PULLING THE FUTURE FORWARD

pscr.gov

ABOUT

PSCR

5 KEY 

RESEARCH AREAS

RESEARCH 

FACILITIES

RESEARCH 

PARTNERS

INTRAMURAL

IMPACTS

EXTRAMURAL

IMPACTS

The Public Safety Communications 

Research (PSCR) Division is the primary 

federal laboratory conducting research, 

development, testing, and evaluation 

for public safety communications 

technologies. It is housed within the 

Communications Technology Laboratory 

(CTL) at the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST). It 

addresses the R&D necessary for critical 

features identified by public safety 

entities beyond the current generation of 

broadband technology.

MISSION

PSCR is driven towards advancing public 

safety communications technologies 

by accelerating the adoption and 

implementation of the most critical 

communications capabilities to ensure the 

public safety community can more effectively 

carry out their mission to protect lives and 

property during day-to-day operations, large 

scale events, and emergencies.

PROMISE

PSCR accelerates innovation by investing in 

research to transform the future of public safety 

communications, technology, and operations.
PULLING THE FUTURE FORWARD

pscr.gov

ABOUT

PSCR

5 KEY 

RESEARCH AREAS

RESEARCH 

FACILITIES

RESEARCH 

PARTNERS

INTRAMURAL

IMPACTS

EXTRAMURAL

IMPACTS

USER INTERFACE

USER EXPERIENCE

LOCATION-BASED 

SERVICES

MISSION CRITICAL 

VOICE

SECURITY UNCREWED 

AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS
PULLING THE FUTURE FORWARD

pscr.gov

ABOUT

PSCR

5 KEY 

RESEARCH AREAS

RESEARCH 

FACILITIES

RESEARCH 

PARTNERS

INTRAMURAL

IMPACTS

EXTRAMURAL

IMPACTS

RESEARCH FACILITIES

Public Safety Innovation Lab

40–Gigabit 

Core LTE 

Network

P25 Phase 1 & 2 

LMR System

2 RF Chambers 

for Testing 

Devices

Interoperability Lab 

Interconnecting LMR 

and LTE Systems

Virtual and 

Augmented 

Reality Lab

Mobile Reseach 

Vehicle for Field 

Measurements

Public Safety Immersive Test Center

A Modular 

Layout

A Motion Capture System with 62 

High Speed Optical Tracking Cameras 

Capable of Centimeter Accuracy

A Variety of Augmented 

& Virtual Reality 

Headsets

A Mobile Staircase & 

Other Equipment for 

Z-Axis Motion

Physical Furniture and 

Gear to Add a Tactile 

Component to Simulations
PULLING THE FUTURE FORWARD

pscr.gov

ABOUT

PSCR

5 KEY 

RESEARCH AREAS

RESEARCH 

FACILITIES

RESEARCH 

PARTNERS

INTRAMURAL

IMPACTS

EXTRAMURAL

IMPACTS
PULLING THE FUTURE FORWARD

pscr.gov

ABOUT

PSCR

5 KEY 

RESEARCH AREAS

RESEARCH 

FACILITIES

RESEARCH 

PARTNERS

INTRAMURAL

IMPACTS

EXTRAMURAL

IMPACTS

PRODUCTS

Measurement Method Metrics

Public Safety 

Analytics 

Open Framework

XR Test Bed 

for Usability

Public Safety 

Push-To-Talk 

Modeling

MCV Quality Of 

Experience

Indoor 

Localization 

Accuracy

Research Tools

18 Open Source 

Software 96 Publications

Standards

LTE

483 Contributions for Public 

Safety Service & Feature 

Requirements, Architecture, 

& Protocol Specifications

LMR 

to LTE

3GPP-Standards Based LMR to 

LTE Interfaces for Public Safety

REACH

Hosted Events

More than

85 Stakeholder 

Engagements Since 2016

Lab visitors

More than

2200

On-site and Virtual 

Visitors Since 2016

STAFF

43 Staff Members Working 

on PSCR’s Mission
PULLING THE FUTURE FORWARD

pscr.gov

ABOUT

PSCR

5 KEY 

RESEARCH AREAS

RESEARCH 

FACILITIES

RESEARCH 

PARTNERS

INTRAMURAL

IMPACTS

EXTRAMURAL

IMPACTS

EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH

Grants and Cooperative agreements

In Grants 

Awarded to Date

$90.3M+

Total Award Recipients, 

Subcontractors, and Public 

Safety Practitioners

247

Publically Available Open 

Source Code including VR 

Environments & Analytics 

Frameworks

20+

Patents Developed for 

Spectronn (A Resilient 

Systems Award 

Recipient)

2

Patent Applications 

Submitted for LocationBased Services Award 

Recipients

8

Open innovation

Winners

from

31 STATES

&

7 COUNTRIES

20

Challenges

Launched

246

Winning

Teams

$5.3M+

In Prizes 

Awarded 

To Date

603

Prizes 

Awarded

848

Total 

Submissions

Which words best describe PSCR’s Annual 

Stakeholder Meeting?

Research Publications

152 PSIAP Award Recipient 

Publications

132 Professional Journal/

Conference Proceedings 20 Other

Publications