MCOP Hits CES Las Vegas with MCPTT Public Safety Communications

A research group of the UPV/EHU (University of the Basque Country), led by Fidel Liberal, presented at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, the largest technology fair in the world, the new generation of critical mission communications system that they are currently developing.

Traditionally the emergency services such as firemen, police or medical personnel are using two way radios. However, this technology lacks common broadband capabilities  compared to regular mobile phone such as high-speed Internet access, sending photographs or videos. All of these elements that can be vital in crisis situations. 

Already in 2017, the "Mission Critical Open Platform"  initiative, named MCOP, received very important support from the US Department of Commerce on its innovation acceleration program. As a result o that, they granted $ 1,260,000 to the research group NQaS (Networking Quality and Security) of the Department of Communications Engineering of the UPV/EHU. This year MCOP has been selected to demonstrate, jointly with this organization, the progress of the project. Thus, at CES both organizations showed how a mission-critical communications service can be efficiently provided.

"Having such an effective communications system will mean a real qualitative leap for emergency bodies. It is not only a technological improvement, but, it's an open standard, costs are reduced, it is not dependent on a single provider and it ensures that any police, fireman or medical personnel displaced to other zones and even countries can be connected immediately, "says Fidel Liberal, coordinator of the mission-critical open platform.

"Our proposal allows to advance in this open character because it is a tool that is available to a large community to developers of innovative applications. Thus, not only large manufacturers, but small companies and emergency bodies themselves can contribute to design the communication tools they demand. These tools can then be tested with the certainty that communications will work in mission critical environments. Participating in CES 2019 provides us with an unbeatable showcase to publicize the platform."

In short, the proposal led by the UPV/EHU seeks to reduce the gap that separates commercial and emergency communications today; and thus have multimedia terminals that enable access to the Internet, sending photos and videos of emergencies, location systems ...

Wide experience

The NQaS research group has extensive experience in the field of emergency communications. In fact, it began a few years ago through the GERYON project (also led by the UPV/EHU) with a financing of 2.5 million euros by the European Commission. At that time the evolution towards the use of commercial mobile technologies for the provision of emergency services was really disruptive. Years later that vision is a reality, a standard is available, and again the UPV/EHU is at the forefront of the development of emergency communications systems. "