Qinetiq and Thorcom, a provider of wireless data systems, have signed an agreement that will enable the emergency services to tackle a number of current data communications issues.
Thorcom, which supplies mission critical systems to the emergency services, has licensed Qinetiq technology that addresses bandwidth limitations on the existing TETRA communications network by using other networks without compromising security.
TETRA is the primary bearer for secure and resilient communications for the emergency services and has the advantage of being dedicated to the emergency services community and a select group of additional users, such as the Highways Agency. Because of the bandwidth of the TETRA network, even with high levels of compression, there are limitations on the volume of data traffic which can be transmitted.
Qinetiq has developed multi-bearer routing technology which allows data from emergency services applications to be securely and selectively routed across different bearers. Based on patents developed for naval applications, the technology allows highly confidential data to always be routed over the TETRA bearer. It simultaneously routes less sensitive high bandwidth data, such as still photographs, video or CCTV images, over other high capacity bearers. If one of these bearers is lost, the application routes seamlessly over an alternative bearer, with no need for user intervention and no interruption to the service.
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