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Public safety

Public safety communications research

Publications

PSCR is dedicated to thorough innovative research and our teams here at NIST study the many aspects that make up public safety communications research. Our efforts have amalgamated an impressive body of research listed below.

User Experience (UX)	Location Based Services (LBS)	Mission Critical Services (MCX)	Innovation Lab	Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS)
Voices of First Responders: Discipline-specific NIST Special Publications (2023)	Cooperative Localization Using Received Signal Strength and Least Squares Estimation Methods (2023)	Mission Critical Voice Quality of Experience Probability of Successful Delivery Measurement Methods (2023)	Security Guidance for First Responder Mobile and Wearable Devices (2022)	Autonomous Aerial Drones Connecting Public Safety: Opportunities and Challenges for the Future (2024)
Voices of First Responders: How to Facilitate Adoption and Usage of Communication Technology - An Integrated Analysis of Qualitative and Quantitative Findings (2022)	On the Feasibility of COVID-19 Proximity Detection Using Bluetooth Low Energy Signals (2022)	5G New Radio Sidelink Link-Level Simulator and Performance Analysis (2022)	Mobile Application Single Sign-On (2021)	Cybersecurity and AI Risk Management for Uncrewed Systems: Challenges and Opportunities Using the NIST Frameworks (2024)
Voices of First Responders -- Nationwide Public Safety Communications Survey Findings: Statistical Analysis Results Phase 4, Volume 2 (2022)	Response to “Evaluation of indoor localization systems: comments on the ISO/IEC 18305 standard (2021)	Modeling Public Safety Communication Scenarios: School Shooting Incident (2021)	Background on Identity Federation Technologies for the Public Safety Community (2021)	Public Safety Communications Research, Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Program Challenge Overview (2024)
Augmented Reality (AR) Usability Evaluation Framework: The Case of Public Safety Communications Research (2022)	On the Use of Lookahead to Improve Wi-Fi Fingerprinting Indoor Localization Accuracy (2021)	Optimal Transmit Volume Conditions for Mission Critical Voice Quality of Experience Measurement Systems (2021)	Identity as a Service for Public Safety Organizations (2021)	Aerial LTE Demonstration Report (2021)
Voices of First Responders – Nationwide Public Safety Communication Survey Findings: Day-to-Day Technology, Phase 2, Volume 3 (2021)	A Performance Comparison of Wi-Fi RTT and UWB for RF Ranging (2019)	Modeling MCPTT and User Behavior in ns-3 (2021)	Using Mobile Device Biometrics for Authenticating First Responders (2021)	Survey of Drone Usage in Public Safety Agencies (2020)
PSCR Usability Results Tool: Voices of First Responders (2021)	Indoor Localization Accuracy of Major Smartphone Location Apps (2019)	Mission Critical Voice Start-of-Word Correction for Access Delay Measurement System (2021)	Security Analysis of First Responder Mobile and Wearable Devices (2020)	Highly Mobile Deployable Networks R&D Summit Report (2018)
Voices of First Responders – Applying Human Factors & Ergonomics Knowledge to Improve the Usability of Public Safety Communications Technology, Findings from User-Centered Interviews, Phase 1, Volume 5 (2021)	PerfLoc (Part 2): Performance Evaluation of the Smartphone Indoor Localization Apps (2018)	3GPP NR V2X Mode 2: Overview, Models and System-level Evaluation (2021)	Security Analysis of First Responder 3 Mobile and Wearable Devices (2019)
Voices of First Responders – Nationwide Public Safety Communication Survey Findings: Mobile Devices, Applications, and Futuristic Technology, Phase 2, Volume 2 (2020)	Test & Evaluation of the Safety App from 911Cellular, LLC at NIST (2017)	Study of 5G New Radio (NR) Support for Direct Mode Communications (2021)	Usability and Security Considerations for Public Safety Mobile Authentication (2016)
Voices of First Responders—Nationwide Public Safety Communication Survey Methodology: Development, Dissemination, and Demographics Phase 2, Volume 1 (2020)	PerfLoc (Part 1): An extensive data repository for development of smartphone indoor localization apps (2016)	UE-to-Network Relay Model B Discovery in ProSe-Enabled LTE Networks (2021)	Identifying and Categorizing Data Types for Public Safety Mobile Applications Workshop Report (2016)
Voices of First Responders – Examining Public Safety Communication from the Perspective of 9-1-1 Call Takers and Dispatchers Findings from User-Centered Interviews Phase 1, Volume 4 (2020)	Geolocation Techniques: Principles and Applications (2013)	Evaluation of Timers Related to ProSe-based UE-to-Network Relays (2021)	Considerations for Identity Management in Public Safety Networks (2015)
Voices of First Responders – Examining Public Safety Communication from the Rural Perspective: Findings from User-Centered Interviews Phase 1, Volume 3 (2019)	RFID-based localization and tracking technologies (2011)	Study of Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network Area in Multicast Communications (2020)	Public Safety Mobile Application Security Requirements Workshop Summary (2015)
