Safety-Critical LTE Communications “At the Network Edge” Frequentis and its technology partners have demonstrated the potential for establishing safety-critical LTE communication infrastructure “at the network edge” during a serious disaster or incident. It was a breakthrough demonstration in mission-critical mobile services as it pioneered services based on the latest 3GPP standards, such as Mission Critical Push-To-Talk (MC-PTT).
The partner companies showing how such an approach can foster a faster response and enhanced situational awareness in the event of disaster included A1 (an Austrian provider of mobile radio), Athonet (an Italian LTE mobile core network provider) and Nemergent (a Spanish MCPTT application provider. The demonstration took place in Austria in late May and featured a crisis flood scenario within a power plant.
Different terminals and LTE networks made up the solution, consisting of an LTE network from A1, and a 5Gready complete LTE mobile core network including IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) from Athonet, winners of the 2016 GSMA Global Mobile Awards. In addition, Nemergent provided a core element, the MCPTT client and server components, while Frequentis provided the control room solution with their Multimedia-Collaboration Platform 3020 LifeX, enabling cross-coupling (LTE, TETRA, Emergency Telephone Calls) and mixing media as well as tacking the resources on the embedded geographical information system (GIS).
During the demo, mobile broadband network coverage was combined with a deployable micro system, allowing private and group calls to be established between professional field units and the dispatcher, providing tracking and location information. Emergency teams wearing helmet mounted cameras were able to stream live HD video to the control room that allowed the command teams to direct personnel and resources more effectively and efficiently in response to events on the ground. Command personnel and on-the-ground teams could communicate as a group using the built-in standards-based on Push-To-Talk functionality. The demo also allowed video streaming from an operating power plant in a second location in Carinthia, showing the resilience of the solution to support network communications for critical national infrastructure during a crisis.
