White Paper

The impact of LTE on the

LMR Industry
 Introduction
One of the hottest topics in the
Land Mobile Radio (LMR)
industry today is the use of
private Long Term Evolution
(LTE). Although there is a
plethora of information available
regarding LTE and how it will
affect the LMR industry, many
questions remain unanswered.
One of the most common
questions that is being asked is:
“Does the emergence of LTE
mark the beginning of the end
for traditional LMR Standards
such as P25 and TETRA?” While,
this is a difficult question to
answer, most experts do not
believe this to be the case.
However, many believe that a
profound transformation is going to happen, and everyone in the LMR community needs to
understand what these changes may be.
This paper will delve into the LTE/LMR discussion and will present some facts so that readers can
determine for themselves what impact LTE will have on them. Every segment of the LMR industry will
be affected in some way, but exactly how much LTE will affect an individual or organization will depend
on what that individual’s or organization’s roles are. For instance, frontline users; such as the
firefighters and police officers on the streets will probably not care about LTE all
that much. All they are concerned with is that whatever equipment they are
given works reliably every time. It doesn’t matter if the underlying technology is
The driving factor
LTE, P25, TETRA, or analog. They just need a communications system that will for adopting LTE in
be there when their safety is on the line.
the LMR industry is
LTE is well established in the consumer market, but enhancements to the standard
to specifically address the needs of Public Safety/Critical Communications are the increased need
required. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is in charge of the LTE for broadband data
standards and has been working hard over the past several years to incorporate
the necessary changes to the LTE standards to address the needs of the Public applications.
Safety community.
The driving factor for adopting LTE in the LMR industry is the increased need for broadband data
applications. For instance, many police departments are outfitting their officers with video cameras
both for their safety and to document encounters in case there are questions or lawsuits that arise
from an incident. Most of these devices can only record the events and cannot stream the video in real
time. There is a strong desire for real time situational awareness, and an LTE enabled recording device
can relay the live video stream back to a command center where commanders can maintain real time
tactical situational awareness.
All of the leading LMR equipment manufacturers such as Motorola, Harris, Tait, Kenwood, Hytera, etc.
have already embraced LTE. Many of these manufacturers have either already released or is about to
release combined LTE/LMR solutions. With the rise in hybrid LTE/LMR devices, operators and
maintainers will require test equipment to test both LTE and LMR equipment.

2
Why is there a demand for LTE?
Public safety professionals need a reliable broadband communications system to aid them in their life
saving missions. Many tasks require broadband services such as when these first responders need to
access data intensive applications, search databases, or share videos. Today, smartphones on cellular
networks are much more powerful communications devices than the typical LMR systems used by the
public safety community. There is a clear need for rugged, easy-to-use devices designed to meet public safety
requirements and to provide advanced features and services that enhance their ability to do their jobs.
On February 22, 2012, the United States Congress created the First Responder
Network Authority (FirstNet) with the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation
Act”, which allocated 20 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum and $7 billion US dollars to LTE technology
support the creation of a nationwide broadband network. The law mandates enables very high-
FirstNet to build, operate and maintain the first high-speed, nationwide wireless
broadband network dedicated to public safety. The network must be an speed data
interoperable platform used for emergency and daily public safety communications. communications
Enhanced data services is one of the main driving forces that makes LTE attractive that is not possible
for Public Safety. LTE technology enables very high-speed data
communications that is not possible with current LMR technologies. LTE was with current LMR
designed to deliver high bandwidth mobile data which allows mobile devices to technologies.
stream video or to transfer large amounts of data quickly. The three most
influential public-safety organizations in the United States; the Association of
Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), the National Emergency Number Association (NENA)
and the National Public-Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC), have endorsed LTE as the
technological standard for the FirstNet national broadband network for first responders.
LTE adoption is not limited to the United States. It is being adopted throughout the world as the
technology of choice for nationwide broadband public safety networks. For instance, in the United
Kingdom, the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) is using LTE to as their
next generation communication system for the 3 emergency services (police, fire and rescue, and
ambulance) and other public safety users. In July 2014, the South Korean government adopted plans to
build a nationwide LTE broadband public safety network to be deployed by 2017. The Australia
government has also allocated spectrum for a nationwide broadband LTE public safety network.

