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TETRA

PROJECT REPORT
ON
“TETRA”
US$21M Delhi Government contract to set up India’s first exclusive Government
Radio Network (GRN) based on TETRA (TErrestrial Trunked RAdio) to provide a
secure communication network

In Partial Fulfillment
For the Award of the Degree of
“BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY (B.Tech)”
(2007-2011)

SUBMITTED BY:-
Kapil Chuttani (ECE/07/117)
Shri Balwant Institute of Technology
Sonepat
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TETRA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am very thankful to Mr. Mukesh Budhwar who was always there to solve my
problems which I have encountered in the course of my project. I would also like to
thank Mr. Abhishek Ahuja (M.I.S. Department, HCL InfoSystems) who helped me a
lot from the analysis to the implementation of the project work. And last but not the
least my team members who provided me with full support, knowledge and ideas to
complete this project.

Kapil Chuttani
ECE/07/117

CERTIFICATE
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TETRA

It is to certify that the project has been carried out by the students of 6th semester
Kapil Chuttani(ECE/07/117) under my supervision. The report covers all the aspects
of the work done (including H/W & S/W , Coding etc.)

The project report is complete in all respects and I have gone through and
understood the entire software of the relevant project.

Mr. Mukesh Budhwar Mr. Abhishek Ahuja

( M.I.S Department) (M.I.S Department)

HCL InfoSystems HCL Infosystem

COMPANY PROFILE
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TETRA

HCL Infosystems Ltd. with revenue (LTM) of US $ 2.6 billion (Rs. 12,307 crores) in
financial year 2009 is one of India’s premier hardware, services and ICT system
Integration companies offering a wide spectrum of ICT products that includes
Computing, Storage, Networking, Security, Telecom, Imaging and Retail. HCL
Infosystems Ltd. aims to be a one-stop-shop for all the ICT requirements of an
organization. One of India's leading System Integration and Infrastructure
management services organizations, HCL Infosystems Ltd. has specialized expertise
across verticals including Telecom, BFSI, E-Governance and Power. HCL Infosystems
Ltd. has one of India's largest distribution and retail networks for ICT products,
taking to market a range of Digital Lifestyle products in partnership with leading
global ICT brands, including Apple, Cisco, Ericsson, Kingston, Kodak, Konica Minolta,
Microsoft, Nokia and Toshiba. HCL Infosystems Ltd. today has one of India's largest
vertically integrated computer manufacturing facilities; with over three decades of
electronic manufacturing experience, and HCL desktops are among the largest
selling brands in the business enterprise space. With one of India's largest ICT
services networks that reaches most regions in India, HCL's award winning support
services make it a preferred choice of enterprise and consumers alike. For more
information on HCL Infosystems Ltd. and its subsidiaries, For more information
please visit us at www.hclinfosystems.in

CONTENTS
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TETRA

1. Introduction

2. About Tetra

2.1. First Time Visitor

2.2. Tetra Release 1

2.2.1. Voice + data

2.2.2. Direct Mode

2.2.3. PDO

2.3 Tetra Release 2

2.4 Glossary & Definition

2.5 Security

3. Why Tetra

3.1. Markets & Applications

3.2. Tetra Standard

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TETRA

3.3 Technology Benefits

3.4 Key Services

4. Using Tetra

4.1. Interoperability

4.2. Regularity

4.3 Intellectual Property

4.4 Numbering

4.5 Roaming

4.6 Health & Enviorment

5. Terta News & Events

6. Tetra Associations

7. Benefits of Membership of the TETRA Association

8. Conclusion

9. References
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TETRA

1.INTRODUCTION

HCL Infosystems, India’s premier hardware, services and ICT systems integration
company, in partnership with Motorola, a global leader in mission-critical
government radio networks, today announced the win of a prestigious project worth
approximately US$21M (Rs.100cr) from the Delhi Government to establish the
country’s first exclusive Government Radio Network (GRN). This TETRA (TErrestrial
Trunked RAdio) communication network will facilitate swift and secure
communication among various Government agencies such as the Delhi Police, Fire
Services, Hospitals, Public Works Department and the Delhi Transport Corporation
during the Commonwealth Games and beyond. The project is a part of Delhi
Government’s vision, fueled by the will and commitment of the capital’s premium
agencies like the Delhi Police, leaving no stone unturned in providing Delhi a solid
security net.
“The deployment of the Government Radio Network based on TETRA will not only
enhance our communication infrastructure but will also firmly place New Delhi
amongst the leading cities of the world. If the Asiad brought a shift from black &
white television to colour television, the 2010 games will see the advent of TETRA,
which will open a new chapter of secured and efficient communication between
various government agencies.” said Mr. Savitur Prasad, Secretary, Information
Technology, Delhi Government.
HCL Infosystems and Motorola will jointly collaborate with all Delhi Government
departments to deploy a secure communication network for seamless inter-
department communication. This network would cover the entire metropolitan area
of the capital, including transportation networks such as Delhi Metro Railway
Tunnels and New Delhi Airport Terminal-II. The GRN has been designed to minimise
the reaction time in the toughest of situations, ensuring minimal call drops and
encrypted communication to maintain the highest levels of security.
Commenting on the project, Mr. Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman & CEO, HCL Infosystems
Ltd said, “We are proud to be a part of the Delhi Government’s movement to build a
secure information network and congratulate backbone institutions like the Delhi
Police for their relentless efforts in providing the capital city with a state-of-the–art
security cover. HCL has always been committed towards nation building and in
today’s scenario; security has to be top priority. The deployment of a TETRA-based
communication system will enable authorities to timely prevent or minimise the
chances of potential adverse impact in an emergency situation. I am confident that,
in times to come, systems such as the Government Radio Network will strengthen
communication infrastructure across the country.”
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TETRA

The GRN is an advanced digital inter-operable communication platform that will

operate on a secured spectrum and will have 46 base stations. Communication on
the GRN is encrypted to ensure security, and unlike other public communication
infrastructure, this network is specially designed and built robustly to ensure failsafe
performance even during emergencies. The GRN will help multiple agencies
collaborate over a single platform to ensure well coordinated optimum response. In
the long run, the GRN will continue to offer options of scalability with easy
expansion through additional radio terminals.
Phey Teck Moh, corporate vice president, Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions,
Asia Pacific, said, “Interoperability is a key feature for Government Radio Network
and Motorola has been working with various governments across the world to
support their stringent requirements for a multi-agency interoperable environment.
We understand that security and reliability are of utmost importance to our
customers and these aspects are built into our GRN solution. Motorola has the
experience from more than 600 digital mission-critical network roll-outs across the
world. Some of the most significant GRN projects in the world, including Airwave,
world’s largest TETRA GRN network, and the largest Asian GRN in Korea are
examples of Motorola’s leadership. We are proud to be selected by the Delhi
Government to transform the capital city’s public safety infrastructure that will
ensure the availability of a world-class GRN for the 2010 Commonwealth Games."
As the world's largest TETRA supplier, Motorola has been supporting the critical
communication needs for various organizations including metros and airports
around the world. Whereas, HCL Infosystems has been a pioneer in innovation and
using technology to deliver citizen benefit programs.

In the past HCL has deployed many citizen oriented projects such as Emergency
Response Center for Police (Dial 100), Ambulance (Dial 102) etc in cities like Delhi,
Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Bhopal, Nagpur, Pune, Bhopal, Dehradun etc in
partnership with various state governments.
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TETRA

2. ABOUT TETRA

Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) is a digital trunked mobile radio standard

developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The
purpose of the TETRA standard was to meet the needs of traditional Professional
Mobile Radio (PMR) user organisations such as those listed below.
The air interfaces, network interfaces as well as the services and facilities are
specified in sufficient detail to enable independent manufacturers develop
infrastructure and radio terminal products that would fully interoperate with each
other. For example, radio terminals from different manufacturers can operate on
infrastructures from other manufacturers.
The ability for full interoperability between different manufacturer's products is a
distinct advantage of open standards developed by ETSI. As the TETRA standard is
supported by several independent manufacturers this increases competition,
provides second source security and allows a greater choice of terminal products for
specific user applications.
 Public Safety
 Transportation
 Utilities
 Government
 Military
 PAMR
 Commercial & Industry
 Oil & Gas
Because the TETRA standard has been specifically developed to meet the needs of a
wide variety of traditional PMR user organisations it has a scaleable architecture
allowing economic network deployments ranging from single site local area
coverage to multiple site wide area national coverage. Besides meeting the needs of
traditional PMR user organisations, the TETRA standard has also been developed to
meet the needs of Public Access Mobile Radio (PAMR) operators.
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TETRA

