Thursday, February 28, 2013

Spotlight on Band 14 LTE Devices

Equipment vendors have been rolling out new mission-critical LTE devices in the past year in anticipation of the NPSBN from FirstNet.  Here is a brief look at some of these devices, from Motorola, Harris, and most recently, Elektrobit.

 The Motorola LEX700 was unveiled in February last year as the first mission-critical handheld device with specifications to meet the needs of Public Safety users.  This devices is versatile among Broadband environments, and operates on 700 MHz Band 14.  The IWCE demonstration was an exciting landmark for Motorola Solutions as well as the communications industry, since this was the first device of its kind, with six radios, eight antennas, and a sophisticated yet ruggedized design.  The LEX700 delivers data, images, video, and voice over multiple networks, including 800 MHz WiFi networks and Verizon LTE (Band 13), among others.

Harris released the InTouch RPC-200 in September of last year at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) show in San Diego.  With typical smartphone features, an Android 4.1 operating system, and commercial LTE capabilities, this devices goes beyond just fulfilling Public Safety needs.  It is ruggedized with a large push-to-talk button, waterproof speakers, and noise-cancellation. 

Three LTE devices were released by Elektrobit (EB) this week, including a tablet, smartphone, and module, all operating on Band 14.  All three devices are currently under testing by the Public Safety Communications Research Program (PSRC) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Demos were presented to the FirstNet board of directors after the most recent board meeting held at NIST in Boulder, CO.  The ruggedized smartphone and tablet are complemented by the M1 module, an LTE multiband modem supporting Windows and Linux environments.

For more information on what's happening with vendors and the Public Safety community, we encourage you to visit Urgent Communications. 

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