3GPP Enhancements to LTE for Critical Communications

LTE networks currently deliver extremely fast data, but current voice
services do not have all the features required for mission critical Release 12 is one of the
communications. As LTE technology evolves, it will include mission
critical voice communications as well. biggest standards that
For the past several years, 3GPP has been working with LMR industry 3GPP has ever released
groups such as the Association of Public-Safety Communications with a significant portion
Officials (APCO - P25), European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI - TETRA), TETRA and Critical Communications Association (about 70%) of the new
(TCCA), US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to features directly
ensure broad representation on adding necessary features to support
mission critical applications for the public safety community. Releases enhancing mission
12 [1][2] and 13 [3][4] of the 3GPP LTE specification adds significant features critical applications in
for true mission critical functionality.
one way or another.
Release 12 is one of the biggest standards that 3GPP has ever released
with a significant portion (about 70%) of the new features directly
enhancing mission critical applications in one way or another. Two main features have been added to
address public safety applications: Proximity Services and Group Call System Enablers. In addition,
many new security features have been added to protect the system from unauthorized users,
eavesdropping, denial of service attacks, and other security risks.

3
 Proximity Services allow mobiles to identify other mobiles in physical proximity and enables optimized
Direct Device-to-Device calls (one-to-one). Direct Device-to-Device calls allow first responders to
communicate with each other even when the network is down or where no network exists. Direct
communication means mobiles can connect without transiting via the network, which saves valuable
network resources. The 3GPP definition of proximity services also includes some features that are
exclusively for public safety applications. The feature “User equipment to network relay”, allows one
mobile to act as a relay for another and provides access to network services outside the normal
network coverage area. Another feature, “User equipment to user equipment relay”, allows one mobile
to act as a relay point between two others and allows communication to take place without going via
the network even if the communicating mobiles are out of range for direct communication.
Another important feature required for Public Safety/Critical Communications is Mission Critical Push-
To-Talk (MCPTT), which is included in LTE Release 13 and was “frozen” by the 3GPP standards body in
March of 2016 in Sweden. Mission Critical PTT is expected to have the features and functionality
equivalent to current LMR systems. Commercially available products generally follow about two years
after a standard is finalized, so the first systems with MCPTT may be available as early as 2018.
3GPP is continuing to adding more public safety features to LTE. Work has already started on LTE Release 14,
which could define mission-critical video and data. Release 14 has a targeted completion date of June 2017.

Will LTE replace Traditional LMR Technologies?

The major LMR vendors are shifting their focus to LTE, but does that mean the end of innovation
and support for LMR technologies? The consensus of industry experts is NO. LMR is not going to be
replaced by LTE any time soon and all the venders will continue to innovate and support LMR
technologies for the foreseeable future. There are many factors in favor of LMR staying relevant
for a very long time. It is likely that LTE will augment instead of replace LMR for at least a decade
or more.
The number one factor for LMR staying relevant is cost. Many LMR operators have just finished
converting from analog systems to digital systems such as P25, TETRA, and DMR. P25 and TETRA
have been around for over 20 years (P25 was introduced in 1989 and TETRA in 1995) and yet, many
operators are just now transitioning over to a digital standard or are still running analog systems.
A major reason for the slow adoption rate is cost. This will be the same for system owners
considering LTE. The more likely scenario will be augmenting existing LMR voice systems with LTE
for data services. In fact, in the initial roll out of FirstNet, LTE is considered to be a complementary
enabler to public safety systems that will sit on top of existing LMR voice systems. In addition to
the cost of new equipment and infrastructure, LTE requires much more bandwidth than narrow
band LMR systems and the need for sufficient spectrum is a barrier for scalable deployments
throughout the world.
Another import factor is the technical challenges installers, maintainers, and operators will face. One of
the reasons LTE was selected as the technology of choice for broadband communications for the public
safety sector is because it is the same technology being rolled out by commercial operators, so it
should be well understood and easy to install, use, and maintain. However, keep in mind that LTE
systems for Critical Communications have special features and requirements that the commercial
networks don’t have to worry about. The primary concern being that it needs to be much more reliable
as lives are at stake. It also has to operate in conjunction with existing LMR networks which are often
times in the same frequency bands. This can present challenging interference issues for system
designers, installers, and maintainers. Other technical challenges include RF coverage and other
system considerations. LMR handsets typically transmit with 3-5 Watts of power, whereas, an LTE
handset may only be capable of transmitting with about 1 Watt. This translates directly into longer
range for LMR systems. So, for an LTE network to provide the same coverage area as an LMR network,
operators will need to install many more sites spaced closer together resulting in higher equipment
and maintenance costs. Because of infrastructure costs, a broadband network at 700MHz will not be
able to replace LMR in many locations across the US due to RF propagation properties and matching
LTE to LMR coverage and reliability is just too cost prohibitive.