The information folders listed below, which can be accessed from the menu, are
intended to provide a basic understanding of the TETRA Technology.
 First Time Visitor
 TETRA Release 1
 TETRA Release 2
 Security
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2.1. First Time Visitor

The TETRA standard is in practice, a suite of standards covering different technology
aspects, for example, air interfaces, network interfaces and its services and facilities.
Because TETRA is an evolving standard it has been developed in Releases (phases)
known as TETRA Release 1 and TETRA Release 2. Even though both TETRA Releases
have been completed, work continues within ETSI Technical Committee (TC) TETRA
to further enhance the standard thus satisfying new user requirements as well as
gleaning the benefits of new technology innovations. Outside of Europe the ETSI
TETRA Standard has been formerly adopted in China and South Korea.
Market Uptake
Since the first generation of networks were deployed in 1997, hundreds of TETRA
networks have been deployed across the world. Even though a considerable number
of these networks are deployed in Europe, a rapid uptake is occurring in the regions
of Asia, Middle East and South America. Although all PMR market segments are
already being served by TETRA, the largest market is that of public safety, where the
trend is for the deployment of nationwide networks shared by all public safety
organisations for reasons of economics (sharing), autonomy of operation for routine
communications and the ability to fully interoperate with other services during
emergency situations and disasters.
The transportation market is the next fastest growing market, especially for Mass
Rapid Transport systems and major Airports. Interestingly, TETRA is also used by the
military for non-tactical operations, a market application not originally anticipated
for TETRA.
The success and market uptake of TETRA has attracted many independent
manufacturers and suppliers of TETRA products and services, thereby providing
users with healthy competition, second source security and wide choice of radio
terminal equipment for specific applications. The success of TETRA has also created
a strong base of application developers who are able to provide a wide variety of
applications for use with TETRA.
The TETRA Association
Recognising that important market requirements outside the responsibility of ETSI
needed to be addressed to ensure the success of TETRA, a number of organisations
formed the TETRA MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) Association in December
1994. Since it has been established, the TETRA Association has grown significantly
and now provides a forum which acts on behalf of its members, being user
organisations, manufacturers, application providers, integrators, operators, test
houses, regulators, consultants, etc. The main objectives of the TETRA Association
are to promote the TETRA standard and to ensure multi-vendor equipment
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TETRA

interoperability.
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TETRA

2.2. TETRA Release 1

The original TETRA standard first envisaged in ETSI was known as the TETRA Voice
plus Data (V+D) standard. Because of the need to further evolve and enhance
TETRA, the original V+D standard is now known as TETRA Release 1. An overview of
the network elements covered in the TETRA standard are shown in figure 1.

figure 1: TETRA Standard Interfaces

Switching and Management Infrastructure (SwMI)
The abbreviation SwMI is used to classify all of the equipment and sub-systems that
comprise a TETRA network, including base stations. Even though some ETSI
Technical Committee (TC) TETRA members felt that a standard base station interface
would be useful (as provided in GSM) it was decided that owing to the way in which
different manufacturers configure their networks for optimum performance and
design flexibility, it would be impractical to implement.
It was also agreed, for the same reasons as the base station interface, that
everything contained inside the SwMI would not be standardised, thereby allowing
TETRA infrastructure manufacturers flexibility in design, and the ability to
differentiate their portfolio offerings, when in competition with other TETRA
manufacturers. This practical approach also meant that new technologies in the
areas of transmission and networking could be used without having to go through a
long standardization process.
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TETRA

Air Interfaces (1 & 2)

The most important (and complex) interfaces are considered to be the ‘air
interfaces’ between the base station and radio terminals (1) and the Direct Mode
Operation (DMO) interface (2). DMO is a facility that allows terminals to operate in
local radio nets independent of the main TETRA network infrastructure.
Peripheral Equipment Interface (4)
This interface standardises the connection of the radio terminal to an external
device, and supports data transmission between applications resident in the device
and the connected TETRA radio terminal. The PEI also supports certain elements of
control within the radio terminal from the external device and/or application.
Remote Dispatcher Interface (5)
This interface was originally intended to allow connection to remote wire line
dispatcher consoles like those located in major control rooms. Unfortunately, work
on this interface was dropped in ETSI TC TETRA as the complexity to provide a
universal interface without degrading performance was impractical. This was
because the PMR industry had specialist manufacturers of control room equipment,
the majority of which differed in the way they interfaced to PMR networks. Similarly,
the TETRA network architecture of manufacturers also differed adding to the
complexity of providing a universal interface. For these reasons only TETRA
manufacturer specific interface specifications are available to support the many
voice and data applications requiring access to TETRA infrastructures.
PSTN/ISDN/PABX (6)
This standardised interface enables TETRA to interface with the PSTN, the ISDN
and/or a PABX.
Inter-System Interface (7)
This standardised Inter-System Interface (ISI) allows infrastructures supplied by
different TETRA manufacturers to inter-operate with each other allowing
interoperability between two or more networks. There are two methods of
interconnection in the standard, one covering information transfer using circuit
mode and the other using packet mode.
Network Management Interface (8)
Like the local dispatcher interface, it was recognised during standardisation activities
that a common network management interface was impractical. Fortunately, this
early standardisation was not wasted as it was later turned into a comprehensive
guide to assist users in defining network management requirements.
Besides these network element standards, the many services and facilities available
on TETRA are also standardised. The most significant of these being:
 Advanced and fast group call services - clear and encrypted
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TETRA

 Individual calls - clear and encrypted

 Short Data Services - clear and encrypted
 Packet Data Services - clear and encrypted
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TETRA

2.2.1. Voice + Data (V+D)

To meet the needs of traditional PMR user organisations, a wide range of V+D
services and facilities have been provided in the standard, of which the most
important are considered to be:
 Voice Services
 Group Call (commonly called ‘all informed net’ and ‘talk group call’)
 Pre-Emptive Priority Call (Emergency Call)
 Call Retention
 Priority Call
 Dynamic Group Number Assignment (DGNA)
 Ambience Listening
 Call Authorised by Dispatcher
 Area Selection
 Late Entry
 Data Services
 Short Data Service
 Packet Data
Voice Services
Group Call
This is probably the most basic voice service in TETRA but yet the most complex to
support effectively and efficiently. This is because group calls need to:
 Use simple “Push To Talk” operation to provide fast call set-up group
communications
 Be operated and managed in particular ways to optimise network loading
 Operate on a "preferred" site for optimum network loading
 Have a defined of operation (Area selection)
 Have a very reliable call-set up signalling protocol to ensure all users in a
group are connected together when a call is first initiated (call
acknowledgment signalling is impractical for group calls)
 Have priority mechanisms to ensure that specified users in a wide area group
call (spanning multiple base station sites) are connected together when a
network is busy
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TETRA

It is this complexity needed to support group calls that makes public cellular
networks unsuitable, simply because they were originally designed to support “One
to One” calls, unlike TETRA which was primarily designed to support group calls.
Pre-emptive Priority Call
This call service, of which the highest priority is the emergency call, provides the
highest uplink priority and highest priority access to network resources. If a network
is busy, the lowest priority communication is dropped to handle the emergency call.
Unlike 911, 112 or 999 initiated public network emergency calls (which can also be
supported on TETRA) the TETRA emergency call can be initiated by using a dedicated
switch located on the terminal. Activating the emergency call automatically alerts
the affiliated control room dispatcher and other terminal users in that persons talk
group.
Call Retention
This service protects selected radio terminal users from being forced off the network
as a result of pre-emptive calls (emergency calls) during busy periods. When
emergency calls are supported in a network, it is essential that only a small number
of radio terminal users are provided with this facility as the objective of retaining
important calls during busy periods could be lost.
Priority Call
During network busy periods, that service allows access to network resources in
order of user terminals call priority status. As there are 16 levels of priority in TETRA,
this service is very useful in providing different Grade of Service (GoS) levels (and
tariff structures) during busy periods. For example, front line officers would be
provided with the highest priority levels in a Public Safety network to maintain the
highest level of service access whilst routine users would be provided with lower
priority levels.
Dynamic Group Number Assignment (DGNA)
This service allows the creation of unique Groups of users to handle different
communication needs and may also be used to group participants in an ongoing call.
This service is considered by many public safety organisations to be extremely useful
in setting up a common talk group for incident communications. For example,
selected users from the Police, Fire and Ambulance could be brought together to
manage a major emergency where close co-ordination between the three
emergency service are required. Similarly, DGNA is also considered useful for
managing incidents by other user organisations such as Utilities and Transportation.
Ambience Listening
A Dispatcher may place a radio terminal into Ambience Listening mode without any
indication being provided to the radio terminal user. This remote controlled action
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TETRA

