Nokia selected by California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to upgrade statewide microwave network to support first responder communications

• The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) is the Emergency Management authority responsible for the coordination of overall state agency response to disasters for the more than 38 million residents within 163,695 square miles of the state of California
• The network upgrade to CAPSNET (California Public Safety Microwave Network) is based on Nokia’s industry-leading Wavence™ microwave packet radio portfolio and the 7705 Service Aggregation Router (SAR) portfolio to support both legacy and new services well into the future

Nokia has been selected by Cal OES Public Safety Communications office to upgrade CAPSNET, which is operated by Cal OES Public Safety Communications and supports the communications needs of many key state and local government public safety agencies. The network upgrade is part of a solution to transform the current time division multiplexing (TDM) technology system to support more advanced Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks. This will enable Cal OES to continue providing highly reliable and secure connectivity for first responders, while enhancing the network to provide higher capacity and improved availability wherever needed, both now and into the future.

The upgrade is based on Nokia’s Wavence and 7705 SAR portfolios and incorporates features specifically designed to address Cal OES’ unique needs. For the project, Nokia is replacing legacy hybrid microwave equipment with new packet-based technology while retaining full TDM interoperability. This approach will enable Cal OES to expand its bandwidth to support new IP-based applications while also increasing reliability and availability of the network, without impacting existing applications.

Andy Cobb, Area Vice President, Public Safety, Nokia, said: “For nearly half a century, CAPSNET has consistently provided dependable service to its agencies during disasters. Nokia looks forward to working with Cal OES to modernize CAPSNET’s capabilities beyond what has historically been provided to what is now required to meet the public safety community’s needs in the new digital age.”

The Nokia Wavence is a packet-based platform that supports legacy TDM traffic and new Layer 2 and Layer 3 services. Nokia’s solution to the state also includes its latest addition to the Wavence product family, the new Microwave Packet Transceiver Plus (MPT-HLC Plus). This provides increased capacity utilizing industry leading 4096 QAM and up to 7.5 dB more in system gain. Higher system gain can reduce the size of antennas required, lessen tower loading and extend the path distance, eliminating expensive repeater sites or just improving the availability of existing paths. The Cal OES network also includes Nokia’s Network Services Platform (NSP) enabling automation to assist in delivering transport services faster and dynamic assurance for operating the network with maximum performance and reliability.

Source: Nokia Communications media announcement