OEC/ICTAP Office of Emergency Communications / Interoperable Communications Technical Assistance Program Gateway Training Workshop Module One Basic Gateway

OEC/ICTAP

Office of Emergency Communications / Interoperable Communications Technical Assistance Program

Gateway Training Workshop Module One

Basic Gateway Overview

Patrick KempkerGateway Instructor

OEC/[email protected]

(619) 553-5172

2OEC/ICTAP


Basic Gateway Overview

General Interoperability Methods Urban Area’s Specific Interoperability Technologies Gateway Operations

Deployment Considerations Activation / De-activation Limitations Best Practices

3OEC/ICTAP


Interoperability Methods SAFECOM Interoperability Continuum

4OEC/ICTAP


Interoperability Methods (Continued)

Radio Communications Interoperability Strategies

Same Radio SystemSystem-to-System

Gateways

Swap Radios

Shared System

CommercialServices

CommonFrequencies

MultimodeRadios

ConsoleInterface

Multi-System

Controllers

5OEC/ICTAP


Interoperability Methods (Continued) P25 StandardsWill Fix Common Air Interface Modulation Schemes

Conventional radios Digital radios Trunked radios

Internet connectivity(Phase 2)

Data Transfer (limited) Narrowband Requirements

Will NOT Fix Different Frequency Lack of Coverage

6OEC/ICTAP


Urban Area’s Specific Interoperability Technologies

Switch to the Statewide Communications Interoperability Plan (SCIP) / Tactical Interoperable Communications Plan (TIC Plan) Informational handout

7OEC/ICTAP


ACU-2000IP

TRP-1000

ICRI

InfiniMux

RIOS Transportable

ACU-1000

ACU-T

ACU-M

RIOS Rack Mount

Gateway Operations

8OEC/ICTAP


Deployment Considerations

Incident Area Network (IAN) – Small, temporary network

created for a specific incident

Incident Area Network (IAN) – Small, temporary network

created for a specific incident

Transportable

Fixed

Jurisdiction Area Network (JAN) - Main communications network for first responders; provides connectivity to the Extended Area Network (EAN). Extended Area Network (EAN) - Links city, county, regional, state, and national systems

PortablePortable

9OEC/ICTAP


Deployment Considerations

PSTN

Remote Sites

Interface Devices

Cellular VHFNetwork UHF 700/800MHz

Iridium

802.XLAN

Interface Devices

Network

AudioGateway

Note:

The Audio Bridge/Gateway doesn’t transmit or receive any signals. All modulation and demodulation is accomplished by the interfaced devices.

10OEC/ICTAP


Deployment Considerations: Gateway Placement

Good Signal

Out of Range

GATEWAY

SmartNet

EDACSConventional

11OEC/ICTAP


Gateways interfaced to radios using simplex/direct

frequencies requires a smaller coverage area and can work well for Incident

Area Networks

Gateway

Deployment Considerations: Extending Coverage Area

12OEC/ICTAP


Activation/De-activation

Switch back to the SCIP/TIC Plan Informational handout

13OEC/ICTAP


Gateway Limitations: Overview

Gateways retransmit across multiple frequency bands and/or systems providing an interim interoperability solution as agencies move toward shared systems. However, gateways have the following limitations:

No Encryption Inefficiencies Geographic Area Portable Battery Life Set-up Time Frequency conflicts/interference

14OEC/ICTAP


Gateway Limitation: No Encryption

The Gateways don’t transmit or receive any signals Gateways pass baseband audio (audible voice) All modulation / demodulation and Encryption/Decryption

is accomplished by the interface devicesExample: An encrypted signal comes into an interface device, it decrypts the signal and passes the baseband audio to the devices patched to it. If the other devices are encrypted the audio is re-encrypted and sent out. However, if a device isn’t encrypted the audio is still retransmitted in the clear. Remember, at a minimum the audio can be monitored in the clear at the gateway.