4
In areas where there is existing LTE infrastructure, you may question why there is a need to build a 2nd
private network when the community already has an LTE network in place. The fundamental reasons is
that although commercial LTE works, it is not built to mission critical standards of reliability. Another
important consideration is that when there is a major incident, many civilians will get on the network
and take up valuable network resources leaving no bandwidth for the public safety professionals. In a
worst case scenario, the public may overwhelm the network and all communications will be lost. This
has happened many times in large disasters. There is no way to give preemptive priority to public
safety traffic so a dedicated private network for public safety is necessary.
There are many questions and concerns by the end users about LTE that must be addressed before it is
accepted. LMR systems are a known quantity and reliable voice communications is the number one
requirement for any public safety system. Beyond reliability, one basic questions is how well will LTE be
able to handle voice and data. These questions can only be answered with empirical evidence once
actual systems are in operation.
It is very likely that it will be many years, maybe even a decade before the transition to LTE is made and
it may never fully replace LMR. It may just converge into a new hybrid LTE/LMR technology.

Test Considerations
LMR and LTE are very different technologies and require different tools for testing and maintenance.
LTE is definitely going to be used in the Public Safety/Critical Communications world. As previously
discussed, it is more than likely that LTE and LMR systems will coexist for quite a while. Supporting two
separate networks can become challenging both in terms of personnel requirements and test
equipment requirements.
FirstNet public safety LTE in the United States will occupy two blocks of spectrum at 758-768 MHz and
its duplex spectrum offset +30 MHz away at 788-798 MHz. These frequency bands are adjacent to
public safety narrowband spectrum for LMR at 769-775 MHz and its duplex pair +30 MHz away at 799-
805 MHz. A recent study conducted by the US Department of Homeland Security [5] suggests that LMR
and LTE systems operating at the frequency bands above can coexist with proper engineering design
practices and careful frequency management. Interference issues may still be of concern as the guard
band between the LTE and LMR spectra are only 1 MHz wide.