Voices of First Responders – Examining Public Safety Communication Problems and Requested Functionality: Findings from User-Centered Interviews Phase 1, Volume 2 (2019)	Emerging opportunities for localization and tracking (2011)	Bridging Analog Land Mobile Radio to LTE Mission Critical Push-to-Talk Communications (2020)
Voice of First Responders - Identifying Public Safety Communications Problems: Findings from User-Centered Interviews Phase 1, Volume 1 (2018)	A comprehensive spatial-temporal channel propagation model for the ultra-wideband spectrum 2-8 GHz (2010)	UE-to-Network Relay Discovery in ProSe-enabled LTE Networks (2020)
Public Safety User Interface R&D Summit Report (2018)	A comprehensive spatial-temporal channel propagation model for the ultra-wideband spectrum 2-8 GHz (2009)	On Selecting Channel Parameters for Public Safety Network Applications in LTE Direct (2020)
Incident Scenarios Collection for Public Safety Communications Research (2017)	An ultra-wideband radar system for through-the-wall imaging using a mobile robot (2009)	Distributed Resource Allocation Schemes for Out-of-Coverage D2D Communications (2019)
Usability Handbook for Public Safety Communications (2017)	A robust model-based approach to indoor positioning using signal strength (2008)	Mission Critical Voice QoE Access Time Measurement Methods (2019)
Public Safety User Interface R&D Roadmap (2017)	A comprehensive evaluation of joint range and angle estimation in ultra-wideband location systems for indoors (2008)	Throughput Analysis between Unicast and MBSFN from Link Level to System Level (2019)
	A novel model-based indoor positioning using signal strength (2007)	System Level Evaluation of UE-to-Network Relays in D2D-enabled LTE Networks (2019)
	Indoor localization: Technology that can save first-responder lives (2007)	Guidelines for Generating Public Safety Benchmark Scenario Set (2019)
	Distributed sensor location through linear programming with triangle inequality constraints (2007)	Access Time Analysis of MCPTT Off-Network Mode over LTE (2019)
	Robust indoor positioning based on received signal strength (2007)	Test Scenarios for Mission Critical Push-To-Talk (MCPTT) Off-Network Mode Protocols Implementation (2018)
	Emitter localization and visualization (ELVIS): A backward ray tracing algorithm for locating emitters (2007)	Performance Evaluation of LTE Device-to-Device Out-of-Coverage Communications with Frequency Hopping Resource Scheduling (2018)
	Sensor location through linear programming with arrival angle constraints (2007)	Mission Critical Voice QoE Mouth-to-Ear Latency Measurement Methods (2018)
	A comprehensive evaluation of indoor ranging using ultra-wideband technology (2007)	Increasing Public Safety Broadband Network Resiliency through Traffic Control (Elsevier Special Issue on “Resilient Networks : Modeling, Design, and Applications”) (2018)
	Application of beamforming in wireless location estimation (2006)	Enhanced Transmission Algorithm for Dynamic Device-to-Device Direct Discovery (CCNC 2018) (2018)
	An evaluation of ultra-wideband technology for indoor ranging (2006)	Process Document for the NIST List of Certified Devices (2017)
	RFID-assisted indoor localization and communication for first responders (2006)	Adaptive Synchronization Reference Selection for Out-Of-Coverage Proximity Services (PIMRC 2017) (2017)
	Distributed sensor location through linear programming with triangle inequality constraints (2006)	A Novel Adaptive Transmission Algorithm for Device-to-Device Direct Discovery (IWCMC 2017) (2017)
	Source-assisted direction estimation inside buildings (2006)	Implementation and Validation of an LTE D2D Model for ns-3 (WNS3 2017) (2017)
	Indoor positioning using spatial power spectrum (2005)	Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) in Mode 2: Performance Analysis (ICC 2017) (2017)
	Sensor location through linear programming with triangle inequality constraints (2005)	Group Discovery Time in D2D ProSe Networks (INFOCOM 2017) (2017)
	Robust location using system dynamics and motion constraints (2004)	Impact of timing on the ProSe synchronization function (CCNC 2017) (2017)
		Optimizing the UE Transmission Probability for D2D Direct Discovery (GLOBECOM 2016) (2016)
		BLER Performance Evaluation of LTE Device-to-Device Communications (NISTIR 8157) (2016)
		A Clustering-Based Device-to-Device Communication to Support Diverse Applications (RACS 2016) (2016)
		An LTE Device-to-Device module for ns-3 (WNS3 2016) (2016)
		Outdoor-to-Indoor Channel Dispersion and Power-Delay Profile Models for the 700 MHz and 4.9 GHz Bands (2015)
		Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network Deployment: Network Parameter Sensitivity Analysis (2015)
		Measuring the Resiliency of Cellular Base Station Deployments (2015)
		LTE Uplink Performance with Interference from In-Band Device-to-Device (D2D) Communications (2015)
		Peer-to-Peer Urban Channel Characteristics for Two Public-Safety Frequency Bands (2014)
		Optimizing the Location Deployment of Dynamic Mobile Base Stations (2014)
		LTE Physical Layer Performance Analysis (2014)
		Public Safety Broadband Push-to-Talk over Long Term Evolution Requirements (2013)
		Nationwide Safety: Modeling a Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (2013)

Created June 17, 2025, Updated July 21, 2025

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