LTE for Public Safety

Public safety networks provide highly robust communication systems which can address the specific needs of emergency services. This has fostered the need for public safety standards -- such as TETRA and P25 -- that provide a set of features not supported in commercial cellular systems. This book provides an in-depth analysis for adopting LTE (Long Term Evolution, the 4G 3GPP radio technology) as the technology of choice, to provide mission-critical communication services.

Written by four industry professionals, LTE for Public Safety explains how LTE can be used as technology enabler for Public Safety networks. It provides an in-depth analysis on how LTE can be used by the emergency responders for their own dedicated mission-critical network and the specialized features that are needed in LTE for providing robust and mission-critical communications amongst first responders. These include features such as group call communication and proximity services, also referred to as “LTE Direct” or Device to Device communication and discovery. It also provides a basic overview of the technology and some of the most important services available in LTE, providing also a justification why LTE was adopted for future Public Safety networks.

The aim of the book is to educate government agencies, operators, vendors, and other regulatory institutions how LTE can be deployed to serve public safety markets. It also aims to educate people who are interested to understand how proximity services are supported in LTE. It is written in such a way that it can be understood by both technical and nontechnical personnel with just introductory knowledge in wireless communication.

About the Authors

Rainer Liebhart has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunication industry. He held several positions within the former Siemens Fixed and Mobile Networks divisions and now in Nokia Networks division. He started his career as SW Engineer, worked later as standardization expert in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in the area of Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), took over responsibilities as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and Mobile Packet Core System Architect and is currently heading the Mobile Broadband Core Network standardization team in Nokia Networks. He is the Nokia Networks main delegate in 3GPP SA2 with the focus on Long-Term Evolution/System Architecture Evolution (LTE/SAE). He is (co-)author of over 50 patents in the telecommunication area. Rainer Liebhart holds an MS in Mathematics from the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany.

Devaki Chandramouli has over 14 years of experience in the telecommunication industry. She spent the early part of her career with Nortel Networks and is currently with Nokia, Networks division. At Nortel, her focus was on design and development of embedded software solutions for Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks. Later, she represented Nortel in the WiMAX Forum and worked on WiMAX architecture and protocol development. At Nokia, her focus areas include architecture development within 5G research and standards development for 3GPP access, LTE/SAE-related topics. She is also an active participant and contributor to 3GPP standards. She has (co-)authored over 40 patents in wireless communications. She received her BE in Computer Science from Madras University (India) and MS in Computer Science from University of Texas at Arlington (United States).

Curt Wong has over 18 years of experience in the telecommunication industry. He started his career with Nokia Networks since 1995 and held several positions, including the area of research and development, interoperability testing, product management, and new technologies standardization. In recent years, his primary focus has been in the areas of wireless system-level developments, with emphasis on the infrastructure side of cellular networks. His current activities and involvement are on voice services over LTE, including IMS, emergency aspects, group communication over LTE, and interworking with legacy 2G and 3G networks. He is an active participant and contributor to 3GPP standards. He has a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MS in telecommunications from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX.

Jürgen Merkel has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunication industry. He started his career in Alcatel where he held several positions in system design, product management, and business development and strategy – always with a tight linkage to standardization in ETSI Special Mobile Group (SMG) and 3GPP. In Nokia, he is a member of the Mobile Broadband standardization team, focusing on services and service requirements. He heads the Nokia Networks delegation in 3GPP SA1, and is an active contributor and driver for group communication aspects in 3GPP. Jürgen Merkel holds a MS in electronic engineering from the University of Stuttgart, Germany.