FirstNet Spectrum Allocation in the 700 MHz band

5
 Where both LTE and LMR systems are deployed along side of each other, maintainers now have to be
proficient in two very different technologies. This means additional training for installers and
maintainers or possibly even employing two separate crews, one dedicated to LTE and one to LMR.
LTE is a highly complex technology with its variable channel bandwidths and use of both MIMO and
OFDMA to support high data rates. Both LTE and LMR systems have to contend with problems such as
multipath and fading which degrades signal quality. Handheld test equipment that can deal with both
the complexity of testing LTE networks and mapping bit error rate (BER) and modulation fidelity of LMR
networks is critical to providing technicians and engineers that install and maintain public safety
communications systems with confidence that these networks will work as expected. Such
measurements often require a number of different tools, all of which must be carried into the field.
The Anritsu S412E LMR Master is the industry’s first and
only battery-powered LMR field analyzer capable of
testing both broadband LTE and narrowband LMR. It
accomplishes this by combining many of the tools
needed to install, maintain and certify LTE and LMR
systems into a single instrument with a single user
interface. The S412E includes: a 2-port vector network
analyzer (500 kHz to 1.6 GHz upgradable to 6 GHz),
spectrum analyzer (9 kHz to 1.6 GHz upgradable to 6 GHz),
LMR signal generator (500 kHz to 1.6 GHz), and internal
power meter (10 MHz to 1.6 GHz). Users can also add
optional features like an interference analyzer, coverage
mapping (indoor and outdoor), and an internal GPS
receiver. With such functionality, this compact, handheld
multi-function analyzer significantly reduces the number
of different tools technicians and engineers need to
verify operation of wireless network infrastructure and
to diagnose problems in the field.
For LTE networks, the LMR Master features a family of
optional LTE measurement capabilities that can be used
for FDD LTE test on the downlink. An RF quality analyzer
can be used to make a range of RF measurements
including channel spectrum (channel power and occupied
bandwidth), reference
signal power, and
The Anritsu S412E LMR spectral emission mask.
Master is the only Understanding how the
LTE resources are being utilized over time is critical; modulation
solution on the market displays such as Power vs. Resource Block are used to confirm signal
today that provides a level, utilization, and other critical parameters. The LMR Master also
supports Over-the-Air (OTA) scanner measurements for measuring LTE
quick, easy, and cost- DL coverage quality, including six sync power levels and dominance
effective means of greater than 10 dB. The OTA scanner validates sectors present in a
given location.
verifying the operation
Next-generation public safety communications will more than likely
of both narrowband pair narrowband LMR networks for voice with broadband LTE
LMR and broadband LTE networks for high speed data. Ensuring these networks are properly
installed and maintained is critical to ensuring mission-critical public
networks, and when safety communication and keeping the public safe. The Anritsu S412E
necessary, diagnosing LMR Master is the only solution on the market today that provides a
quick, easy, and cost-effective means of verifying the operation of both
problems. narrowband LMR and broadband LTE networks, and when necessary,
diagnosing problems.

6
References:
[1] 3GPP, “Understanding 3GPP Release 12: Standards for HSPA+ and LTE Enhancements”, Executive
Summary, February 2015
[2] 3GPP, “Overview of 3GPP Release 12”, September 2015
[3] Dino Flore, “Evolution of LTE in Release 13”, 3GPP Article, February 2015
[4] 3GPP, “Release 13 analytical view”, September 2015
[5] Department of Homeland Security, “A Case Study of Interference Between Public Safety Long Term
Evolution (LTE) And Public Safety 700 MHz Land Mobile Radio”, White Paper DHS-WP-PSC-13-06,
March 2013

