Integration of TETRA with Satellites

The future of systems and applications to be developed on either a global or a local scale is increasingly related to an advanced implementation of the so called "Integration concept" (I-concept). The latter can be defined as an approach to the conceivement of systems and applications that is not polarised in terms of technology and medium. The I-concept envisages, for instance, the effective exploitation of wireless or wired connections, the wise mix of satellite, terrestrial and stratospheric technologies to provide optimal system performance at both user and provider level. In this frame, TETRA (terrestrial trunked radio) can be an interesting building block of an I-concept-based network devoted to both civil and military scenarios. In particular, TETRA meets the "suitable technological capability" requirement for integration, because it represents a consolidated terrestrial technology that can be trusted, hence focusing the integration effort on the definition, design and implementation of proper interfaces. In this paper the present status of TETRA technology and its integration with other platforms is presented and framed in the I-concept based general vision. A system analysis is also carried out proposing system architectures referring to two different scenarios, in a medium term and long term perspective.