GRANT REQUESTS FOR RADIOS –
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These changes apply to those agencies requesting/purchasing radio equipment through any grant process including the AFG grants, which require any equipment requested meet the State Communications Interoperability Plan (SCIP). Equipment Standards When
procuring equipment for communications systems, whether voice or data, a standards based
approach must be used to begin migration to multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary
interoperability. The applicable requirements for land mobile radio (LMR) systems, Voice
over IP (VoIP) systems and data-related information sharing systems are described below.
Applicants must demonstrate how their procurements will comply with these requirements as
applicable. Land
Mobile Radio Systems All
new digital voice systems must be compliant with the Project 25 (P25) suite of standards.
This requirement is intended for government-owned or -leased digital land mobile public
safety radio equipment. This requirement does not apply to commercial voice services that
offer other types of voice interoperability solutions. To
ensure encrypted interoperability, the P25 suite of standards references the use of Advanced
Encryption Standard (AES) in the Project
25 Block Encryption Protocol, ANSI/TIA-102.AAD.
Entities pursuing encrypted communications capabilities must be compliant
with the P25 Block Encryption Protocol. This
guidance does not preclude funding for non-P25 equipment when there are compelling reasons
for using other solutions. Funding requests by agencies to replace or add radio equipment
to an existing non-P25 system (such as procuring new portables for an existing analog
system) will be considered if there is an explanation for how such equipment will improve
interoperability or support eventual migration to interoperable systems. Absent these
compelling reasons, P25 equipment will be required for LMR systems to which the standard’s
apply. “Interoperability”,
as listed in the above SAFECOM grant guidance, is defined in Missouri by the Missouri
Statewide Communications Interoperability Plan (SCIP).
The Missouri SCIP identifies the states interoperable vision in the
development of a statewide VHF Project 25 Trunked interoperability network. Subsequently, improving interoperability in
Missouri is defined by an agency’s ability to introduce or enhance access to the
Missouri statewide interoperability network with a Mobile Project 25 VHF Trunked Radio. The following guidance addressing interoperability
in Missouri was approved in January 2010 by the Governor’s Homeland Security Advisory
Council. Mobile
and Portable grant guidelines:
All mobile Project 25 VHF High band radios procured will be purchased as capable of
operating in the Project 25 trunking (Phase 1). Upon purchase, the radio must
be capable of operating in the Project 25 trunked mode.
Upgrades allowing existing Project 25 Conventional Radios to be upgraded to
operate in the Project 25 Trunked Mode will be an eligible expense. Infrastructure
Equipment guidelines:
Any piece of infrastructure equipment (including but not limited to base stations,
receivers, repeaters, etc.) requested to be purchased must have that request accompanied
by an Executive Summary that includes an Operation and Maintenance Plan which will show
how the requested equipment will be implemented and maintained along with an explanation
as to how that equipment is anticipated to operate and contributes to enhancing the agency’s
degree of interoperability while also enabling connection/access to the Statewide VHF P 25
Radio Interoperability Network. When
purchasing Project 25 LMR equipment/systems, grantees will, at a minimum, ensure the
vendor has participated in equipment testing consistent with the Project 25 Compliance Assessment
Program (P25 CAP). Where such equipment is covered in the Project
25 Compliance
Assessment Program Requirements6
document,
it must be tested in accordance with applicable standards and policies of the P25 CAP, and
evidence of this testing must be documented through Supplier’s Declarations of
Compliance and Summary Test Reports that have been posted to http://www.rkb.us. Additionally,
when P25 LMR equipment/systems are purchased with a non-standard, proprietary
feature/capability and a comparable feature/capability is part of the standard, the P25
LMR equipment/systems must include the standards-based feature/capability. For
assistance in determining eligible communications equipment purchases under this section,
and in determining when justification material is required, grantees can access web based
technical assistance tools at: http://www.pscr.gov/outreach/safecom/grant_guidance/grant_charts.php The
OIC
Wireless Communications Grant Guidance Tool will
also give users access to detailed
information that will be helpful in selecting and procuring Project 25 equipment. In addition,
this tool offers links to documents available under the P25 CAP. Voice-over-Internet
Protocol Systems When
purchasing bridging/gateway devices that have a VoIP capability to provide connectivity
between LMR systems, those devices must at a minimum, implement either the Bridging
Systems Interface (BSI)
specification
or the P25 Inter RF Sub-System Interface (ISSI)
as a part of their VoIP capability. Data-Related
Information Sharing Systems Grant
funded systems, developmental activities or services related to emergency response information
sharing should comply with the OASIS Emergency Data eXchange Language (EDXL)
suite of data messaging standards. Compliance
should include the following OASIS EDXL standards: •
Common
Alerting Protocol (CAP), version 1.1 or latest version •
Distribution
Element (DE), version 1.0 or latest version •
Hospital
AVailability Exchange (HAVE), version 1.0 or latest version •
Resource
Messaging (RM) standards, version 1.0 or latest version More
information on each of these standards and its applicability can be found at: http://www.oasis-open.org. This
guidance does not preclude funding of non–OASIS EDXL-compliant systems when there
are compelling reasons for using other solutions. Absent such compelling reasons, the OASIS
EDXL standards identified above are the preferred standards. SAFECOM
Guidance for Federal Grant Programs Grant
funded systems, developmental activities, or services related to emergency response information
sharing should also leverage the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) for
data component or element standards. More information on NIEM can be found at: www.niem.gov. National
Information Exchange Model Supporting Technology Evaluation Program Grant
funded systems, developmental activities or services related to emergency response information
sharing should also comply with the NIMS Supporting Technology Evaluation Program
(STEP). The NIMS STEP provides objective evaluations of commercial software and
hardware products, and reports on product conformity to standards and NIMS guidelines.
Findings from evaluations may be accessed through the Responder Knowledge Base (RKB)
website to assist grantees in making purchases. More information on the NIMS STEP can be
found at: https://www.nimsstep.or
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