Extending the functionality and form range of Tetra equipment was a focus too for Cassidian at this year's Tetra World Congress. It launched its new slimline radio, the TH1n – the first in a completely new class of pocket-sized Tetra radios just 19 mm thick. It is designed to open up the Tetra market to new sectors, such as social workers and healthcare personnel who have the option of joining shared public safety networks but so far haven’t found a radio model to suit their needs better than the heavy-duty radios used by first-line responders. Equipped with appropriate accessories, TH1n is also suitable for covert use.

The radio’s IP65 protection provides reliable performance in demanding environments and its 1·8 watt output power delivers extra reach when network coverage is at its limit or when Direct Mode Operation (DMO) is used.

First customers to have confirmed orders for the TH1n are the Virve network in Finland, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and Atlas Telecom of the United Arab Emirates. Deliveries will begin at the end of this year.

On the infrastructure side, Cassidian unveiled its DXT3c Tetra switch, as small as the familiar TB3 base station and one-third the size and less than half the weight of the company’s DXT3 switch. In addition to providing a full set of Tetra features, it includes all the functions of a packet data gateway, base station controller and dispatcher controller as well as multiple application connections. The DXT3c can support more than 900 active talk groups when the average offered group traffic is 0·2 erlang. Its IP capability supports a “push-to-talk over LTE” function, demonstrated by Cassidian at the show, allowing LTE subscribers with the necessary call rights to use push-to-talk to participate in a Tetra group call.

Continuing the LTE focus, Cassidian also launched its TB3s Tetra base station, which can be fitted with broadband LTE carriers, combining all the usual TB3 features, from the Tetra Enhanced Data Service (TEDS) to air-interface encryption and from Type 1 Handover to base station fallback. Combining Tetra and LTE capabilities in one unit means that upgrading the network for TEDS and introducing broadband can be achieved with incremental investment.

The TB3s is aimed at helping network owners and operators save money, since the combined Tetra and LTE units can share antenna lines and antennas. In addition, they can use the same transmission lines to the core network and the same battery backup system. The TB3s can be operated and maintained over a remote connection.

Finally for Cassidian, the company announced that pre-interoperability testing is underway with TEDS modems from the Korean equipment manufacturer Asia Pacific Satellite communications (APSI). This co-operation aims to develop TEDS technology and data-oriented products for static applications such as smart grids, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and sensor networks.