Software-Defined Radio: Finding Its Use in Public Safety

In this article, the deployment of software-defined radio (SDR) technologies for public safety (PS) is addressed for the purpose of providing a useful reference integrating PS-specific requirements and the relevant applicable technologies. Both user requirements and SDR technologies have been examined by a lot of working groups in recent years. In turn, they have been providing support to many European-funded programs, completing the work started by the European Commission's (EC's) Sixth and Seventh Framework Programmes (FP6 and FP7), which are approaching their last steps. Narrowband up to broadband radio communications have been analyzed, also addressing security, group calls, and other specific requirements demanded by PS.