Lack of radio interoperability is a major concern in the Public Safety sector, according to an 84-page study commissioned by the Software Defined Radio (SDR) Forum. The study, "The US Public Safety Market," was based on interviews with public safety communications officials from around the United States. It provides a comprehensive look at a market consisting of federal, state, and local agencies; city, county, and regional jurisdictions; and police, fire, and emergency medical functions. The report points out that these subsectors have traditionally maintained their own public land mobile radio (PLMR) systems but that the systems were incompatible with each other. The use of software-defined-radio (SDR) technology has the potential to meet the communications needs of each organization while providing much needed compatibility.
SDR Forum (www.sdrforum.org)