allows the dispatcher to listen to background noises and conversations within range
of the radio terminal’s microphone. This is an important service to utilise for those
persons transporting important, valuable and/or sensitive material that could be
‘hijack’ targets. Similarly, this is a useful service to have implemented in public
service vehicles where a driver’s health and safety could be at risk. The number of
user applications for the Ambience Listening service are numerous and in many
cases application specific. However, it is important to note that many users feel that
this service invades a person’s privacy and for this reason only those users who need
Ambience Listening as part of their work duties should be provided with this service.
Call Authorised by Dispatcher
This service allows dispatcher to verify call requests before calls are allowed to
proceed. This is a useful service to utilise when radio user discipline needs to be
maintained. This service also reduces the amount of radio traffic on a network as
only essential work related calls are permitted. However, the frequent need for all
informed net group communications between terminal users and the time delay
experienced in authorising calls can make this service unacceptable for some user
organisations.
Area Selection
This service defines the areas of operation for users. Areas can be chosen on a ‘call
by call’ basis. This service basically simulates the ability for a dispatcher to select
different base stations to make a call as was possible in conventional networks. This
service also helps to improve network loading and overall spectrum efficiency by
restricting the area of operation for selected all informed net group calls.
Late Entry
This service provides continuous call in progress updates to allow latecomers to join
a communication channel. This is not a service but an air interface feature that
allows a trunked radio terminal to behave in a similar way to conventional PMR
terminals. For example, if a user turns on their TETRA terminal the control channel
will automatically divert the user’s terminal to a talk group call, if a call is already in
progress. Similarly, if the user’s terminal has been outside radio coverage, for
example in a tunnel, the control channel will also divert the user’s terminal to a talk
group call assuming a call is already in progress.
Data Services
Short Data Service
The Short Data Service can provide up to 256 bytes of data, which can be used for
basic status messaging, location information such as that provided by the TETRA
Location Information Protocol (LIP) and free form text message applications in either
‘point to point’ or ‘point to multipoint’ call set-up configurations. Because of the
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TETRA

relative short duration of each data message, this service is supported on TETRA
control channel TDMA time slots.
Packet Data Service
The packet data service can be supported on one TDMA time slot with a gross
protected bit rate of 4800 bits/s or multiple TDMA time slots up to a maximum of
four. The use of multiple TDMA time slots is often referred to as bandwidth on
demand and can be used to increase gross protected data throughput up to 19.2
kbits/s, thus increasing the number of non-voice applications that can be supported
on TETRA.

2.2.2. Direct Mode Operation (DMO)

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TETRA

DMO is the term used by the TETRA industry to describe the ability of TETRA radio
terminals to communicate directly with each other (like ‘Walkie-Talkies’)
independent of the Trunked Mode Operation (TMO) network. DMO is not new and
has been a fundamental mode of operation by many traditional PMR user
organisations for several decades. The primary requirement for DMO in TETRA has
been brought about by the need to balance the RF coverage, Grade of Service (GoS)
and reliability of a network with that of the network’s overall cost.
Typical DMO Applications
The typical applications for DMO are local area communications outside the TMO
network and range extension of the TMO network. To improve communication
capabilities when using these applications, facilities are provided to enable DMO
users to be contacted by TMO network users when operating outside the network as
well as facilities to enhance local area DMO RF coverage performance.
Local Area DMO Communications
Local area DMO communication is mainly used to provide additional capacity
outside the TMO network for localised work activities, major incidents and/or
periodic events. To a lesser extent, local area DMO communication is also used in
poor TMO RF coverage areas and/or when service from a local base station site is
lost. To provide this local area communication capability, practically all TETRA
terminals, whether mobile or handportable terminals, are equipped with both TMO
and DMO facilities.

Figure 1 shows a team of Electricity Utility workers repairing a damaged overhead

power cable, which is a typical application for local area DMO communications.
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TETRA

Because of the localised nature of the work, there is no need to load the main TMO
network with localised voice traffic. For this reason, the team has made the decision
to operate in DMO. Another contributing factor to this decision is that the team
does not want to suffer GoS access problems when the TMO network is busy. It
could also be possible that RF coverage from the local base station site may not
support handportable operation and therefore DMO would be the only form of
communication. For this type of local communications application a RF coverage
range performance of approximately 250 metres is considered more than
acceptable.
TMO network range extension
The most frequently used DMO application is to provide TMO network range
extension allowing handportable communications in areas of a TETRA network
where only mobile radio coverage is supported. To provide this TMO network range
extension facility a vehicle mounted TETRA mobile radio terminal equipped with
‘Gateway’ operation is required to link a handportable or or mobile radio terminals
operating in DMO with the TMO network. Figure 2 shows a typical police application
for TMO network range extension.

Figure 2: Typical TMO Network Range Extension Application

From Figure 2 it can be seen that a police officer has stopped a goods vehicle on a
main highway running through the countryside where only mobile communications
are supported. In this example, the police officer needs to verify the vehicle
registration, driving licence, and nature of goods carried. For this purpose it is more
efficient for the officer to use a handportable radio terminal for communications
with the police control centre than it is walking backwards and forwards between
the goods vehicle and his patrol car. Also, having direct access to communications
when away from the patrol car is important for the officer’s health and safety. Again,
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TETRA

for this type of local communications application, a RF coverage range performance

of approximately 250 metres is considered more than acceptable.
Communications between DMO and TMO users
As mentioned previously, communications between DMO and TMO users can be
provided using DMO Gateways. Although Gateways are normally used to extend
TMO network coverage, they can also be used to link local area DMO
communication nets into the TMO network when required. This form of Gateway
linking can be used independent of the type of RF coverage provided by the TMO
network. Another form of providing communications between users operating in
DMO and users operating in TMO is the use of a facility called ‘Dual Watch’ which,
when enabled, periodically ‘listens out’ for calls on either DMO or TMO dependent
on mode selected. For example, if the mode of operation was DMO the radio
terminal would listen out for calls on TMO and vice versa if the mode of operation
was TMO. This Dual Watch facility can be provided on both handportable and
mobile radio terminals. Obviously, for Dual Watch to operate on handportable radio
terminals, RF coverage would be required from the TMO network.
Enhanced local area DMO RF coverage performance
Even though DMO RF coverage performance is more than adequate for most
applications, there are instances when RF coverage needs to be enhanced, for
example in localised areas where there is a significant amount of building clutter
over a relatively large area causing unacceptable signal losses. In these instances,
enhanced RF coverage can be provided by a ‘Repeater’ facility incorporated in a
vehicle mounted TETRA mobile radio terminal, or a transportable radio unit, suitably
located to provide the required area coverage. For practical reasons, this ‘Repeater’
facility is only made available on mobile radio terminals. Also, Repeaters can be
provisioned with a Gateway facility to link DMO and TMO communications when
necessary.
User Application Summary
From the application examples provided it can be seen that many traditional PMR
user organisations will achieve economic benefits by using DMO without seriously
compromising RF coverage, GoS and network reliability requirements. From practical
experience, the maximum RF coverage performance required for DMO is
approximately 250 metres for most localised communication applications and 1 km
for major incidents.

2.2.3. Packet Data Optimised (PDO)

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TETRA

This is a completed part of the TETRA suite of standards produced for "Data Only"
wireless communication applications. To date, no manufacturer has developed PDO
systems and products because all traditional Professional Mobile Radio (PMR) users
require voice communications as well as data communications, hence the reason
why the TETRA Voice plus Data (V+D) standard is very successful. Interestingly, the
work from this standardisation activity has been carried forward in the Project MESA
space - a Partnership Programme between ETSI and TIA.

