9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed Seeks Vendor Participants for 2019 Stage Za Campaign
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 2019 campaign for Stage Za.
Stage Za (Altitude - Z-axis) – As a next step from the initial Stage Z test conducted in 2018, the Test Bed LLC seeks to evaluate the performance of wide-area location systems that determine the altitude of a 9-1-1 caller. The results of Stage Za will inform wireless providers and public safety stakeholders about solutions that can meet any requirements established by FCC’s forthcoming Z-axis metric.
Timeline
Field testing of Stage Za campaign may commence early third quarter 2019, but may depend on the number of vendors and complexity of technologies to be tested. All applications will be reviewed by the Test Bed LLC’s Program Manager and Technical Advisory Committee.
| Schedule | Planned Date |
|---|---|
| Application questions due | March 6, 2019 |
| Response to application questions | March 20, 2019 |
| Application due date | March 29, 2019 |
| Estimated field test start date: Stage Za | July 1, 2019 |
Application instructions and questions
If you are interested in the Stage Za location accuracy 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 proposed test stages should be sent by email to the contact person before March 6, 2019. Please note that questions and answers may be shared with all applicants.
TEST ENVIRONMENT
The scope and nature of testing to be performed will closely follow the assumptions listed below. More details can be found in the application instruction materials.- Evaluation of the accuracy of wide-area deployment location determination systems for wireless indoor 911 test calls
- Stage Za technologies to be tested may include compensated barometric pressure measurements-based techniques and non-barometric pressure-based techniques as well as hybrid techniques (e.g. 3D Wi-Fi).
- Stage Za Testing will be focused on evaluating the accuracy of systems estimating altitude above a reference (e.g., height relative to mean sea level), although additional vertical height estimation methods (e.g., floor number along with horizontal information) may also be considered.
- Stage Za Testing will be in 20 representative buildings in each of two test regions (San Francisco, CA and Atlanta, GA) across all four morphologies (dense urban, urban, suburban, rural) and in urban and dense urban buildings (approximately 10 buildings) in Chicago, IL. Testing will be according to the guidelines in ATIS-0500030 and ATIS-0500031.v002.
- Stage Za involves testing Z-axis location systems that are deployed on a wide scale in buildings essentially selected at random; i.e., not ‘only available’ in certain buildings.
- Stage Za involves testing with a range of dedicated off-the-shelf test handsets, i.e., 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 Test Bed’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).
- Testing is limited to a reasonable number of individual test handsets – most likely a maximum of six distinct handset models per Z-axis technology vendor, to capture the behavior across different handset implementations and ages.
- Effort will be made to include a variety of test handsets that span the variations of major handset manufacturers, handset operating system providers, barometer manufacturers, and handset ages (lapsed time since handset manufacture).
- The test handsets are not to be handled by the Stage Za technology vendor, and the Test Bed Administrator-Executor will be responsible for the acquisition of the test handsets and the installation of any required test application provided by the location technology vendor.
CONTACT INFORMATION
All inquiries should be directed to the contact person listed below:
Mr. Harish Punjabi
Email: hpunjabi@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 the requisite test methodologies 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.