15OEC/ICTAP


Gateway Limitation: Inefficiency

Additional Assets To provide interoperability on the scene of an incident

each agency needs to provide a mobile radio in advance or a portable on the scene of the incident

This ties up one radio asset for each system/channel, the more channels you tie together in a talk group the more radio spectrum being utilized

Example: If we share a common frequency and everyone turns to that frequency we have interoperability, no extra radios or radio frequencies are being used. If we are patched through a gateway, we are still using our radios on the scene but now there are two extra radio assets patched through the gateway and we are using twice the radio spectrum.

16OEC/ICTAP


Gateway Limitation: Coverage Area

Gateway's effective geographic coverage area is limited to the area that is common to all systems participating in that link.

CommonArea

Note: In this usage the Gateway does not increase your coverage range. Your radio must be able to hit your normal network to communicate

17OEC/ICTAP


Gateway Limitation: Set-Up Some gateways require significant time to configure,

others are a matter of simply hooking up radios and turning the system on.

It doesn’t matter the type of gateway you use, it is imperative the gateway be configured in it’s standard operating configuration prior to deploymentExample: The gateway will be used to connect an 800 MHz trunked system to a conventional system on a regular basis. The trunk channel requires time to get an acknowledgement tone back from the system prior to transmission; the gateway must be configured to allow for this delay so none of the message is lost during transition. All gateways must pass the shoot/don’t shoot rule losing one word can ruin someone’s day.

18OEC/ICTAP


Gateway Limitation: Battery LifePortable Radios have a Limited Use Time Due to Battery Life Mobile gateways are designed to enable interoperable

communications for short duration events To extend mobile gateway operating time, consider:

additional power sources, radio chargers, and extra batteries

19OEC/ICTAP


Gateway Limitation: Frequency Conflicts / Interference Antennas must be properly positioned to prevent radio interference or

desensitizing the radio receivers In regions where multiple mobile gateway devices are accessible, it is

critical to coordinate the use of these devices to ensure that multiple gateways do not “step-on” each other

Example1: Patching multiple VHF channels on the same Gateway (GW) can raise the noise level in the immediate area of the GW so the effective range may be reduced. Example 2: If GW 1 has 12 radios interfaced to it and the radios are programmed to frequencies 1-12. GW2 has 5 radios interfaced to it and they are programmed to frequencies 1-5. GW1 creates a patch between 1, 6, and 8. GW2 creates a patch to 1, 3, and 5. This is the same as if you had one GW patching channels 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8 together. At best this scenario will add confusion, at worst the radio chatter will make both systems unusable. Coordinate all patches through the Incident Communications Leader (COML).

20OEC/ICTAP


Best Practices

No Encryption Treat all conversations as if they are in the clean

Inefficiencies To prevent excess chatter, only patch those systems

that really need to talk to each other for the time they need to talk. Remember, just because you can patch someone doesn’t mean you should

Never patch talkgroups on the same trunked system together; you could cause your own system busy.

When using an audio gateway with a trunked system, it’s best to have a high priority talkgroup on the system dedicated for gateway use

21OEC/ICTAP


Best Practices (Continued)

Geographic Area Use simplex/direct frequencies for localized incidents

Portable Battery Life Use mobile radios whenever possible

Set-up Time Interface radios should be tested and adjusted with the

audio gateway prior to initial deployment. Some mobile radios require special programming, others may require hardware modification

22OEC/ICTAP


Best Practices (Continued)

Setup Time (Continued) All gateways require special interface cables to

connect to the various types of radios. If a radio must be added ad hoc, the requesting organization should provide a portable radio, additional batteries, charger, and the interface cable

Frequency conflicts/interference Coordination is the key - always go through the

Communications Leader prior to creating a patch and know what is being patch

23OEC/ICTAP


Questions

????

OEC/ICTAP


Documents

OEC/ICTAP Office of Emergency Communications / Interoperable Communications Technical Assistance Program Gateway Training Workshop Module One Basic Gateway