Public Safety Networks from TETRA to Commercial Cellular Networks

Public safety networks (PSNs) refer to dedicated telecommunication networks used by public safety agencies, for instance, police, fire, emergency, and many more for critical communications. It is clear that the evolution of PSNs from terrestrial trunk radio (TETRA), TETRAPOL, and ARCP Project 25 toward Long Term Evolution (LTE) based systems have shown effectiveness and efficiency. This chapter looks at the challenges PSNs face by developing solutions for data rates such as introducing broadband data services into safer communication. It provides a discussion on the integration of technologies, for example, cellular LTE and how such networks can be upgraded using software defined networking and network function virtualization. This softwarization is part of the solutions to the issues raised with commercial LTE and how PSN communications can be enhanced. The potential of these technologies is associated with a list of important characteristics such as rapid deployment, reliability, security, and dynamic resource management.