Press Review

Tetrapol Test

Mightier than the Gun

It's no exaggeration to say that the URH radio may be mightier than the gun for policemen in critical situations. Unfortunately, the communication devices used by Hungarian

emergency organisations are not that sophisticated at the moment. The Tetrapol system, which has been tested in Hungary since January, may be a possible solution.

The professional radio networks of Hungarian emergency organisations (the police, ambulance, fire department, civil defence organisation), except for the system used by the border patrol, are out-of-date, therefore, it is an emergency to change to a radio system that meets all EU standards. Unfortunately, the bureaucrats in Brussels couldn't all agree on a system meeting all requirements until last year.

The Tetra and the Tetrapol systems are the main competitors in Europe. Hungarian experts had the opportunity to inspect the Tetra system at the end of 1988, while the Tetrapol system has been tested from January 2000. (Computer Panorama introduced the Tetra system in a special Mobile World issue last year, and will publish an interview with the president of the Tetrapol Forum in the March issue of Mobile World.)

Worldwide References

Formerly the ETSI preferred the Tetra system, because this system guarantees a more reliable and faster data transmission in a national network and complies with other data communication systems. Since this GSM standard system was basically designed for commercial network service providers, it may guarantee a cost-effective operation, as well. The Tetra systems, however, have been installed for minor test purposes only.

On the other hand, the Tetrapol system, which has been developed exclusively for emergency organisations, has already proved its performance in national networks. 31 Tetrapol systems have already been installed in 18 countries around the world covering 600,000 km^{2 .} The number of users with on-going deployments will reach 700.000. For example, emergency organisations in non-EU countries, like Mexico, or the police, ambulance and the Anti-Drug Bureau in Singapore have already selected this system.

The European examples are more relevant for Hungary: in the EU the French Police and Gendarmerie, the Navy and the Airforce all use the Tetrapol system. The Catalonian Police, the Defence Ministry in the UK, or the Frankfurt Airport and the Berlin Public Transport Company use this system too.

The Swiss Polycom deserves a special attention. Siemens delivered this common system used by the police, ambulance and local communities. The Tetrapol system was selected because of the rugged terrain and economical considerations - was declared at a conference held in Budapest in January. Moreover, the introduction of the Tetrapol system may be also supported by the fact that three Central-European countries, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania have already Tetrapol systems installed.

Although current European standardisation supports both the Tetra and the Tetrapol systems, the co-operation between the various systems in neighbouring countries is also required.

Technology Advantages

The main theme of the conference was the advantages of the Tetrapol system for emergency organisations.

The systems guarantee a number of advantages in operation, security, and control over former analogue systems.

The digital data transmission guarantees that the sound quality does not depend on the distance of the mobile phone from the base station, i.e. the sound quality remains perfect until it receives the transmission. This digital technology also guarantees that radio channels can be dynamically regrouped, so this system can be used more effectively than traditional networks where the channels are allocated by users or call types. A further advantage of the digital technology is that the voice and data transmission can be integrated.

The elements of the Tetrapol system are also very sensitive, therefore half the number of base stations needed by the competitors can cover the same area. Thus, both the investment and the operation of the system are more cost-effective.

The users can be divided to fleets, i.e. the police, the ambulance, the fire department, etc. can be arranged in various groups which, however, can be dynamically changed and rearranged. Group call is a peculiar feature of all mobile radio systems unlike direct calls. This new talkie-walkie feature ensures a direct communication between users without using a switchboard. This feature also guarantees a clear communication between users in rugged terrain where they are outside the range of any base stations.

The emergency call can be a real life-saviour. The person in danger has to push only a button to ask for help. This emergency call has absolute priority over any other calls and automatically gives the exact location of the call to all nearby colleagues. The automatic car-location feature is also very useful, since the dispatcher can easily follow and spot the exact position of the car.

The voice and data transmission can be integrated in the Tetrapol system. Data transmission can be provided through X.25 Ethernet or 9.6 kbps serial port. The data transmission features remarkably improve the capacity of the mobile radio system. One can send short written messages. Emergency staff can download central databases, e.g. car registries. Thus the suspect's fingerprints can also be sent to the centre, but fire fighters can also get the layout of a building in flames. Dispatchers can direct the right assistance to the locale by the slow video sent by the policemen from the site of an accident.

Top Security

The conference also highlighted the security services of Tetrapol. These features are integrated into a common concept from eavesdropping to property guard. Coding is automatic, so users needn't take any special actions, and there is no weak link in the system.

Nevertheless, the most open system, which accepts many manufacturers, will probably be preferred.

Extract from Computer Panorama,
March 2000