25 years of the TETRA standard and technology for contemporary digital trunking systems of professional mobile radio communications

Introduction/purpose: For the construction of functional mobile radio communication systems today, the trunking systems of digital mobile radio communications are almost exclusively used, the main representative of which is the system with the application of TETRA standards. This article describes the beginnings and historical development of this standard, with the activities of ETSI and TETRA MoU in the fight for the availability and harmonization of the frequency spectrum. Methods: A description of relevant issues of the origin and development of the TETRA 1 standard is given as well as the analysis of the characteristic moments of the innovated TETRA 2 standard. Results: This article describes the beginnings and historical development of this standard, with the activities of ETSI and TETRA MoU in the fight for the availability and harmonization of the frequency spectrum. It also systematize the use of the key TETRA systems in the world and shows its share in the world market by sectors, emphasizing the dilemma of its further development at the crossroads after 25 years of existence. Also, a basic overview of the TETRA 1 standard is given while the basic elements and the principle of its application are described. The innovated TETRA 2 standard and the improvements achieved in the way of data transmission are described in more detail; the process of interoperability certification and, in connection with that, the entry of TETRA into the North American market is emphasized. The parameters selected for advanced data transfer according to the TETRA 2-TEDS standard are presented and analyzed, together with an overview of some limitations during practical application. Conclusion: In the conclusion, the current moment of TETRA is analyzed with a focus on its future after 25 years of development, emohasizing a possibility of modernizing and improving the TETRA network of the Ministry of the Interior of Serbia for the needs of the MoD and the Serbian Armed Forces.

Description of the TETRA 1 technology and standard for modern digital trunking systems of functional mobile radio communications

Introduction/purpose: Since the end of 1995, when TETRA MoU promoted the new TETRA Standard within ETSI, tentatively called TETRA 1, it quickly began to be used, almost exclusively, for the construction of Functional UHF digital trunking systems for mobile radio communications. Methods: A description of the relevant issues from the TETRA 1 technology standards and an analysis of existing specifications, with a more detailed presentation of the radio interface. Results: This article highlights the numerous advantages that radio systems based on the TETRA Standard have in relation to the Functional systems of analog trunking of mobile radio communications, and gives an overview of the basic package of Specifications for system implementation based on the TETRA Standard 1. It describes the interfaces used in the system with a special reference to the description of the radio interface, organized by TDMA, and the method of integration of voice and data transmission. The organization and the basic elements of the TETRA network infrastructure are presented as well as those of the final user's equipment, followed by the analysis of possible practical architectures of mobile radio communication networks based on that standard. Conclusion: After the general descriptions of technology, organization, and architecture, the following are presented: the basic concept of the organization of TETRA 1 network use, the general principle of organization of mobile participants' connections and the basic elements of the TETRA network as well as the architecture and topology of the TETRA 1 network construction.