The Department of Commerce’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program www.pscr.gov/index.htm 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.
PSCR is a joint effort of NIST and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The test bed “Public Safety Broadband Demonstration Network” www.pscr.gov/projects/broadband/700mhz_demo_net has been operating at the Commerce Department’s Boulder Laboratories for more than five years.
Based in part on test bed evaluations, the PSCR has worked with industry organizations to get public safety requirements included in next generation LTE communications standards and has contributed data to support standards for the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), an independent authority to establish, operate, and maintain an interoperable public safety broadband network.
The current version of the PSCR demonstration network was developed with equipment and support from more than 70 vendors. The network has been testing new equipment along with software capabilities to identify priority users and enable them to take over bandwidth from other network users in emergencies.
Vendors and other telecommunications companies that wish to become CRADA partners on the demonstration network project, may contact Dereck Orr at 303-497-5400 or email dereck.orr@nist.gov. Partners may participate in many ways such as donating equipment, providing access to infrastructure, or supporting tests.