PCTEL Inc. announced Monday that it is adding public safety LTE grid testing and enhanced P25 signal quality measurements to its public safety network testing solution at the In-Building Wireless Congress.
The new testing capabilities support two growing trends in public safety communications across the United States: strict code-based grid testing requirements to ensure in-building coverage for first responders, and the adoption of FirstNet and other LTE-based broadband networks for enhanced public safety communications.
PCTEL’s public safety testing solution streamlines the grid-based testing and reporting process, enabling building owners to comply with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), International Fire Code (IFC), and local standards.
New capabilities in this latest release include grid-based signal power and quality testing for LTE and UMTS/WCDMA public safety and cellular networks; P25 BER (Bit Error Rate) measurements for out-of-service testing; and P25 Network ID for easier channel setup. In addition to P25, LTE, and UMTS signal decoding, PCTEL’s public safety network testing solution supports grid-based coverage testing of channel power for all public safety radio technologies, such as TETRA, DMR, and EDACS.
“PCTEL’s public safety testing solution reduces testing time by 50% or more, making it easy to ensure that first responders have reliable in-building communications in an emergency. We’re excited to enable efficient in-building testing for the next generation of public safety communications technologies,” said Rishi Bharadwaj, PCTEL’s COO. “In addition to providing interoperable communications, broadband networks such as FirstNet can enable new life-saving technologies, such as enhanced location services and video and photo sharing.”
