, servers, smartphones, radios, traffic signals, etc). Many regions have mutual support agreements among police and fire, partly as a result of budget cutbacks, but also to be able to project a larger response in the event of a local disaster. Integrated communications platforms are essential to support coordinated, multiorganisational responses.

Management

To perform consistently, any network requires ongoing support. User administration, security, device monitoring and network monitoring are all key to maintaining network integrity and performance. CIOs will want an extensive network management tool to be able to perform management functions effectively over the long term.

The same network management tools used for managing IT networks can be used to manage the TCP/IP-based radio networks. A network-addressable radio can be remotely checked for operational status, its location ascertained, software downloaded to it and operational issues identified before the radio is rendered inoperable if required. These are the same remote management tasks that can be performed with a smartphone, providing the ability to manage all the organisation’s TCP/IP mobile devices in real time. Other functions that can be performed include device security and network performance management.

Redundancy in an emergency

While redundancy is built into most modern networks, the critical nature of public safety and utility work functions benefit from having multiple networks that provide additional redundancy. As most organisations already use the local public cellular network for a number of functions, in the event of a disaster, key staff can be issued with a radio. The radio network is a very cost-effective way to ensure the needs of an organisation coping with an emergency are met, without the cellular network.

CIOs know that demands for integration will increase and that stand-alone systems are becoming rare. As radios become more intelligent and IP-based, interfaces with other networks (eg, Wi-Fi) become common. Data interfaces with IT systems also become possible through these other networks. Any radio vendor not providing open-standard interfaces to other networks and IT systems risks losing sales, as potential customers walk away from probable vendor lock-in. These days, that is probably a career-limiting decision.

The TCP/IP-based radio networks can also be used as a ‘bridge’ to the organisation’s other TCP/IP-based systems from the open standards-based legacy radio networks. This may extend the life of the legacy networks and enable the expansion of the newer TCP/IP radio networks at an easier pace, avoiding the risky ‘big bang’ approach.

Convergence

Over the past 30 years, IT systems and networks have both become more complex to the point where they can be very difficult to manage. Organisations wonder why their IT departments can’t get anything done, when in fact IT staff work long hours to keep many different technologies going. CIOs are actively looking for ways to simplify their networks, systems and processes.

As can be seen in the comparison table, the commonality between networks is increasing to the point where network management tools can handle both internal IP networks and radio networks on the same console.

Continual downward pressure on IT budgets and increasing demands for service can mean being the CIO is a thankless task these days. Predictable cost is essential, as well as reasonable component cost, so that there are no surprises. As radio technology is built to last more than three times as long as cellular, cost can be spread over a much longer life cycle of 10 to 12 years.

Radio is relevant

Converging technologies between IT and the critical communications that radio networks support mean that radio is actually more closely aligned with the CIO’s domain than ever before.

Contrary to widely held beliefs, radio is by no means past its prime. Radio has evolved significantly and will continue to play an essential role in public safety and utility organisations that require mission-critical communications across challenging coverage areas. When issues such as coverage, reliability, security, robustness and cost are fully considered, a radio network offers genuine business value to many organisations.

Hurricane Sandy wrought devastation in the USA. Communications coverage was severely affected. Credit: Jordan Balderas, Creative Commons.

When a natural disaster strikes, commercial telecommunications company networks are immediately impacted. Cellular providers told the Federal Communications Commission that the day after Hurricane Sandy landed on 29 October 2012, more than 25% of mobile phone service went out in the 158 counties across the 10 states most affected by the storm. Services worsened in many areas as generators serving cell towers ran out of fuel. Entire households were without communication as their bundled services (mobile phone, internet and landline) failed completely.

In February 2011, when a Richter 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand, with the third largest shock force ever recorded, the telecommunications networks were severely damaged and there was low availability within the city. The radio networks used by public safety agencies were quickly restored and continued to perform throughout the following aftershocks. These examples highlight the importance of having secure, highly reliable radio networks dedicated to public safety use, capable of integrating with and operating across different technologies within a regional area.