Radio Communications for Emergency Responders in Large Public Buildings: Comparing Analog and Digital Modulation

Published

March 7, 2006

Author(s)

Catherine A. Remley, Marc Rutschlin, Dylan F. Williams, Robert T. Johnk, Galen H. Koepke, Christopher L. Holloway, Mike G. Worrell, Andy MacFarlane

Abstract

To assess in-building radio coverage, in 2004 the City of Phoenix Fire Department carried out extensive testing of their radio systems. They deployed firefighters in standard configurations in a variety of buildings, and rated on a scale of 1 to 5 the audio quality of the received signals. To provide a link between the qualitative ratings and absolute field strength, NIST staff later carried out a series of measurements side-by-side with the Phoenix firefighters. The calibrated data from the NIST tests enables translation of the larger set of Phoenix Fire Department data into transferable values useful to industry, standards organizations, and other public-safety groups. We report here on a subset of these tests that compare analog and digitally modulated signals at 800 MHz.

Proceedings Title

International Symposium on Advanced Radio Technologies

Conference Dates

March 7-9, 2006

Conference Location

Boulder, CO

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

communications receiver, digital modulation, public safety communications, telecommunications

Citation

Remley, C. , Rutschlin, M. , Williams, D. , Johnk, R. , Koepke, G. , Holloway, C. , Worrell, M. and MacFarlane, A. (2006), Radio Communications for Emergency Responders in Large Public Buildings: Comparing Analog and Digital Modulation, International Symposium on Advanced Radio Technologies, Boulder, CO, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=32184 (Accessed October 20, 2025)