2.3. TETRA Release 2

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TETRA

TETRA Release 1 (Voice + Data) already provides a very comprehensive portfolio of

services and facilities but as time progresses there is a need to evolve and enhance
all technologies to better satisfy user requirements, future proof investments and
ensure longevity. Like GSM moving to GPRS, EDGE and UMTS/3G, TETRA also needs
to evolve to satisfy increasing user demand for new services and facilities as well as
gleaning the benefits of new technology.
As early as 1999, interest groups comprising both users and manufacturers within
Technical Committee (TC) TETRA and the TETRA Association identified the need to
enhance TETRA in several areas. Although the initial number of areas identified were
very comprehensive, significant events in the telecommunications industry,
combined with changing market needs, resulted in the following services and
facilities being standardised at the end of 2005 as part of TETRA Release 2.
 Trunked Mode Operation (TMO) Range Extension
 Adaptive Multiple Rate (AMR) Voice Codec
 Mixed Excitation Liner Predictive, enhanced (MELPe) Voice Codec
 TETRA Enhanced Data Service (TEDS)
Trunked Mode Operation (TMO) Range Extension
The ability for TETRA to operate beyond the 58 km range limit (a function of TETRA’s
TDMA structure) was required by certain user organisations to allow efficient Air-
Ground-Air (AGA) communications whilst operating on the main TMO network. By
modifying uplink and downlink bursts, as well as guard times, the TMO range of
TETRA is extended up to 83 km for AGA applications. (Note: DMO has no TDMA
structure range limitation as synchronisation takes place in DMO at the start of each
transmission).
Adaptive Multiple Rate (AMR) Voice Codec
The AMR codec, operating in the 4.75 kbits/s only mode, has been chosen for
possible future applications in TETRA. However, completion of the Air Interface
Standard to accommodate the AMR codec is suspended in TC TETRA until sufficient
market need is identified
Mixed Excitation Liner Predictive, enhanced (MELPe) Voice Codec
The STANAG 4591 (MELPe codec), to use its correct NATO reference, has been
standardised by NATO for its own military communication applications because of its
low bit rate (2400 bit/s), immunity to high background noise and acceptable voice
quality performance. Because of TETRA’s suitability for certain military
communication applications TC TETRA carried out a technical feasibility study to see
if could be supported on TETRA. The results of this study indicated potential benefits
such as
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TETRA

 Interworking with government systems (no tandem operation)

 Suppression of background noise
 Improved RF Coverage using spare bits available for extra FEC
 Simultaneous V+D using spare bits available for data
However, the way the MELPe codec needs to be implemented in TETRA increases
“end to end” voice delay, which needs to be balanced against its possible benefits.
Completion of the TETRA standard to accommodate the MELPe codec will be
dependent on the outcome of cost/benefit comparisons with the existing TETRA
codec, which will be carried out in TC TETRA.
TETRA Enhanced Data Service (TEDS)
TEDS is a new TETRA High Speed Data (HSD) service using different RF channel
bandwidths and data rates for flexible use of PMR frequency bands. TEDS is fully
compatibility with TETRA Release 1 and allows for ease of migration. It has been
optimised for efficient use of PMR frequency bands and designed for all TETRA
market segment applications. The RF channel bandwidths supported in TEDS are:
 25 kHz
 50 kHz
 100 kHz
 150 kHz
The modulation schemes supported in TEDS are:
 pi/4 DQPSK (for common TETRA V+D and TEDS control channel)
 pi/8 D8PSK (for early migration requiring modest increase in speed)
 4 QAM (for efficient links at edge of coverage)
 16 QAM (for moderate speeds)
 64 QAM (for high speeds)
Figure 1 is a matrix showing the different RF channel bandwidths and data rates
supported in TEDS.
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TETRA

Figure
1: TEDS RF channel bandwidths and data rates
With adaptive selection of modulation schemes, RF channel bandwidths and coding
according to propagation conditions, user bit rates in the region of 10 to 500 kbits/s
can be expected. For ease of evolution and migration from TETRA Release 1 reuse of
the TETRA protocol stack and TDMA structure have been maximised. TEDS also
allows up to 8 multimedia applications and QoS negotiation for real-time class data
applications, such as voice and video and telemetry, with the QoS attributes
negotiated being; throughput, delay, priority and reliability. Support for sectored
cells is also provided enabling the use of existing TETRA Release 1 Base Sites for
TEDS without the need for additional sites. Even though TEDS is capable of providing
High Speed Data in 150 kHz RF channels, the current limitation caused by insufficient
RF spectrum to support the growth of TETRA will probably limit early deployments
to 50 kHz RF channel assignments only.
Now that the TETRA Release 2 standards are sufficiently complete for product
development purposes, actual product availability will be dependent on the
different manufacturers development plans.
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TETRA

2.4. Glossary and Definition of Terms in TETRA

Issue 3 February 2006

ACELP Algebraic Codebook Excited Linear Prediction method for low bit
rate voice coding and decoding

ADPCM Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation

AES Advanced Encryption Standard

AI Air Interface

Air Interface encryption Encryption on the air interface - the vulnerable link between base
station and terminal

Air Interface protocol The protocol, which defines the way in which signals are
transmitted between radio terminals and the system
infrastructure

AKD Authentication Key Distribution

AL Ambience Listening, Supplementary Service in TETRA to allow an

authorised user, e.g. a dispatcher, to remotely switch the MS into
transmit mode and monitor its environment without the
intervention of the MS user

AMR Adaptive Multi-Rate, Codec, one which in the low-error

environments operates at a higher bit rate to give higher quality
speech, whilst in higher-error environments, when higher speech
quality cannot be sustained, the codec reduces its operational bit
rate.

Analysis-by-synthesis Speech coding technique which aims to minimise the mean-

squared error between the input analogue speech and its
synthesised version

ANSI American National Standards Institute,

APCO Association of Police Communications Officers

API Application Programming Interface, published software interface

specification for designing applications on top of some lower
layer software
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TETRA

ARIB Association of Radio Industries and Businesses, Japanese radio

standardisation body,

ATSI Alias TETRA Subscriber Identity

Authentication A security mechanism in TETRA, based on the challenge -response

between the MS and the infrastructure, in order to ensure the
legitimacy of each party

AVL Automatic Vehicle Location, service or application showing

location of a vehicle, either in terms of its geographical
coordinates or by its location on a map

BER Bit Error Rate

BS Base Station

C/N Carrier/Noise power ratio

Carrier A radio channel which could carry one or more communication

channels

CCK Common Cipher Key, used to protect group downlink calls in class
3 systems

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

CEPT European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications

Administrations (Conference Européenne des Administration des
postes et des telecommunications),

Channel surveillance Monitoring of signal strength against a pre-determined threshold

level in order to decide if DMO may be allowed

CMCE Circuit Mode Control Entity

CMD Circuit Mode Data, a method for data transmission where a

continuous connection is required for the lifetime of the session
to transmit all the data in a complete burst as opposed to Packet
Data where the data can be split into sections or 'packets'

CMIS/P Common Management Information System/Protocol

CNM Central Network Management

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TETRA

CNMI Central Network Management Interface

CODEC also Codec - Combined Coder and Decoder

COMSEC Communications Security

Conventional Non-trunked radio communication where communication

resources (RF channels and base station sites) are manually
selected.

CORBA Common Object Request Broker

Covert Secret, hidden Usually refers to type of equipment, e.g. covert terminals, for use
with agencies involved in surveillance and under-cover operations

CRC Cyclic Redundancy Code (Block coding)

CVO Clear Voice Override, switching from encrypted to clear voice

DCK Derived Cipher Key, key produced as a result of authentication,

used for uplink and one to one messages

DDI Direct Dial In

DES Digital Encryption Standard

DGNA Dynamic Group Number Assignment, Supplementary Service

defined in the TETRA standards which is used for dynamic
management (creation and dissolution) of user talkgroups

Dialling Exchange mechanism between User and Terminal; the act of

selecting the called party

Discreet Listening TETRA Supplementary Service enabling an authorised user like a

dispatcher to covertly (secretly) monitor the calls in progress

DM Repeater A radio device designed to retransmit each call and thus increase
the operational area of Direct Mode terminals

DM Direct Mode (DM or DMO), the facility for TETRA terminals to communicate
directly with each other without using TETRA infrastructure

DMO Direct Mode Operation, the facility for TETRA terminals to

communicate directly with each other without using TETRA
 P a g e | 30

TETRA

infrastructure

DMR Digital Mobile Radio, an ETSI standard being developed for low
tier conventional PMR applications.

Downlink Transmissions from the base station to a radio terminal.

