U.S. flag
      An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.
        Here's how you know
      Here's how you know**Official websites use .gov**
            
            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
      **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
            
            A **lock** (
            A locked padlock
            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Menu

      
        close

            
            
                                              About NIJ
        
                    
  
          About NIJ
      
    
          The NIJ Director
          How NIJ Is Organized
          Mission and Guiding Principles
          Research and Development Process
          Strategic Framework
          Assessments of NIJ
          Annual Reports & Reports to Congress
          Staff Directory
          Funding & Awards
        
                    
  
          Funding & Awards
      
    
          Current Funding
          Forthcoming Funding
          Expired Funding
          Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
          Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
          Fellowship & Student Programs
          Travel Scholarships
          NIJ Challenge Program
          Library & Multimedia
        
                    
  
          Library & Multimedia
      
    
          NIJ Journal
          Podcasts
          Publications Listing
          Multimedia Listing
          Rated Practices on CrimeSolutions
          Rated Programs on CrimeSolutions
          Software & Databases
          Datasets
          Patents
          Topics
        
                    
  
          Topics
      
    
          Article Listing
          Corrections
          Courts
          Crime Prevention
          Crimes
          Drugs and Crime
          Equipment and Technology
          Forensic Sciences
          Youth Justice
          Justice System Reform
          Law Enforcement
          Tribal Crime and Justice
          Victims of Crime
          Events
        
                    
  
          Events
      
    
          NIJ 2024 Research Conference
          Scheduled Events
          On-Demand Events
          Research Meetings & Workshops
          NIJ-Hosted Online Training

                            
                                About
          Contact Us
          Subscribe
          Topics A-Z
                  Share
FacebookXLinkedInRedditPinterestEmail Home
                            Funding & Awards
 Software Radio Infrastructure for Interoperability
Note:
              This awardee has received supplemental funding. This award detail page includes information about both the original award and supplemental awards.
Award Information
Awardee
              Vanu, Inc.
Award #
              2000-MU-CX-K024
Funding Category
              Continuation
Location
                    Cambridge, MA
Awardee County
              MIDDLESEX
Congressional District
              7
Status
              Closed
Funding First Awarded
              2000
Total funding (to date)
              $289,709
Original Solicitation
              Enhancing DNA ID Capabilities for Reduction of Violent Crime
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2000, $169,973)
Project summary for 2000-MU-CX-K024
Vanu, Inc. proposes to evaluate the feasibility of using software radio technology in the communications infrastructure of a typical public safety agency. They propose to do this by investigating three key technical areas. These include: the radio frequency (RF) "front end" of the software radio; fail-over mechanism; and system scalability. The RF front end work is necessary because the radio communications of public safety today is spread over 10 different radio frequency bands and there is no single product which meets the dynamic range needs of public safety over all 10 bands, simultaneously. This will be necessary if software radios are to be incorporated into the wireless infrastructure of public safety and be used to overcome interoperability issues. Fail-over mechanisms are necessary, due to the extreme importance and criticality of public safety voice communications. They cannot afford to have a simple misunderstanding if the software radio fails. There needs to be an instantaneous switch to a back-up device. Finally, it is one thing to demonstrate one or two software radios operating by themselves. It is another thing to demonstrate software radio architecture supporting an entire communications system. The issue of scalability is critical and must be addressed if software radio is to ever migrate to the "real world". 

At the completion of this project, we should know if software radio infrastructure is viable in the near future (3-5 years). If so, this would mean that software radio could support multiple air-standards in different bands simultaneously, enabling interoperability between commercial and law enforcement systems. It would also enable interoperability between systems in any public safety radio band without exchanging or modifying existing handsets in any way. This dual use can greatly decrease the cost of law enforcement infrastructure where the coverage areas of commercial and law enforcement systems overlap. The software radio infrastructure also provides a migration path, via software upgrades, to new standards for both voice and wideband data systems.
Supplemental Award 1 (Fiscal Year 2000, $119,736)
Project summary for 2000-MU-CX-K024
Vanu, Inc. proposes to evaluate the feasibility of using software radio technology in the communications infrastructure of a typical public safety agency. They propose to do this by investigating three key technical areas. These include: the radio frequency (RF) "front end" of the software radio; fail-over mechanism; and system scalability. The RF front end work is necessary because the radio communications of public safety today is spread over 10 different radio frequency bands and there is no single product which meets the dynamic range needs of public safety over all 10 bands, simultaneously. This will be necessary if software radios are to be incorporated into the wireless infrastructure of public safety and be used to overcome interoperability issues. Fail-over mechanisms are necessary, due to the extreme importance and criticality of public safety voice communications. They cannot afford to have a simple misunderstanding if the software radio fails. There needs to be an instantaneous switch to a back-up device. Finally, it is one thing to demonstrate one or two software radios operating by themselves. It is another thing to demonstrate software radio architecture supporting an entire communications system. The issue of scalability is critical and must be addressed if software radio is to ever migrate to the "real world".
At the completion of this project, we should know if software radio infrastructure is viable in the near future (3-5 years). If so, this would mean that software radio could support multiple air-standards in different bands simultaneously, enabling interoperability between commercial and law enforcement systems. It would also enable interoperability between systems in any public safety radio band without exchanging or modifying existing handsets in any way. This dual use can greatly decrease the cost of law enforcement infrastructure where the coverage areas of commercial and law enforcement systems overlap. The software radio infrastructure also provides a migration path, via software upgrades, to new standards for both voice and wideband data systems.


  
Grant-Funded Publications
        
                      Experiences implementing GSM in RDL (the Vanu Radio Description Language/sup/spl trade//)

  
Date Created: September 29, 2000
    
          Side navigation
  

        

  
  
              Current Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Forthcoming Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Expired Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
    
      
            
            
            
      Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
    
      
            
            
            
      Fellowship & Student Programs
    
      
            
            
            
      Travel Scholarships
    
      
            
            
            
      NIJ Challenge ProgramSimilar Awards
        
                      Police Supervision Redux: Examining Police Supervision in the 21st Century
                  Internal Affairs Complaint Investigations: A Multi-Site Comparison
                  Quantitative and visual prediction of eye, hair and skin color from DNA
 Top

      National Institute of Justice

        
        
                        About NIJ
                    About NIJ
      
    
                  How NIJ Is Organized
      
    
                  NIJ Director
      
    
                  Research Disclaimer
      
    
                  Funding & Awards
                    Funding & Awards Home
      
    
                  Awards Listing
      
    
                  Current Funding
      
    
                  Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
      
    
                  Resources
                    Events
      
    
                  Podcasts
      
    
                  Publications
      
    
                  Topics
      
    
                  Multimedia
      
    
                  Reuse Policy
      
    
                  Contacts
                    Contact NIJ
      
    
                  Staff Directory
      
    
                  Submit a FOIA Request
      
    
                  File a Civil Rights ComplaintFacebook
          
                      X
          
                      YouTube
  

      810 7th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20531
      
              Secondary Footer link menu
            Accessibility
              Plain Language
              Privacy Policy
              Legal Policies and Disclaimer
              No FEAR Act
              Freedom of Information Act
              USA.gov
              Justice.gov