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SAML Comes to Translink
TransLink is introducing a system using SAML2.0 to configure federated-identity authentication in its U-Pass BC system for students to obtain their monthly travel passes. The BC Government subsidises travel for students to allow them to commute on the region’s busses and trains. The new U-Pass BC website allows the students to be redirected to one of the 10 participating schools.
A SAML token returned by the school’s identity provider allows TransLink to check the student account for eligibility (which is also provided by the schools). If they are eligible, a monthly pass is electronically picked up by their card when they tap on the system.
This removes TransLink and the schools from the costly paper pass distribution business, results in a significant convenience for the student, and a reduction in the misuse of the system. Planetworks has been involved in the conception, design and development of this project. Read more. - Paul Childs
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Our Ongoing Specialization in Wireless Engineering
Wireless engineering continues to be a core Planetworks focus with system planning, design and procurement projects underway for a wide variety of clients. These projects involve mobile radio, microwave and other wireless technologies.
In Alberta, Jim Couprie and Mory Kapustianyk completed several years of planning and engineering services for AFRRCS, Alberta’s province-wide first responder radio communications system. Randy Lowry continues to provide support services for FireNet, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development’s multi departmental mobile radio system. Mory is currently responsible for the City of Yellowknife’s communications infrastructure project as well as a radio upgrade supporting 9-1-1 service in the Sunshine Coast Regional District. Mory also completed a thorough review of Leduc’s communications upgrade project.
Design and implementation of wide area network facilities for the BC Hydro smart meter initiative are winding down for the WAN Technical Lead, Duncan Sharp. Longer-term aspects of the program, such as multi-protocol label switching (MPLS, WiMAX) and distribution system metering devices (DSMD) are continuing with assistance from Neal Ross, Maria Miller, and Craig Hachey. Keith Bandy and Maria are wrapping up work on replacement of their lower mainland mobile radio system with TETRA technology.
Susanna Reardon, Karl Reardon, Jim, and Jack McMullen have been responsible for radio design and licensing projects for Simon Fraser University, Metro Vancouver, Rhino Technological Services, Bell Canada, Fraser- Fort George Regional District and Teliphone Navigata-Westel, as well as a recurrent project-engineering client and partner, Morrison-Hershfield Ltd.
Neal and Karl are providing project management services and implementation support respectively for the rollout of E-Comm’s next generation radio program (NGRP). E-Comm provides emergency communications and 9-1-1/ dispatch services in southwest British Columbia. Karl is also designing their Tsawwassen radio site and supporting NGRP equipment procurement. Duncan and Bob Mor continue to support Spectra Energy with design and implementation of their Fort Nelson and Gordondale microwave network upgrade projects.
Colin Savage has been developing network architecture, system monitoring and control, as well as software for sharing OPC and SNMP data for FortisBC’s land mobile radio system project on Vancouver Island. Colin also collaborated with Keith on the CP Rail Williston Yard project sampling and analyzing RSSI data for later determination of any changes to signaling. Tony van Wouw has been working with Pembina Pipeline by providing microwave system engineering support to establish communications at their new Edmonton Control Centre. |
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Customized Communications Solutions
Our expertise and extensive experience in both wired and wireless telecommunications technologies enables Planetworks to provide clients with objective analyses and recommendations tailored to their specific communications needs.
Dale Reid, Dmitry Riftin and Brad MacKenzie completed work with PBA Engineering (now FLIR Engineering Services) on an updated regional telecommunications and infrastructure plan for TransLink, the Greater Vancouver Transport Authority. Other projects recently completed for this long term client include bus communications implementation (Karl Reardon) and phase 2 of their bus security camera system (Gunnar Jonsson, Maria Miller, Duncan Sharp, Paul Childs, and Dmitry). Paul, Karl and Neal Ross are continuing to support TransLink’s smart card rollout.
Implementation of TransLink’s Transit Management & Communications System (TMAC) is being supported by Keith Bandy and Gunnar. This extension will include the West Vancouver transit system and as well as technical requirements for the TMAC system roadmap.
Dmitry continues to support Port Metro Vancouver on a variety of ICT projects including Cyber Security Program, South Shore Road network upgrades, Burrard Inlet navigational channel monitoring program, wide area fibre deployment, Lync telephony deployment, outdoor wireless systems implementation, data centre infrastructure management, and MotTRBO radio system improvements. He has also been working with Hollyburn Properties in an Engineering advisory capacity on leasing of rooftop space for wireless providers. Dmitry has also been supporting PBA Engineering in the City of Surrey operations wireless network review.