DQPSK Differential Quaternary Phase Shift Keying

DSS 1 Digital Subscriber Signalling 1

E2E End to End Encryption - Encryption of the total communication

link (from one end to the other) without intermediate decryption,
required for maximum security

ECC Electronic Communications Committee, the telecommunications

committee of CEPT, producing Decisions, Recommendations and
Reports to harmonise European regulation,

EN European Norm, a standard like TETRA approved through national

voting procedure

Encryption key A pseudorandom number used "to seed" a key-stream generator

Encryption Method for coding/ scrambling the information (voice or data) so

that it cannot be understood or deciphered without special
equipment or software

EPT ETSI Project TETRA (now changed to Technical Committee (TC)

TETRA)

ERC Earlier name for ECC,

ERO European Radiocommunications Office

Es/No Energy per symbol / Noise power spectral density

ETS European Telecommunication Standard (ETSI document prefix)

ETS European Telecommunication Standard, name of standards

(earlier) produced by the European Telecommunications
Standards Institute (ETSI)

ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute

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TETRA

EU European Union,

Excitation generator Generates pulses of variable amplitudes (and maybe positions) to

represent the actions of the lungs and vocal chords

FCC Federal Communications Commission,

FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access

FEC Forward Error Correction (Convolutional coding)

Free-running A device not requiring any human intervention or control in order

to function (e.g. free running DM repeater).

Frequency Efficiency DMO A variant of DMO protocol that uses all four timeslots, thus
enabling two conversations on a single carrier

FSSN Fleet Specific Short Number, one of numbering mechanisms in

TETRA

Gateway A device which interfaces TETRA network with other private or

public telecommunications networks, e.g. PSTN, ISDN

GCK Group Cipher Key, a key used (in conjunction with CCK) to give
crypto group separation between groups

GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node

GoS Grade of Service, used to specify the level of access on a radio

network.

GPS Global Positioning System

GPRS General Packet Radio Service

GTSI Group TETRA Subscriber Identity

GW Gateway

HTML HyperText Mark-up Language

IDEA International Data Encryption Algorithm

I/F Interface

IEC International Electro-technical Commission

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TETRA

IMSI Individual Mobile Subscriber Identity

Infrastructure Base stations, switches, links, and various management

equipments - all forming the network of equipments that enable
mobile radio terminals to operate over a particular geographical
area

IOP Interoperability (of TETRA equipment)

IP Internet Protocol

IPR Intellectual Property Rights

ISCTI Istituto Superiore delle Comunicazioni e tecnologie

dell'Informazione, the current certification body for TETRA IOP

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network

ISI Inter-System Interface, open interface standard used to connect

two TETRA networks together

ISO International Standards Organisation

ITSI Individual TETRA Subscriber Identity

ITU International Telecommunications Union

ITU-T International Telecommunications Union-Telecomms

KMC Key Management Centres, an entity for remotely loading keys to

user terminals

Keystream Pseudorandom data derived from KSG, used to mix with plain text
data to produce encrypted data stream

KSG Key stream generator: produces key stream from inputs of

encryption key and synchronisation vectors fed into the
encryption algorithm

LAN Local Area Network

Late Entry TETRA Supplementary Service which allows a user who has, for
example, just switched his/her MS or has finished another call, to
 P a g e | 33

TETRA

join a call in progress between the members of the group he/she

is also a member

Lawful Interception Facility for telecommunications networks like TETRA to be

monitored and calls intercepted by government agencies

LNM Local Network Management

LPC Linear Predictive Coding

LS Line Station, a fixed, wireline user terminal, as distinct from a

mobile radio terminal, connected to a TETRA network, providing
services and facilities available to a mobile user but without the
need to be in the operational range of the system

LSI Line Station Interface

MAC Medium Access Control

Master DMO terminal/radio The radio that initiates a DMO conversation and, in the absence
of the synchronisation signal from the infrastructure, is acting as a
control of the synchronisation timing

MCC Mobile Country Code, (part of TETRA Number Identity)

ME Members Enquiry, consultation process in TETRA interoperability

specification work

MELPe Mixed Excitation Linear Predictive, enhanced, the voice codec

type adopted by NATO.

MGCK Modified Group Cipher key, the key used for downlink group calls
when GCKs are used. Formed from GCK modified by CCK

MII Ministry of Information Industry (of the Peoples Republic of

China)

MM Mobility Management

MMI Man-Machine-Interface

MNC Mobile Network Code, (part of TETRA Number Identity)

MOPS Million Operations Per second

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TETRA

MOS Mean Opinion Score

MPT1327 Analogue trunking standard defined by UK DTI

MS Mobile Stations are TETRA radio terminals, including hand-held,

mobile and fixed ones

MS-PD Multislot Packet Data, IP data service using multiple timeslots

MTBF Mean Time Between Failure

MTTR Mean Time To Repair

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation,

NMS Network Management Subsystem

Number Decimal digits dialled by the user, decimal representation of air-

interface addresses as seen by the user i.e. user visible number

OTAR Over The Air Re-keying. TETRA facility which allows for change of
the encryption keys in the terminals to be done remotely over the
air

PAMR Public Access Mobile Radio

PCM Pulse Code Modulation

PCN Personal Communication Network

PD Packet (Mode) Data, a mode of data transmission where data

message is split into small 'chunks' or packets, transmitted
packet-by-packet to the end destination (without a need for
dedicated connection in between, as for circuit data), and
assembled again in the correct order

PDN Public Data Network

PDO Packet Data Optimised, another variant of the TETRA standards

set originally developed, which was not taken up by the market,
largely because of its marginal advantage in terms of efficiency of
packet-data communications when compared to V+D TETRA
combined with a significant disadvantage of not offering the voice
service
 P a g e | 35

TETRA

PEI Peripheral Equipment Interface, standard interface defined in

TETRA for connecting a data terminal to a TETRA radio terminal

PMR Private Mobile Radio

Portable Radio An older term for a hand-held radio

PPP Point to Point Protocol

Priority A service that in case of system congestion offers one or more

levels of "call queue jumping", to those users who are allocated it,
on the basis that their communication needs or requests are
deemed to be more important. The highest priority call is an
Emergency call.

PSS 1 Private integrated Signalling System No. 1

PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, scheme used in TETRA

Release 2 for the TETRA Enhanced Data Service (TEDS)

QoS Quality of Service

Roaming Facility for offering an MS a service inside a visiting network, i.e.

not its own home network

SAR Specific Absorption Rate

SAP Service Access Point

SCK Static Cipher Key, used for protecting Direct mode transmissions
where no authentication is possible, for class 2 systems and as a
fallback key for use on base stations disconnected from the SwMI

SCN Switching Control Node

SDS Short Data Service

SDS Short Data Service, a service in TETRA standards to deliver short

data messages between user terminals. A message is composed
of a number of characters and/or numerals, up to a pre-
determined maximum

SFPG Security and Fraud Prevention Group

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TETRA

Secret key (k) The unique key embedded securely in the terminal, which is used
for authentication

SIM Subscriber Identity Module: A module used for storing

personalization information of the user that can be moved from
one terminal to another

Slave DMO terminal/radio The receiving participant radio in a DMO conversation.

SNDCP Sub Network Dependent Convergence Protocol

SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol

SSI Short Subscriber Identity, part of TETRA Subscriber Identity

STANAG Standardisation Agreement [NATO]

Standard DMO Direct Mode Operation using two out of the four timeslots
available in a frame (one for uplink and other for downlink), thus
enabling a single conversation on the carrier

Status Messages Words or concise phrases selected from a pre-determined list

that is resident in the terminal, which are transmitted as a simple
code reference, and then de-coded by the receiving device and
displayed as the word message, e.g. "At the scene"

Status Service mechanism to deliver short messages between user terminals in

compact form by transferring only an integer number with textual
interpretation provided by the terminals, e.g. 09 could be
interpreted as 'off-watch', and 08 as "at the scene".

SwMI Switching and Management Infrastructure

TC Technical Committee, an ETSI body formed to develop standards

such as TETRA

TCP Transmission Control Protocol

TCP/IP Terminal Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol

TDMA Time Division Multiple Access

TDMA Time Division Multiple Access, a technology for delivering digital

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TETRA

wireless service that works by dividing a radio frequency into time

slots and then allocating slots to multiple calls. In this way, a
single frequency can support multiple, simultaneous,
communication channels.

TEA1/2/3/4 TETRA Encryption Algorithm(s) 1,2,3 and 4

TEK Traffic Encryption Key End to end keys used to protect the user
traffic payload

Temporary/permanent The process by which the network disables terminals which have
disabling been reported as lost or stolen or have fallen into unauthorised
hands.

