TETRA

Tetra is a common digital trunked standard for two way radio. The standard developed by European Telecommunications Standardisation Institute (ETSI) assures the interoperability between various manufacturers terminals that can indistinctly operate on any TETRA network. This is not currently the case for digital dPMR or DMR two radio.

This technology is targeted primarily at the mobile radio needs of public safety groups (such as police and fire departments), utility companies, and other enterprises that provide voice and data communications services. In recent years, when European disasters have struck, emergency response teams from several European nations had a difficult time communicating with each other, due in part to the lack of standardization in their mobile radio equipment. The TETRA standards evolved to answer this communication challenge as well as others faced or anticipated by the European Commission (EC) in its efforts to unify European countries.

The Main TETRA features are:

• Digital voice quality
• Fast emergency call set-up
• Comprehensive support to group and individual voice and data communications
• Communications also in fringe or out of coverage areas with direct mode of operation (DMO)
• Multiple security schemes and algorithms (two encryption levels)
• Data transmission at up to 28.8Kbps and simultaneous with voice
• Standard interfaces for data terminal connections (PEI) and for TETRA networks interconnection (ISI)

TETRA Capabilities and Features

From end user point of view, TETRA provides the following features and services:

• Group call
• Individual call
• Telephone Interconnect Call
• Wireless data: Circuit switch and/or packet data
• Integrated Voice and Data
• Secured network with authentication and encryption
• Direct Mode Operation
• Advanced radio features and capabilities such as Dynamic Grouping, emergency call, etc

Spectrum Utilization

TETRA utilizes Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technique to achieve spectrum efficiency. TETRA can achieve up to 4 (four) TDMA time slots in one 25 KHz radio channel

Frequency Band

Frequency bands for TETRA products that are typically found in the market today:

• 380 - 400 MHz
• 410 – 430 MHz
• 800 MHz Band