US agencies seek partners for communications test bed

The US Commerce Department’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program is signing up a new round of industry collaborators for the test bed used to evaluate advanced broadband equipment and software for emergency first responders.

So far, 39 telecommunications companies have signed new, five-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) to participate in the test bed program, according to Dereck Orr of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The PSCR is a joint effort of NIST and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

The test bed, the Public Safety Broadband Demonstration Network, has been operating at the Commerce Department’s Boulder Laboratories for more than five years. It is part of the PSCR’s effort to provide objective technical support — research, development, testing and evaluation — to foster nationwide interoperability in public safety communications.

Based in part on test bed evaluations to date, the PSCR has worked with industry organisations to get public safety requirements included in next-generation (LTE) communications standards and contributed data to support standards for FirstNet.

The current version of the PSCR demonstration network was developed with equipment and support from more than 70 vendors. The network has begun testing new equipment and software capabilities such as how to best identify priority users and enable them to take over bandwidth from other network users in emergencies, Orr said.