Terminal also radio terminal or a mobile radio terminal or a TETRA mobile

station (MS) - a hand-held, mobile of fixed radio unit connected
to the TETRA system via air interface

TETRA MoU Association The TETRA MoU Association founded in 1994 to support
promotion of ETSI TETRA standard worldwide, now known as the
TETRA Association

TETRA V+D TETRA Voice + Data, the suite of TETRA standards normally
referred to as "TETRA"

TETRA Terrestrial Trunked Radio, the ETSI standard for digital trunked
radio communications (earlier known as Trans-European Trunked
Radio and before that MDTRS Mobile Digital Trunked Radio
System)

TIA Telecommunications Industry Association, a U.S. standardisation

body,

TIP TETRA Interoperability Profile, a test specification produced

under the TETRA Association for testing TETRA equipment from
different suppliers

TM Trunked Mode

TMN Telecommunications Management Network

TMO abbreviation standing in for Trunked Mode Operation, as distinct

from DMO, direct mode operation
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TETRA

TNP 1 TETRA Network Protocol 1

Trunked Radio A computer controlled communications system, which allocates

Communications communication channel for a call (either voice or data) from a
"common pool" of available channels, and at the end of that call,
returns them to the same "pool" to be reallocated for another
call.

TS Time Slot

TSI TETRA Subscriber Identity

TTR TETRA Association Technical Report, publication series for TETRA

interoperability specifications

UDP User Datagram Protocol

UMTS Universal Mobile Radio System

Uplink Connection from radio terminal to the base station

V. 24 ITU-T Recommendation V. 24

V. 28 ITU-T Recommendation V. 28

V+D Voice plus Data

VATSI Alias TETRA Subscriber Identity allocated in the visiting Network

VGTSs Group TETRA Subscriber Identity(ies) allocated in the visiting

Network

Vocoder Voice coder

WAP Wireless Application Protocol, open protocol for delivery of

Internet content over radio path in a condensed format

WG Working Group, usually a small team formed as part of an ETSI TC

to produce a specific ETSI deliverable

WML Wireless Mark-up Language

X.121 ITU Recommendation - Numbering Plan for Data Networks

X.25 ITU-T Recommendation X. 25

 P a g e | 39

TETRA

X.75 ITU-T Recommendation X. 75

2.5. TETRA Security

 P a g e | 40

TETRA

The area of TETRA security is extensive, as it needs to provide different levels of

security ranging from what is acceptable on commercial networks to what is
acceptable on a national public safety network. The security mechanisms in the
standard are covered through Authentication, Air Interface Encryption (AIE) and End
to End encryption. The threats to Confidentiality, Authenticity, Integrity, Availability
as well as Accountability are covered with those three mechanisms.
The standard based services are constantly being expanded by a sub-group of the
Association - Security and Fraud Prevention Group (SFPG).
Mutual Authentication is a service required to ensure that a TETRA system can
control access to it and for a radio terminal to check if a network can be trusted. In
TETRA, as in most other secure systems, authentication is the basis for much of
overall network security and can also be used to ensure validated billing in public
access systems, and can provide the foundation for a secure distribution channel for
sensitive information such as other encryption keys. The mutual authentication
security mechanisms protect both Voice and Data services.
The TETRA standard supports four AIE TETRA Encryption Algorithms (TEAs), these
being TEA1, TEA2, TEA3 and TEA 4. There are differences in the intended use and the
exportability of equipment containing these algorithms. For example, TEA2 is
intended for use by public safety users in Schengen and related European countries
only; the others have wider applications ranging from general commercial use to
public safety use in regions where TEA2 is not used. The main benefit of over the air
encryption is that it protects all signalling and identities as well as user speech and
data. This provides an excellent level of protection from traffic analysis as well as
from eavesdropping. The encryption system is closely bound to the TETRA signalling
protocols and the algorithms can (if desired) be implemented as software within
radio terminals and base station equipment, instead of using encryption modules,
which could consume space and increase cost.
The TETRA standard also supports End to End encryption using a variety of
encryption algorithms as deemed necessary by national security organisations. The
TETRA Association Security and Fraud Prevention Group has extended the work
carried out in the TETRA standard to define a general framework for the
incorporation of End to End encryption. Recommended sample solutions have also
been provided for the International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA) algorithm (IPR
owned by Ascom) and the newer Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm
(IPR free), which benefits from a larger cryptographic algorithm block size. Custom
and indigenous algorithms are also possible with End to End encryption, although
these are not recommended for air interface encryption due to their need for
integration in signalling protocols and availability of standard compliant terminals.
 P a g e | 41

TETRA

Besides these core security capabilities TETRA can also support a wide range of
security management capabilities such as those used to control, manage and
operate the individual security mechanisms in a network. The most important of
these is Encryption Key management, which is fully integrated in TETRA standard
functions. Even though security functions are integrated in a network this does not
automatically imply that a network is fully secure. However, what is normally
achieved is that the security risks are “condensed”, that is they are concentrated to
specific elements in the network, which can be adequately controlled.

3.WHY TETRA
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TETRA

This section is designed to help you to carry out your own assessment before
investing in TETRA, whether this investment is as a potential user organisation,
operator, manufacturer, supplier, applications developer or other type of investor.
To assist with this assessment a range of TETRA specific and TETRA related aspects
are described in detail. Included as part of these descriptions are the advantages and
benefits relating to each subject area.
For ease of description and understanding each subject area is provided with its own
sub-section under the following headings. Links to these subject areas can be
achieved by either clicking the subject area highlighted below or by clicking the
relevant subject area on the left hand menu.
 Markets & Applications
 Markets & Applications
 TETRA Standard
 Technology Benefits
 Key Services
Markets & Applications
In this section the positioning of TETRA is described with regard to markets served
and other technologies. Also, the interface specifications used by Application
Developers to enhance the capabilities of TETRA are described. In addition, some of
the applications available on TETRA that use these interfaces are listed. Besides
these applications, TETRA specific applications such as Public Protection & Disaster
Relief (PPDR) and operation in hazardous environments are covered.
TETRA Standard
The areas covered in this section relate to several specific and related aspects of the
TETRA standard, which inherently provide numerous advantages and benefits. For
example, benefits relating to the ETSI TETRA Standard itself and its use of Digital,
Trunking and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technologies. In addition, this
section provides details on the planned evolution of the TETRA standard within the
ETSI Technical Committee (TC) TETRA and factors indicating the expected longevity
of TETRA.
Technology Benefits
The core technologies used in the TETRA standard, such as Digital, Trunking and
 P a g e | 43

TETRA

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) provide a number of inherent advantages and
benefits. This section describes these benefits and also provides a downloadable pdf
document containing more detailed information.
Key Services
The services and facilities supported on TETRA are numerous (see "About TETRA"
page). However, this section describes the key services and facilities that are
specifically designed to meet traditional PMR user requirements. Some of the key
TETRA services and facilities described are those that cannot be adequately provided
on other wireless communication technologies such as GSM and UMTS/3G.

4. USING TETRA
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TETRA

Procurement and operation of a modern communications system requires

consideration of several complex issues. This section is aimed at providing basic facts
and guidance to help successful rollout and use of a TETRA system. The TETRA MoU
Association manages the Interoperability Certification process to enable and
maintain a fully interoperable multi-vendor market for the benefit of all
stakeholders.
- Read more about TETRA interoperability
- See summary table of issued IOP certificates
- Download the official TETRA interoperability certificates
Constructing and operating a radio communications system requires the
understanding of several regulatory issues related to radio frequencies, licensing,
etc. regarding formal procedures. This chapter aims to give guidance on how to
access the essential regulatory information required.
Users of radio systems and citizens in surrounding communities may have concerns
regarding occupational safety, health and environmental issues. The chapter Health,
safety and environment provides tools to access the latest research findings and
supporting material related to these issues. Also included is download area for
TETRA Health Leaflets .
Planning a mobile communications system is not a trivial task and requires expertise
and professional resources. The chapter System Planning gives a brief introduction
to the design tasks to be taken into consideration when starting a network project.
Furthermore, several topics related to the operational aspects of the system from
the tactical/operational model to details of numbering and information security
control need to be understood and planned to produce an operational environment
that efficiently serves all users of the service. These issues are briefly addressed in
the Numbering.

4.1. Interoperability
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TETRA

Interoperability developed for good reasons

The TETRA MoU Association developed the Interoperability Certification process and
continues managing it to enable a truly open multi-vendor market for TETRA
equipment and systems. The multi-vendor market gives concrete benefits both to
the users in terms of wide portfolio of compatible equipment, fast development of
new product models and competition; and to the industry in terms of wider
accessible market, faster market take-up and better possibility to invest to new
development.

