“In this context, TETRA’s ability to gather real-time data about the progress – or not – of all the processes involved in turning aircraft around on the ground provides the information needed by both ATC controllers and the destination airport to refine their own schedules as conditions change. Air-Radio is currently running just such a trial at Manchester Airport in the UK.

“Even without this wider integration, the ability to gather data about events means that all the different service companies involved can now start to measure performance efficiencies in easily quantifiable ways and continue to improve their quality of service.”

Security and safety

TETRA’s public safety roots also find a resonance these days in the airport environment with the continuing focus on security and employee safety. Many vendors emphasize the technology’s continued resilience while public wireless networks may crash or overload in the event of an emergency.

Of particular relevance here is the support that TETRA provides for GPS location data. While obviously useful in day-to-day operations such as tracking refuelling tankers, GPS can also ensure that security patrols go where and when they are supposed to – and that when equipped with movement detector ‘man down’ sensors, can rapidly and automatically get help to where it’s needed. In this context, it’s interesting to see that a number of vendors are now also supporting Bluetooth-based positioning solutions such as those supplied by companies such as Zonith, which will work indoors where GPS signals are blocked.

TETRA’s historical requirement to be robust, however, also extends to the sometimes harsh operating conditions that handsets and terminal equipment have to face – and the fact that they will very often be in almost constant use across different shifts.

Baggage handlers,, in particular, have a reputation for careless treatment – and some anecdotal evidence suggests that, at least in the past, they sometimes weren’t above deliberately dropping and breaking their handsets to get a temporary break from work.

The increasing relevance of data applications in this environment is also leading to the development of innovative, ruggedized devices such as the TETRATab, the first TETRA-enabled tablet PC. 

And the future…

While most of the focus on TETRA in airports has so far involved using standard aspects of the technology, work is underway in a number of quarters to look at how the bandwidths of TETRA solutions can be increased beyond the comparatively low speeds of TEDS.

Implicit in this is how TETRA can co-exist and interact with other communications and wireless bearer technologies that can deliver new functionalities and high speeds, such as WiMAX and Wi-Fi. TETRA has a significant advantage here in that it is part of the ETSI family of standards and its development can be co-ordinated with other wireless technologies. 

For Iain Ivory, senior solutions marketing manager at Motorola, it’s all about anticipating the future needs of the airport environment – but also understanding its limitations: “TETRA’s already taken advantage of the cost-efficiency benefits of IP in the actual infrastructure and is now extending that to exploit SIP, for example, in interfacing with VoIP systems.

“While a great deal can be done to improve efficiencies by refining existing technologies – such as using customized control heads on terminals, integrating browser applications to use WAP-based data, and accessing the skills of the specialist application developer community – bringing true wireless broadband into the mix can be problematic because of spectrum availability.

“That said, there are a number of techniques that can be used to boost capacity – and that might include using secure Wi-Fi in parts of the airport and using TEDS in the apron environment.”

Hitting the sweet spots

That perennial problem of spectrum availability isn’t – as yet – such an issue outside the crowded frequencies of parts of Western Europe. In other parts of the world, such as Asia, South Africa and the Middle East, TETRA is proving extremely successful – and interest in TETRA solutions is already emerging in Latin America, a traditional adopter of US standards.

David Taylor, lead consultant and TETRA specialist at the consultancy Analysys Mason, comments: “In some situations, non-traditional TETRA frequencies are being used at both higher and lower ends of the spectrum. In Western Europe – and in particular dense countries like the UK that have already deployed nationwide TETRA systems for emergency service use – spectrum availability can be an issue and needs careful planning.”

TETRA’s ability to hit multiple ‘sweet spots’ in the airport environment – especially when properly integrated into wider resource planning, decision support and operational systems and activities – means that it has a major role to play in making airports and the whole of civil aviation safer, more efficient, cheaper to operate and – potentially – greener. 
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