Airport upgrade

Lyon-Saint Exupéry airport has selected Sepura Tetra terminals for its radio and communication needs following the recent deployment of a new digital communications system that replaced four legacy analog networks.

Alongside seamless voice and data communications for operational, public safety and security staff, the new shared network delivers lone-worker protection thanks to the ability to locate every single terminal operating on the network in real time.

Worker safety is a primary consideration for the airport, which needs to meet stringent safety standards in a variety of operational environments, including its secure parking areas.

STP8000 handheld radios, together with Sysoco’s DIGICompact Tetra system and DIGIProtect over network tracking solutions, deliver the outdoor and indoor radio localisation, real-time guard tour management and man-down capabilities needed to ensure workers are protected at all times, regardless of their location.

“From janitorial services to ground crews, communication is at the heart of our operation,” confirmed Pierre Letta, marketing director for Sysoco.

“Many of the airport personnel work in hazardous environments and the airport control dispatching centre needs to track their every movement so assistance can be provided to them instantly and to coordinate their actions.”

The airport’s technical staff selected the STP8000 radio because of its sound quality - which ensures workers can communicate whatever the background noise - and its robustness.

In addition, the radio incorporates security and safety features such as GPS positioning, an emergency button and motion-sensing technology that generates automatic man-down alerts.

Part of the airport’s radio fleet will be used with DIGIBox, a special device incorporating an additional radio location board for indoor tracking and guard tour services.

Located 25 km east of Lyon and covering an area of 2000 ha, the airport was opened in 1975. Nineteen years later, a high-speed rail line linked it directly with Paris and Marseilles so that it has become France’s fourth-busiest airport, handling eight million passengers a year, after Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Nice. It is named after aviation pioneer and writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupery and is now a major regional hub for Air France.

To keep operations running smoothly, the radios will be deployed with a variety of teams across the airport site, including baggage handling, engineering and fire and rescue as well as security.

The ability to locate every single Tetra radio in use will enable the airport to improve the management and safety of its resources, giving controllers the ability to locate the position of airport vehicles (where mobile radios are installed) as well as individual personnel carrying portable units.

To ensure pinpoint, in-building accuracy at all times, over 150 radio beacons are being installed across the airport’s indoor areas.

Meanwhile, Sepura’s partner in India, Consort Digital, an established Tetra system integrator, has won the contract for the Mumbai Monorail project, the first of its type in India.

The digital communication system will be integrated with the telephony network, public announcement, onboard train communications, centralised recording and signalling systems and will consist of a Damm Tetra infrastructure and Sepura radio terminals.

The system, by being more spectrum efficient than an equivalent analog system, will increase traffic capacity without using scarce spectrum resources.

SRG mobile radios - to be installed in the trains - have 10 W output to provide a good communications link to the nearest basestation in Mumbai where signals can be shielded by an increasing density of high-rise buildings.

Another feature of the SRG is the support for dual control consoles, one at each end of the train, to allow driving in either direction without the need to move the radio equipment.

The radios have proved to be highly suitable in a high-noise environment because of their high quality and clear audio.

Consort Digital will be responsible for supplying, installing, integrating and commissioning the project. The Indian system integrator will supply and integrate the radio terminals with the onboard systems to deliver a modern, reliable, user-friendly and complete onboard communication solution to Mumbai Monorail.