12 September 2011
RFC Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 176 (Monday, September 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56165-56167]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23180]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology
[Docket No.: 110727437-1433-01]
Soliciting Input on Research and Development Priorities for
Desirable Features of a Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network
AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce's (DoC) National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking input on various possible
features of a new nationwide interoperable public safety broadband
network. This input will be used by NIST to help determine research and
development priorities in anticipation of the President's Wireless
Innovation (WIN) Fund to help drive innovation of next-generation
network technologies.
DATES: Comments are requested by 5 p.m. EDT on October 12, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Dereck Orr, dereck.orr@nist.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dereck Orr, Office of Law Enforcement
Standards, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325
Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305, telephone number (303) 497-5400. Mr.
Orr's e-mail address is dereck.orr@nist.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The public safety community (law
enforcement, fire, and emergency medical service) is experiencing a
generational shift in technology that will revolutionize the way it
communicates. Traditionally, emergency responders have used land mobile
radio technology. This technology has limited data capabilities and
suffers from a large installed base of thousands of stand-alone
proprietary systems with non-contiguous spectrum assignments. As a
result, public safety has long struggled with effective cross-agency/
jurisdiction communications and lags far behind the commercial sector
in data capability. Congressional legislation has made broadband
spectrum that was cleared by the transition from analog to digital
broadcast television (referred to as the Digital Television (DTV)
Transition) available to public safety for broadband communications.
The newly available spectrum will allow for a unified system operating
on common spectrum bands, fostering nationwide roaming,
interoperability, and access to broadband data. However, public safety
has several unique requirements that are not currently reflected in
broadband technology.
In August 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented
Policing Services (COPS) office held the National Forum on Public
Safety Broadband Needs. More than 20 public safety practitioners
identified the following 15 operational requirements, each of which
relate to at least four overarching themes (resiliency, availability
and reliability, security, and affordability/commercial alignment):
(1) A dedicated high-quality network connection always available
for sending and receiving continual data streams to support monitoring
and resource tracking;
(2) At a minimum, access to initial and updated basic incident
information (voice- and text-based incident data);
(3) An infrastructure that is hardened and secure, providing a high
level of system availability;
(4) When voice is converged for normal operations and in the event
the infrastructure is compromised, public safety communications must
remain stable and with clear voice communications;
Infrastructure-less communications, with talk-around for
the ability to talk one-to-one and one-to-many
Optimal audio quality during adverse field conditions
No latency on mission critical voice applications
(5) Geographic coverage that has no limitations within the
footprint of the National Public Safety Broadband Network;
(6) Dynamic management and control of the network;
(7) Interoperability, including with existing public safety-based
systems;
(8) Ability to send and receive large amounts of information;
(9) A non-proprietary network based on industry standards;
(10) Single devices that support voice, video, and data;
(11) Access to and from external information sources;
(12) Easy integration with other technologies;
(13) Automatic management and control of the network;
(14) Current and future enhancements available to commercial
consumers are provided to public safety with no limitations; and
(15) Ability to send, receive, and process information from the
public (citizens and media).
The COPS report is available at:
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/e021111338-broadband-forum.pdf.
Since then, the Obama Administration has announced its support for
legislation that would create a not-for-profit Public Safety Broadband
Corporation to oversee the deployment of a nationwide network that
meets the needs of local, state, Tribal, and Federal public safety
communities.\1\ The Administration has also proposed a $3 billion WIN
Fund to help drive innovation through research, experimentation,
testbeds, and applied development. Of the $3 billion, $500 million will
be devoted to research and development (R&D) for the new public safety
broadband network.\2\ The Public Safety Innovation Fund (PSIF), NIST's
component of the proposed WIN Fund, helps spur the development of
cutting-edge wireless technologies. NIST is working with industry, its
Federal partners and public safety organizations to conduct R&D to
support new standards, technologies and applications to advance public
safety communications. Core components of this program include
documenting public safety requirements and driving the adoption of
those requirements into the appropriate standards; developing the
capability for communications between currently deployed public safety
narrowband systems and the future nationwide broadband network; and
establishing a roadmap that seeks to capture and address public
safety's needs beyond what can be provided by the current generation of
broadband technology and driving technological progress in that
direction. Through pre-competitive research, development, reference
applications, and demonstration projects, NIST will accomplish these
goals.
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\1\ Comments of the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration before the Federal Communications Commission in the
matter of Service Rules for the 698-747, 747-762 and 777-792 Band
(WT Docket No. 06-150); Implementing a Nationwide, Broadband,
Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 MHz Band (PS Docket
No. 06-229); Amendment of Part 90 of the Commission's Rules (WP
Docket No. 07-100). http://www.ntia.doc.gov/filings/2011/NTIA_Public_Safety
_Network_Comments_06102011.pdf.
\2\ President Obama Details Plan to Win the Future through
Expanded Wireless Access. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/
02/10/president-obama-details-plan-win-future-through-expanded-wireless-access.
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In pursuit of these goals, NIST seeks comments on the following
possible features of the nationwide public safety broadband network.
These more
[[Page 56166]]
technical features were identified by the NIST Visiting Committee on
Advanced Technology with the input of public safety and their
identified operational requirements. Among other things, NIST seeks to
understand the extent to which these features and requirements can be
satisfied through existing commercially available technology or though
technology that could become available in the relative short-term,
assuming appropriate research and development. Information obtained
from this solicitation will be used to inform the potential use of
grant funds to spur innovation in those areas not currently
commercialized.