Interoperability certification process

The certification process is managed by the Technical Forum (TF) of the Association
with targets and their priorities set jointly with the Operators/Users Association
(OUA) annually. For each feature to be certified a TETRA Interoperability Profile (TIP)
specification is created in the working groups established under the TF. The draft TIP
specification subjected to open Members' Enquiry (ME) to give all the members of
the Association an equal opportunity to comment it before the TIP is approved by
the TF. Subsequently to the TIP a detailed Interoperability Test Plan document is
produced in an identical procedure. The Association has contracted ISCOM (Istituto
Superiore delle Comunicazioni e tecnologie dell'Informazione), laboratory of the
Italian Ministry of Communications to act as an outside certification authority, to
supervise the testing sessions and to issue the certificates.

After the official certification documents are approved, test sessions can be
conducted between the manufacturers. The sessions are supervised by the experts
of ISCOM, who then analyse the results and issue a detailed official Interoperability
Certificate. The certification process is funded by the participating manufacturers.

How protocol testing is done: Background on IOP certification

The results presented in the TETRA Interoperability Certificates are derived from
evaluating the information exchange between live TETRA terminals and live TETRA
infrastructures, this constitutes IOP certification testing. The IOP certification testing
is done in a multi vendor environment testing the interaction between different
brands of equipment
Interoperability certification documents
The TIP specifications and Test Plans have been created by voluntary effort of the
members and are available to all the members of the Association free of cost. The
detailed feature content of the TIP's is visible in public domain in the issued
certificates.
The Interoperability Certificates are public documents and are published at this
 P a g e | 46

TETRA

website. To find our which manufacturer's product has been granted a certificate for
which functionality/TIP, a set of summary tables is available by clicking this link.

4.2. Regulatory: Radio Regulation and Spectrum

 P a g e | 47

TETRA

Licensing obligation
Operating a radio communications network in most countries is subject to licensing
by national telecommunications regulators, both for its type of use and the radio
frequency spectrum it utilises, especially as radio frequency spectrum is a scarce
resource and needs to be used efficiently.
Operating license
Operating a commercial mobile radio network practically always requires a specific
operating license. In case of private radio networks, i.e. Professional Mobile Radio
(PMR), the interpretation of the licensing requirements is country specific and the
opinion of the national regulator should thus always be consulted before setting up
a TETRA network. In most cases a private radio system requires only a frequency
license.
Radio Frequency license
Usage of radio frequencies is practically always controlled either by the national
radiocommunications regulator or alternatively some frequency band specific
frequency management body to whom the regulator has delegated the
management responsibility. Upon successful application, the regulator will grant
right to use specific radio frequencies for a specified purpose within a specified
region. Radio frequency licenses are not normally issued free of charge and the cost
of the license can vary greatly depending on country and type of usage. For details
of the procedures and fees regarding a radio frequency license the national
regulator should be consulted.
TETRA standards and radio spectrum
The TETRA standard was developed to provide optimal performance in the
frequency range 300 to 1000 MHz and outside this range the performance has not
been verified. In practice, TETRA system deployments and product developments
concentrate on only a few frequency bands as a result of European harmonisation
and also de facto global spectrum harmonisation. This reduced number, but widely
available number, of radio frequency bands has greatly contributed to developing
the current multi-vendor market for TETRA with multiple suppliers delivering
interoperable products for the same radio frequency bands. Interestingly, if the
radio frequency spectrum for TETRA was fragmented, there would be a risk that
some frequency spectrum allocations would only have products available from one
supplier, thus defeating the benefits of an open standard supported by multiple
vendors. This is not a situation that users would usually appreciate.
The TETRA standards have recently been updated to Release 2 which includes the
wideband TETRA Enhanced Data Service (TEDS) air interface that can support 50 kHz,
100 kHz and 150 kHz channel widths. In Europe the TEDS capable channels are
already taken into account in PMR spectrum decisions even though those channels
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TETRA

are not yet readily available for use in all countries.

4.3. Intellectual Property and Patents

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The TETRA Association was founded to promote and support TETRA technology
throughout the world and to encourage an open and competitive market for the
supply of TETRA products and services. The technology was developed through the
standardisation processes of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute
(ETSI). This process is based upon the principle that contributors to ETSI’s drafting
process may propose technologies that are protected by Intellectual Property Rights
(IPR), such as patents.

ETSI’s processes include an IPR policy (Annex 6 of its Rules of Procedures) that seeks
to reduce the risk to ETSI, its members and others, that standards become unusable
due to the non availability of licences for essential IPR. It also seeks to set a balance
in compensating owners of IPR for the use of their technology in the standard. The
policy therefore requires that ETSI members, that are owners of such essential IPR,
agree to licence their IPR for use in ETSI standards-based compliant products on fair,
reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.

Whilst the inclusion of patents in a public standard, and the imposition of related
licence fees, may at first sight seem anti-competitive, the reality is that in many
cases such fees accelerate standards development and encourage innovative
solutions. Companies that invest in the research and development activities that
produce these innovative solutions are entitled to be fairly recompensed for their
work, which ultimately is for the benefit of the marketplace as a whole.

As Intellectual Property Rights are granted by the government and are enforceable
by the owner, any company that is considering manufacturing or supplying TETRA
equipment should ensure that they have fully reviewed the patents that may be
applicable for their products and have the appropriate licences in place prior to
offering for sale or manufacturing TETRA compliant products.

It is also important to understand the following:

1) ETSI maintains a database of all patents that have been declared as essential
candidates to the TETRA standard. This database is searchable by the public and is
updated periodically. ETSI does not attempt to validate claims of the essentiality of
the patents declared. Therefore, manufacturers that wish to enter the TETRA market
are encouraged to contact the IPR holders and obtain a listing of TETRA essential
patents.
2) Not all declared patents are necessarily essential to the TETRA standard.
3) Patents from companies outside the ETSI process may also be applicable and will
not be registered on the ETSI database.
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As a result of the above, the TETRA Association strongly recommends that

Manufacturers/ Developers conduct their own searches and satisfy themselves of
the relevance of any patents and ensure that they are suitably licensed before
employing a TETRA essential technology in their products.

4.4. Numbering and other aspects of operational planning

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Why operational planning

The user organisations of a new TETRA network normally face a ‘high class’ problem,
this problem being that the network offers more features and facilities than the
system it replaces. In order to get the best out of the new TETRA system, careful
planning of how to use the network is needed. This planning process is called
Operational Planning. (could also be called operative planning or tactical planning).
Careful operational planning obviously is most important (and complex) in a shared
system supporting multiple user organisations.
Operational planning is a process that binds technical possibilities and user needs
together. During the operational planning process the user representatives gain a
deep understanding on the new system and it's capabilities from an end user
perspective. After thorough training on the system they are able - in co-operation
with the system provider - to plan the use of the new TETRA system in efficient and
secure way. Involving end users in the planning process will also make the new
system and new practices more easily adopted in the user community.
The system provider (together with the service provider) is usually needed in the
operational planning process to make sure that the outcome follows the design
philosophy and capabilities of the system, even though there could be differences in
the system design approaches. The provider is also able to assist in the overall
understanding of dependencies between different decisions and help with
interpreting detailed technical information.
The Operational Planning process is a top-down process, ranging from high level
joint planning between user organisation representatives and the provider, to
regional/organisation level planning carried out by user organisation’s own "change
agents" and assisted as required by the provider.
The many things to be planned
The items to be planned during the Operational Planning process of a shared system
include at least the following topics (including a detail level understanding of system
capabilities):
- Management hierarchy definition:
Who are the key super users and/or super users from end user organisation/user
point of view.
- Numbering plan for:
radio terminal users,
applications,
fixed voice clients,
IP connections,
integration to PABX numbering ...
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- Talk group plan covering:

