APCO-16
Encyclopedia
Project 16 or APCO Project 16 was a standard development effort started in the 1970s by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International
(APCO), a trade association of mostly police and fire service providers. The program was funded by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
(LEAA), a part of the US Department of Justice.
s, APCO Project 16 is a standard describing the characteristics and capabilities of public safety trunked radio system
s such as:
With the Federal Communications Commission's
pending release of the first 800 MHzThe report said 900 MHz but this is believed to be a typographical error. The Department of General Services report should read, 800 MHz instead of 900 MHz. band licenses, the LEAA funded a project to develop required capabilities and standards needed in trunked
public safety two-way radio
systems. The report defined proposed methods for frequency reuse, coordination, and interference reduction. The standards also gained acceptance in businesses such as Specialized Mobile Radio
, utility communications systems, and refineries.
The study concluded that those frequencies would be suitable for Public Safety mobile radio uses. The study recognized that certain technical problems like "picket fencing", foliage interference and abrupt signal fall out posed some minor problems, also addressed concerns about health effects from 800 MHz transmitters but did not reveal definitive findings.. The availability of the significant additional spectrum and the long term possibility of the eventual collocation of nearly all Public Safety communications into one segment of the spectrum far outweighed these problems.
While the program succeeded in creating basic performance standards and feature sets, it failed to create a signaling
standard. The result: three companies built APCO Project 16 compliant systems but radios from each manufacturer were incompatible with one another. In California
, for example, University of California, Riverside
bought a Motorola system and the County of Riverside
purchased a General Electric. In order to communicate, some patch or other custom-built link would have to be installed. Intercommunication was possible but not seamless.
A by product of the work on Project 16 was the recognition that the problems of interagency cooperation inherent in the then standard allocations of separate frequencies to separate functions and agencies in the Public Safety Service might be solved by the use of digital addressing, trunking techniques.
The group element would permit routine unit communications privacy among members of a group while permitting the intercommunications between groups as controlled by a central "group assignment" controller. The extent of the scope of such intra unit coordination would be limited only by the design of the management structure involved and limitations of the addressing and control mechanism technology.
APCO has removed it from their web site. -->
Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International was founded in 1935 and is the world's largest organization dedicated to public safety telecommunications.APCO has developed several standards that bear its name...
(APCO), a trade association of mostly police and fire service providers. The program was funded by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration was a U.S. federal agency within the U.S. Dept. of Justice. It administered federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies, and funded educational programs, research, state planning agencies, and local crime initiatives.The LEAA was...
(LEAA), a part of the US Department of Justice.
Details
In telecommunicationTelecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s, APCO Project 16 is a standard describing the characteristics and capabilities of public safety trunked radio system
Trunked radio system
A trunked radio system is a complex type of computer-controlled radio system. Trunked systems use a few channels , and can have virtually unlimited talkgroups. The control channel computer sends packets of data to enable one talkgroup to talk together, regardless of frequency...
s such as:
- channel access times
- automated priority recognition
- data systems interface
- individuality of system users
- command and control flexibility
- system growth capability
- frequency use
- reliability
With the Federal Communications Commission's
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
pending release of the first 800 MHzThe report said 900 MHz but this is believed to be a typographical error. The Department of General Services report should read, 800 MHz instead of 900 MHz. band licenses, the LEAA funded a project to develop required capabilities and standards needed in trunked
Trunked radio system
A trunked radio system is a complex type of computer-controlled radio system. Trunked systems use a few channels , and can have virtually unlimited talkgroups. The control channel computer sends packets of data to enable one talkgroup to talk together, regardless of frequency...
public safety two-way radio
Two-way radio
A two-way radio is a radio that can both transmit and receive , unlike a broadcast receiver which only receives content. The term refers to a personal radio transceiver that allows the operator to have a two-way conversation with other similar radios operating on the same radio frequency...
systems. The report defined proposed methods for frequency reuse, coordination, and interference reduction. The standards also gained acceptance in businesses such as Specialized Mobile Radio
Specialized Mobile Radio
Specialized Mobile Radio may be an analog or digital trunked two-way radio system, operated by a service in the VHF, 220, UHF, 700, 800 or 900 MHz bands. Some systems with advanced features are referred to as an Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio, . Specialized Mobile Radio is a term defined...
, utility communications systems, and refineries.
The study concluded that those frequencies would be suitable for Public Safety mobile radio uses. The study recognized that certain technical problems like "picket fencing", foliage interference and abrupt signal fall out posed some minor problems, also addressed concerns about health effects from 800 MHz transmitters but did not reveal definitive findings.. The availability of the significant additional spectrum and the long term possibility of the eventual collocation of nearly all Public Safety communications into one segment of the spectrum far outweighed these problems.
While the program succeeded in creating basic performance standards and feature sets, it failed to create a signaling
Signalling (telecommunications)
In telecommunication, signaling has the following meanings:*the use of signals for controlling communications...
standard. The result: three companies built APCO Project 16 compliant systems but radios from each manufacturer were incompatible with one another. In California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, for example, University of California, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of the ten general campuses of the University of California system. UCR is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the United...
bought a Motorola system and the County of Riverside
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...
purchased a General Electric. In order to communicate, some patch or other custom-built link would have to be installed. Intercommunication was possible but not seamless.
A by product of the work on Project 16 was the recognition that the problems of interagency cooperation inherent in the then standard allocations of separate frequencies to separate functions and agencies in the Public Safety Service might be solved by the use of digital addressing, trunking techniques.
Project 16A
A follow-on project titled APCO Project 16A was funded by a second LEAA grant. It addressed a proposal to open the 800 MHz band. This program defined technical details such as "channel access time," "system growth capability," and "reliability." Project 16A identified the organizational advantages that would accrue from assigning individual unit addresses and adding an additional "group" address element.The group element would permit routine unit communications privacy among members of a group while permitting the intercommunications between groups as controlled by a central "group assignment" controller. The extent of the scope of such intra unit coordination would be limited only by the design of the management structure involved and limitations of the addressing and control mechanism technology.
Project 16B
A third LEAA grant funded Project 16B, "Draft System Implementation Plans for Participating Communities," which addressed how such a system might be implemented in four US cities. This project was funded as a study by the LEAA but actual hardware funding was never authorized.External links
No external links found for P16.APCO has removed it from their web site. -->