Stage 2a: Wide-area deployment emerging indoor location technologies
The 9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed LLC (“Test Bed LLC”) invites vendors of new or emerging location technologies to participate in the 9-1-1 Location Technologies indoor Test Bed Stage 2a testing. Vendors are invited to test new or emerging location technologies that can enable wireless providers to meet the FCC’s indoor 9-1-1 location accuracy requirements through horizontal and vertical location technologies.
Stage 2a testing is specifically intended for emerging wide-area deployment indoor wireless location technologies. These are new technologies that are not currently deployed by the nationwide wireless carriers and are not limited in coverage to a specific, limited set of buildings.
Timeline
It is estimated that Stage 2a testing may commence by early September 2017, once all applications have been reviewed by the Test Bed LLC’s Program Manager and Technical Advisory Committee. This timing is tentative and dependent on the number of vendors and complexity of technologies to be tested.
| Schedule | Planned Date |
|---|---|
| Application instructions made available | June 23rd 2017 |
| Application questions due | July 7th 2017 |
| Response to application questions | July 14th 2017 |
| Application due date (Extended) | July 28th 2017 |
| Estimated field test start date | September 6th, 2017 |
Application instructions and questions
If you are interested in the Stage 2a testing application instructions, please send an email to the contact person listed below from your company's email account.
All questions regarding the application instructions, the application or the Stage 2a program should be sent by email to the contact person before July 7, 2017. Please note that all questions and answers will be posted on this site by July 14, 2017.
TEST ENVIRONMENT
The scope and nature of testing to be performed will closely follow the assumptions listed below:- Evaluation of the accuracy of wide-area deployment location determination systems for wireless indoor 911 test calls
- Testing in 20 representative buildings in each of the two identified test regions (San Francisco and Atlanta) as defined in ATIS-0500031
- Testing in all four identified morphologies (dense urban, urban, suburban, rural)
- Testing location systems that are deployed on a wide scale – in buildings essentially selected at random
- Testing primarily X/Y (geodetic) location estimates relative to established ground-truth
- Limited Z-Axis testing can be accommodated
- Formal, comprehensive z-axis accuracy testing according to the guidelines in ATIS-0500030 is currently expected to take place in late Q1 and Q2 2018
- Testing with dedicated test handsets, with strong preference for off-the-shelf production handsets that do not have altered or otherwise uniquely calibrated hardware
- The use of a software application to initiate simulated emergency test calls and trigger the vendor’s location process is generally permissible but subject to the review and approval of the Technical Advisory Committee
- Testing is limited to a few individual test handsets – most likely a maximum of four per location technology vendor
- The test handsets are not to be handled by the Stage 2a technology vendor and the Test Bed Administrator-Executor will be responsible for the installation of any required test application provided by the location technology vendor
- Priority will be given to novel positioning technologies. Techniques that repackage positioning information already available in the handset using methods that have been tested in previous Test Bed stages, e.g., device-based hybrid, will be assigned lower priority in evaluating Stage 2a applications for participation
- All testing will be funded by the vendor, as outlined in the instructions and the vendor is responsible for providing any specialized test devices, test software or equipment that may be necessary for testing
- The vendor is responsible for obtaining any required cooperation/support from any wireless carrier necessary to evaluate their technology
- Whenever possible, off-the-shelf commercial handsets should be used during testing. Any vendor provided prototypes must be approved by the Test Bed LLC Technical Advisory Committee
CONTACT INFORMATION
All inquiries should be directed to the contact person listed below:
Mr. Oskar S. Magnusson
Email: omagnusson@911locationtestbed.org
Telephone: 202.736.2987
9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed, LLC
1400 16th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington DC 20036
Test Bed LLC – background:
In 2015, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules that require the nationwide wireless providers to establish an independently administered and transparent indoor test bed to test and verify that location technologies are capable of meeting the Commission’s new location accuracy requirements for wireless calls to 9-1-1 emergency services. (See paragraphs 121 to 132 of the FCC’s Order). In accordance with the FCC’s Order, the test bed must also be available to vendors of new or emerging location technologies that can demonstrate how those technologies might enable wireless providers to meet the new enhanced location accuracy requirements through improved horizontal location technologies or providing accurate vertical information (e.g., z axis).
At the direction of its member companies, CTIA® established the 9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed, LLC (“Test Bed LLC”) as an independent company to administer and operate the indoor Test Bed consistent with the FCC’s rules. The Test Bed LLC selected the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (“ATIS”) as the Test Bed program manager. The Test Bed LLC selected a vendor to administer and execute the Test Bed. The Test Bed LLC and Test Bed are modeled on the FCC’s CSRIC III and IV methodologies and recommendations and is established consistent with the Commission’s Order.
Test Bed LLC has also directed the Program Manager and Administrator/Executor to implement the Test Bed consistent with the recommendations of ATIS’ Emergency Services Interconnection Forum (“ESIF”) Emergency Services & Methodologies (“ESM”) Subcommittee which has and continues to develop requisite test plans through a collaborative multi-stakeholder process.
Wireless providers and vendors of indoor location technologies are encouraged to participate in the Test Bed by periodically visiting this website for important announcements, or by contacting the contact person below to obtain information regarding upcoming events.