Talk group numbers,
co-operation talk groups,
talk group members,
usage of dynamic groups,
group areas, shifting/fixed area groups,
how to use group scanning and possible use of priority scanning
- System sharing related planning:
How to separate organisations,
hierarchies between organisations,
communication rules between organisations
- Usage of services:
How to use individual and group calls, messaging and data securely and efficiently
- Rights to use services:
group calls,
individual calls,
individual calls to/from outside the network,
status messages, text messages,
data usage, access to applications...
- Emergency call:
emergency call targets, routing of emergency call
- Priorities:
for individual radio users, groups and fixed voice clients,
of pre-emptive type or not,
usage of subscriber classes,
scanning priorities
- Connecting to external systems and communication to them:
analogue networks, PABXs, PSTN interfaces and call routing
- Usage of end-to-end encryption:
who, how, controlled by who, end-to-end encryption key delivery
- Radio terminal related logistics:
storage, delivery and distribution of terminal hardware,
software, parameters, authentication keys
- Usage of applications:
what, how to integrate, roll-out time-schedules, access rights/usage rights
- Training implementation per needs of each target group:
where, when, content, to whom, methods
- and there may be many more
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4.5. Roaming
Need for cooperation
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The world is changing towards one where both people and organisations need to
communicate across wider regions than before and that is setting new requirements
to the interoperability of communications systems. European Public Safety
community has recognised the need for efficient cooperation across the national
borders to be able to respond to the challenges of an evolving operating
environment. Cross-border cooperation of European police forces and customs has
been officially agreed and defined in the documents of the Schengen Agreement
between 13 European countries.
TETRA Inter-System Interface gives the tools
The technical means for providing cross-border cooperation and roaming between
networks are provided by the TETRA Inter-System Interface (ISI). The TETRA ISI
standards define common protocols to support all the important services between
interconnected networks:
- roaming and mobility management of radios between networks
(roaming is called 'migration' in the TETRA standards)
- security, i.e. authentication and encryption
- individual calls in visited network and between networks
- group calls in visited network and between networks
- supplementary services to support e.g. emergency calls
- status and short data messaging
It should also be noted that interconnection of IP packet data services is defined in
other TETRA standards and IP gateway solutions are available today.
Interoperable implementations of the TETRA ISI functionality are specified in the
TETRA Interoperability Profile (TIP) specifications produced by the TETRA Association
and those are already available for manufacturers. The relevant Test Plan
documents for ISI certification test sessions are currently being prepared, the plans
for ISI Individual Call and ISI Mobility management were completed late 2005. The
first Interoperability Certificates have been issued in accordance with the Air
Interface Migration TIP that specifies the air interface signalling for roaming.

4.6. TETRA Health & Environment

The societies and their individual members are becoming increasingly conscious of
their environment and the importance of maintaining safe and secure conditions for
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sustainable development. This awareness is reflected in the legislation where new

regulation is created for product safety, recycling of end-of-life products, etc.,
matters that the manufacturers and distributors of products need to accommodate
in their processes
Safety Concerns and TETRA
During recent years some public concern has been raised about the TETRA
technology and exposure to radio frequency energy. The TETRA Association
recognises and understands the basis of these concerns and takes, very seriously,
any questions relating to the Health and Safety of the general public and also the
users of TETRA technology.
The TETRA Association welcomes expert research into all safety aspects of radio
communications and indeed a number of its members have, and continue to make
contributions to this type of funded research. The TETRA Association also recognises
the international standards bodies and experts that create standards, which
recommend safety levels for RF exposure and other health and safety issues relating
to the safe operation of radio telecommunications equipment. The TETRA
Association further recognises the need for continuing relevant and high quality
physiological and epidemiological research and will continue to monitor and keep
abreast of the very latest research results.

5. Tetra News & Events

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This section contains news supplied by TETRA users, the TETRA industry and the
TETRA Association. Topics cover TETRA in use; new products, applications, and
services; latest contracts as well as planned events and seminars. Free subscription
or a pdf download of the Association’s TETRA News is available from here. Press
Releases from the Association’s members are posted in this section plus the latest
reports from the world of TETRA such as reviews of events or significant market
announcements. Dates and venues for global TETRA Events, including the TETRA
Association’s own world-wide series of seminars and accompanying exhibitions, are
also located here.
The reason why this section on TETRA News and Events needs to be regularly
updated with new information is because of the success TETRA is achieving around
the world. A good indicator of this success is the market information published each
year by the TETRA Association. For example, the pie chart below shows how the
1964 significant contracts are spread (as a percentage) across the regions of the
world as of May 2008.

As can be seen from the pie chart, TETRA is deployed in all regions of the world with
the exception of North America.
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The pie chart above shows how the 1964 contracts are spread (as a percentage)
across the different PMR market segments as of May 2008. As can be seen the Public
Safety Sector (PSS) represents the largest market for TETRA followed by the
transportation market.

6. Tetra Association
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The TETRA MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), now known as the TETRA

Association, was established in December 1994 to create a forum which could act on
behalf of all interested parties, representing users, manufacturers, application
providers, integrators, operators, test houses and telecom agencies. Today the
TETRA Association represents more than 150 organisations from all continents of the
world.
The goal for the TETRA Association is to provide a forum for all those interested in
TETRA to encourage adoption of the standard and support initiatives to obtain
appropriate levels of spectrum such that growth in operational TETRA systems is not
restricted by regulation.
In 1994 a Memorandum of Understanding was created by the founding members
that describes the objectives of the Association and includes a commitment to
support the ETSI processes and to promote the standard as widely as possible. All
members are required to sign this MoU before joining the Association. A revised and
updated version of the original document was approved by members at the 2006
Annual General Meeting and is available for download by using the following link:
 TETRA Association Memorandum of Understanding
The TETRA Association is a Limited Company and is registered in the United
Kingdom. It is governed by UK Law and, as such, is required to have two legal
documents in place. The first is the Memorandum of Association which describes the
purpose and principles of the Association. This document should not be confused
with the Memorandum of Understanding although it incorporates many of the same
principles.

The second legal document constitutes the Articles of Association. This is a set of
legally binding rules and procedures that have been agreed by the Members and
which the Board and Chief Executive follow when conducting the business of the
Company.

Both of these documents are available on this web site and can be downloaded
using the following links:-
 Memorandum of Association
 Articles of Association
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Organisations or individuals that wish to join the Association can do so by

downloading and completing an application form and sending this, along with a
signed copy of the MoU, to the Association’s membership department. Full details
and the forms can be found on the following page
The TETRA Association's objectives are to support and promote the TETRA standard
world-wide and to provide a forum to share and exchange information and ideas
amongst a wide variety of individuals who share a common interest in the success of
the TETRA standard.
To meet these objectives the TETRA Association comprises an Executive Board,
which meets on a regular basis to manage and direct the organisation’s many
activities.

Within the structure of the TETRA Association there are also a number of groups
that have been formed to specifically address important activities in support of the
TETRA Association’s objectives
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7. Benefits of Membership of the TETRA Association

Access to knowledge and Information

Members of the TETRA Association are invited to participate in the numerous
working groups within the Association for example:
Technical Forum (TF)
 Manages the preparation of TETRA Interoperability Profiles (TIPs)
 Interfaces with the Operator User Association to define the market priorities
for TIP standardisation
 Interfaces to ETSI for Standards maintenance
 Oversees the TETRA Interoperability Testing and Certification Process
 Provides a forum for technical knowledge exchange
Operator User Association (OUA)
 Provides a forum for knowledge exchange between Operators and Users of
TETRA systems
 Prepares input to Technical Forum for establishing priorities of TIP work
Security and Fraud Prevention Group (SFPG)
 Prepares and manages recommendations on use of encryption in TETRA
networks
Access to restricted technical information
 By participating in any of the above groups or having access to the Members
only area of the TETRA Association Web Site Members gain early access to
new technical documents and participate in their Member Enquiry stages to
express their views prior to publication
TETRA Association Web Site
 Access restricted technical and marketing information and reports with a
unique username and password in the Members only area
 Access presentations in the Members only area for use in your own
marketing activities
 Post your Press Releases on the TETRA Association Web Site for the world to
access
 Be listed as a Member on the Web site with a reference to your major areas
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of work
Access to Unique TETRA Branding
 Only Members of the TETRA Association have access to and use of the
instantly recognised and unique TETRA Logo and Brand image
Involvement in TETRA Market development
 The TETRA Association has produced a number of Seminars in new market
areas promoting the benefits and adoption of TETRA. As a Member you are
invited to participate in such events and become recognised in these new
areas as part of the global TETRA community
 Receive bulk copies of the TETRA News for use in your own internal or
external marketing activities
Involvement in the ongoing business of the TETRA Association
 The TETRA Association is a membership organisation and as a Member you
participate in the management and future strategies of the Association and
thus influence the future of TETRA
 As a Member you join more than 100 other like minded organisations
globally whose success is dependent upon TETRA
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8. CONCLUSION

 Project is in progressive mode with every aspect of coding and connectivity

with the database

 We have tried to present simple and comprehensive user interface..

 But there are certain features that could have been included but are not due
to shortage of time and is work of future.

The result is a better application which will help in better development of an

organization. The main approach behind our project is that it can easily track
record of orders and payement whenever required and at the same time assist its
user .The project is running successfully without any discrepancies and
the software can be updated if required.
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9. REFERENCES

1. Object Oriented Programming Using C++ , E. Balagurusamy.

2. Complete Reference in C++, Herbert Schildt, TMH Publications.

WEBSITES

1. www.w3schools.com
2. www.sourcecodeworld.com
3. www.google.com
4. www.wikipedia.org