Tait helps NIST public safety lab conduct interoperability testing

Tait Communications, a global supplier of critical communications solutions, has lent its Project 25 (P25) network and radio equipment to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Division in Colorado, USA. Here, researchers will use the equipment to evaluate interoperability between P25 and LTE/5G technology.

PSCR is housed within NIST’s Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL), which conducts research, development, testing and evaluation for public safety communications technologies. Public safety agencies rely on mission-critical voice communications for daily activities and especially during emergencies — and interoperable, standards-based technology allow emergency services agencies to take advantage of adaptive networks with reliable coverage and instant communications between different user groups.

Under the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) executed between Tait Communications and NIST, the entities will collaborate on quality of experience (QoE) interoperability and LMR broadband comparison research. NIST will use the internal 5G Public Safety Innovation Lab (PSIL), which includes a 5G next-generation core, 4G and 5G radio access network (RAN) and mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT) capabilities, to compare the QoE between different PTT solutions and identify potential interoperability problems.

“Tait’s open-standards interoperable technology allows our customers to select the best technology to best serve their needs,” said Tait Communications CEO Yoram Benit, PhD. “Our CRADA with NIST will support critical research focused on interoperability with broadband networks and help public safety make gains in open standards across the public safety communications ecosystem. We are excited to have our equipment in the PSCR lab in Colorado.”

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