TRX Systems In-Building Coverage and Analysis System (ICAS)
GREENBELT, Md. (PRWEB) August 02, 2021
TRX Systems, developer of NEON® Indoor Location Solutions, announced today that it has been awarded a Phase II research contract by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, administered by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), to deliver an In-Building Coverage and Analysis System (ICAS).
The TRX ICAS solution enables individual first responders to conveniently characterize the LMR and LTE coverage inside buildings using their own LMR radios and FirstNet LTE mobile devices. Through an easy-to-use phone interface and intuitive 3D signal map visualization, the TRX ICAS solution will quickly inform public safety users about wireless coverage gaps within individual buildings, including all critical infrastructure and other large public buildings across a first responder’s total service area. With advanced knowledge of potential communications issues, first responders can take appropriate actions to maintain situational awareness and ensure their personal safety during operations.
DHS awarded TRX the SBIR Phase II funding to address specific homeland security technology needs and fill large gaps in first responder technology. The SBIR program is focused on near-term commercialization and delivery of operational prototypes to federal, state, and local emergency responders as well as internal DHS entities.
In Phase I of this program, TRX validated the feasibility of ICAS objectives by integrating with first responder radios and FirstNet LTE devices, mapping network service coverage in three representative buildings, storing the resultant signal maps in the cloud, and producing simultaneous, side-by-side visualization of LMR and FirstNet service signal maps. During Phase II, TRX will expand and harden Phase I capabilities to successfully operate the ICAS solution at scale across the public safety community. Key Phase II objectives include simplifying the process of collecting and updating coverage data, delivering coverage maps and alerts directly to user devices, providing aggregated visualizations of buildings across an Area of Responsibility (AoR), and conducting extended field testing with selected fire departments to verify system performance and validate usability.
“First responders rely on their LMR radios and FirstNet LTE devices to maintain situational awareness and ensure their personal safety,” said Jeff Kunst, Vice President of Product at TRX Systems. “Phase II of this DHS S&T award will keep first responders safer by enabling access to up-to-date and easily understood wireless coverage maps prior to entering a building, giving them advance knowledge of where they will have reliable communications and, most importantly, allowing them to avoid areas where they are likely to lose contact.”
About TRX Systems
TRX Systems is the developer of NEON GPS-denied location solutions, delivering location, mapping, and proximity solutions where GPS is not available or is unreliable including indoors, underground, in dense urban areas, and where GPS is jammed or erroneous. NEON delivers ubiquitous, low-cost, GPS-denied location through the use of advanced sensor fusion, ranging, and patented dynamic mapping algorithms. NEON location technology provides the foundation for a number of commercial applications, including NEON Personnel Tracker and NEON Signal Mapper.
TRX's indoor location software development has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Army, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). For more information, visit http://www.trxsystems.com.