7
• United States • Sweden • Singapore
Anritsu Company Anritsu AB Anritsu Pte. Ltd.
1155 East Collins Boulevard, Suite 100, Kistagången 20B, 164 40 KISTA, Sweden 11 Chang Charn Road, #04-01, Shriro House
Richardson, TX, 75081 U.S.A. Phone: +46-8-534-707-00 Singapore 159640
Toll Free: 1-800-267-4878 Fax: +46-8-534-707-30 Phone: +65-6282-2400
Phone: +1-972-644-1777 Fax: +65-6282-2533
• Finland
Fax: +1-972-671-1877
Anritsu AB • P. R. China (Shanghai)
• Canada Teknobulevardi 3-5, FI-01530 VANTAA, Finland Anritsu (China) Co., Ltd.
Anritsu Electronics Ltd. Phone: +358-20-741-8100 27th Floor, Tower A,
700 Silver Seven Road, Suite 120, Fax: +358-20-741-8111 New Caohejing International Business Center
Kanata, Ontario K2V 1C3, Canada No. 391 Gui Ping Road Shanghai, Xu Hui Di District,
• Denmark
Phone: +1-613-591-2003 Shanghai 200233, P.R. China
Fax: +1-613-591-1006 Anritsu A/S Phone: +86-21-6237-0898
Kay Fiskers Plads 9, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark Fax: +86-21-6237-0899
• Brazil Phone: +45-7211-2200
Anritsu Electrônica Ltda. Fax: +45-7211-2210 • P. R. China (Hong Kong)
Praça Amadeu Amaral, 27 - 1 Andar Anritsu Company Ltd.
• Russia
01327-010 - Bela Vista - Sao Paulo - SP - Brazil Unit 1006-7, 10/F., Greenfield Tower, Concordia Plaza,
Phone: +55-11-3283-2511 Anritsu EMEA Ltd. No. 1 Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East,
Fax: +55-11-3288-6940 Representation Office in Russia Kowloon, Hong Kong, P. R. China
Tverskaya str. 16/2, bld. 1, 7th floor. Phone: +852-2301-4980
• Mexico Moscow, 125009, Russia Fax: +852-2301-3545
Anritsu Company, S.A. de C.V. Phone: +7-495-363-1694
Av. Ejército Nacional No. 579 Piso 9, Col. Granada Fax: +7-495-935-8962
• Japan
11520 México, D.F., México Anritsu Corporation
Phone: +52-55-1101-2370 • Spain 8-5, Tamura-cho, Atsugi-shi,
Fax: +52-55-5254-3147 Anritsu EMEA Ltd. Kanagawa, 243-0016 Japan
Representation Office in Spain Phone: +81-46-296-6509
• United Kingdom
Edificio Cuzco IV, Po. de la Castellana, 141, Pta. 8 Fax: +81-46-225-8359
Anritsu EMEA Ltd. 28046, Madrid, Spain
200 Capability Green, Luton, Bedfordshire LU1 3LU, U.K. • Korea
Phone: +34-915-726-761
Phone: +44-1582-433280 Fax: +34-915-726-621
Anritsu Corporation, Ltd.
Fax: +44-1582-731303 5FL, 235 Pangyoyeok-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si,
• United Arab Emirates Gyeonggi-do, 13494 Korea
• France
Anritsu EMEA Ltd. Phone: +82-31-696-7750
Anritsu S.A.
Dubai Liaison Office Fax: +82-31-696-7751
12 avenue du Québec, Batiment Iris 1-Silic 612,
P O Box 500413 - Dubai Internet City • Australia
91140 Villebon-sur-Yvette, France
Al Thuraya Building, Tower 1, Suite 701, 7th floor Anritsu Pty Ltd.
Phone: +33-1-60-92-15-50
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Fax: +33-1-64-46-10-65 Unit 20, 21-35 Ricketts Road,
Phone: +971-4-3670352
Mount Waverley, Victoria 3149, Australia
• Germany Fax: +971-4-3688460
Phone: +61-3-9558-8177
Anritsu GmbH • India Fax: +61-3-9558-8255
Nemetschek Haus, Konrad-Zuse-Platz 1 Anritsu India Pvt Ltd.
81829 München, Germany • Taiwan
2nd & 3rd Floor, #837/1, Binnamangla 1st Stage, Anritsu Company Inc.
Phone: +49-89-442308-0
Indiranagar, 100ft Road, Bangalore - 560038, India
Fax: +49-89-442308-55 7F, No. 316, Sec. 1, Neihu Rd., Taipei 114, Taiwan
Phone: +91-80-4058-1300
Phone: +886-2-8751-1816
• Italy Fax: +91-80-4058-1301
Fax: +886-2-8751-1817
Anritsu S.r.l.
Via Elio Vittorini 129, 00144 Roma Italy
Phone: +39-06-509-9711
Fax: +39-06-502-2425

®Anritsu All trademarks are registered trademarks of their 11410-00961, Rev. A Printed in United States 2016-06
respective companies. Data subject to change without notice. ©2016 Anritsu Company. All Rights Reserved.
For the most recent specifications visit: www.anritsu.com