Feature List (organized around the four overarching themes noted
above):
To ensure resiliency in an emergency:
Resiliency: The ability of operable systems to recover
from mishap, change, misfortune, or variation in mission or operating
requirements.\3\
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\3\ http://publicsafety.fcc.gov/pshs/clearinghouse/core-concepts/resiliency.htm.
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Self-Organizing: Self-organizing networks dynamically
manage their own configuration by automatically making changes to
ensure messages reach their destinations.\4\
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\4\ http://www.wina.org/WireSol/Documents/Whitepaper%20-%20Self%20Organizing
%20Networks%20for%20In-Plant%20Applications.pdf.
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Meshing (ad-hoc device-to-device communication): A type of
networking where each node must not only capture and disseminate its
own data, but also serve as a relay for other sensor nodes, that is, it
must collaborate to propagate the data in the network.\5\
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\5\ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networking.
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Adaptability: The ability of the network and/or device to
modify/change behavior based upon external conditions.
To ensure reliability and availability:
Prioritization: The ability to prioritize network traffic
based on assigned priority schemes.
Quality of Service (QoS): The set of standards and
mechanisms for ensuring high-quality performance for critical
applications. By using QoS mechanisms, network administrators can use
existing resources efficiently and ensure the required level of service
without reactively expanding or over-provisioning their networks. The
goal of QoS is to provide preferential delivery service for the
applications that need it by ensuring sufficient bandwidth, controlling
latency and jitter, and reducing data loss.\6\
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\6\ http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc757120(WS.10).aspx.
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To enable security:
Strong, Dynamic Access Control: Access control lists can
be configured to control both inbound and outbound traffic on networks
and authentication/verification of users/devices on the network.\7\ The
level of access control should be sufficient to allow for entree into a
broad set of systems and databases needed by public safety (e.g.,
criminal history databases, medical records, public work records,
etc.).
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\7\ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_control_list.
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To ensure affordability/commercial alignment:
Compatibility with Commercial Infrastructure: The
utilization of a variety of commercial services when public safety is
in areas not covered by the public safety broadband network.
Network sharing: The shared use of infrastructure between
commercial and public safety users.
Multi-Modal: The ability of the network to support voice,
video, data, and multimedia simultaneously.
Scalability: The ability of a system, network, or process
to handle growing amounts of work in a graceful manner or its ability
to be enlarged to accommodate that growth.\8\ At the design phase, this
could include requirements to ensure that scalability can be achieved,
to the extent possible, by software enhancements and upgrades as
opposed to by hardware replacements. Scalability also includes the
need, in the case of a large scale event, to accommodate a rapid
increase in the number of users in a limited geographic area.
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\8\ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalability.
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Power Awareness: The ability of network/devices to control
power functions.
Standardized Common Interfaces: Protocols, Application
Program Interfaces, application platforms, radio capabilities, etc.
that allow for competitive provisioning.
Uniform, Universal Access: The ability to access the
network and data anywhere at any time through any device.
Request for Comments
For each feature listed above, NIST is requesting input on the
following:
Your assessment of the importance of the feature in
relation to a Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network;
Current gaps that exist preventing the realization of the
full potential of the feature;
Possible research and development that could take place to
close any technical gaps;
Any challenges that public safety could face in realizing
the full potential of these features given currently implemented
solutions;
Best practices from other industries that could be
leveraged to expedite public safety's realization of these key
features.
Additionally, NIST is requesting input on the following further
considerations for the nationwide public safety network:
What is the importance of employing open standards for the
nationwide public safety network?
What is the need, if any, for commonality of functions
across the system?
What is the importance of a multi-vendor environment for
the network and what are the lessons learned in deploying a multi-
vendor environment from the cellular and other industries?
What can be done to ensure both short- and long-term
affordability of the network for all types of public safety agencies?
In a recent report, the President's Council of Advisors on
Science and Technology suggested the need to develop methods for
implementing a ``survivable core'' of cyber-infrastructure that would
be relied upon to provide truly essential services in the event of a
catastrophic cyber-attack.\9\ Please comment on how NIST should pursue
this recommendation. Among other things, commenters should address
whether the goal should be to design a separate survivable core that is
integrated and interoperable with the primary public safety network, or
instead to design the primary network such that it can reconstitute
rapidly--following a catastrophic event--to achieve some ``core'' level
of service.
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\9\ President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology,
Report to the President and Congress (Dec. 2010)
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-
nitrd-report-2010.pdf), pp. 55-56.
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What is the marginal cost of the feature/functionality
versus equipment available today?
What network features or requirements have not been
identified above, the lack of which may impair the network's ability to
adequately serve the needs of public safety?
How should NIST engage public safety practitioners and
technologists as part of the planned R&D projects to ensure proper
prioritization of efforts and effectiveness of developed solutions?
This request for information coincides with other work NIST is
doing to support the nationwide public safety broadband network,
including a demonstration network from the Public
[[Page 56167]]
Safety Communications Research program in Boulder, Colorado.\10\
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\10\ http://www.pscr.gov/projects/broadband/700mhz_demo_net/700mhz_ps
_demo_net.php.
Dated: September 6, 2011.
Willie E. May,
Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2011-23180 Filed 9-9-11; 8:45 am]
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