Dale, Jeremy Boyd, Duncan and Dmitry are developing a detailed feasibility study covering a diverse fibre optic link into the Yukon for Dempster Energy Services, supported by the Yukon Government. This is a follow-up to earlier strategic planning work.
Mory Kapustianyk is conducting an assessment of the Vancouver School Board’s existing communications infrastructure and equipment to determine its survivability in a disaster. This project will also develop upgrade options and strategies. |
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Nomadic Dispatching - A Sign of the Times?
The economic and operational realities of operating a properly sized 9-1-1 and dispatch centre for smaller service areas are prompting management and elected officials to consider moving to a more cost-effective contracted dispatch model. This usually implies that the dispatch service will be remotely located from the agency’s service area. Once this model is in use, agencies may wish to test the competitive dispatcher market from time to time as their current dispatch service contracts approach their end of life.
Perhaps a few geographically separated dispatch centres will be required to help agencies hedge against rare but potentially wide-area devastation. Whatever the case may be, using a remote dispatch service affects many aspects of an agency’s operations. In light of this, considerations for reliable connectivity between the new dispatch centre(s) and the agency’s wireless voice and data systems is recommended.
The challenge of providing this connectivity seems to be proportional to the distance between the dispatch area and public safety operating area, while the technical options available appear inversely proportional. In the end, the options available range from private systems (microwave, customer-owned fibre, and radio links) to public systems (mainly carriers) that also provide an assortment of connectivity choices.
Among other things, the analysis for selecting required connectivity requires an agency to balance the technical merits, available reliability, and desired control, with that of overall costs, risk mitigation, and desired flexibility. Connectivity solutions offered by carriers provide a seductive slam-dunk for bridging a distant dispatch service to the 9-1-1 service area. However, prudence and appropriate due-diligence is still necessary to ensure that a contracted telecommunications service will meet the requirements of a public safety system, as it does when employing an agency-owned system. Regardless of which way this is procured it should be subject to a rigorous service level agreement (SLA).
A wide-area disaster such as Hurricane Sandy in the eastern US and the recent nation-wide outage of a Canadian cellular carrier continues to expose unexpected weaknesses in network resiliency. These experiences should prompt public safety system users to be wary of passing complete connectivity tasks to external service providers. It should also remind agencies to prepare for worst-case scenarios that consider these service outages.
To complicate the matter further, agencies must also be fully aware that the service provider will reconfigure and manage its systems as it sees fit to meet its commitments to all its clients, and its shareholders. Having a third-party telecommunications engineering team provide a professional appraisal of all connectivity options under consideration may be your best path to understanding the risks and ensuring your connectivity needs are properly met. - Mory Kapustianyk |
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Speech Intelligibility
When evaluating the performance of land mobile radio systems it is important that a consistent and reproducible set of performance metrics be developed. As the primary purpose of most land mobile radio systems is to convey human speech, Speech Intelligibility is one of the key metrics which should be considered. This article provides an overview of some common methods to assess, report, and interpret Speech Intelligibility.
Before proceeding with a discussion of common speech evaluation methods it is important to distinguish between Speech Intelligibility and Speech Quality. Speech Intelligibility is related to the amount of speech items which can be correctly recognized while Speech Quality provides a measure of audio distortion or background noise. For public safety mobile radio communications systems, the primary concern is the Intelligibility.
Speech Intelligibility evaluation methods can generally be categorized as subjective and objective approaches. With attention to proper test procedures, both approaches will provide consistent and reproducible results which are indicative of the system intelligibility. Mean Opinion Score (MOS) and Delivered Audio Quality (DAQ) are two common subjective intelligibility measures used within the land mobile radio sector. Both methods require that a panel of reviewers listen to and rank the intelligibility of spoken sentences against a predefined scale.
All of the standardized speech intelligibility models have good correlation and provide consistent results when implemented using proper test and analysis procedures. The objective tests presented (MRT or computer assessment) are particularly well suited for performing performance comparisons between technologies. If word based methods such as MRT are used, it is important to understand how scores relate to sentence intelligibility before making operational impact assessments.
The Diagnostic Rhyme Test (DRT) and Modified Rhyme Test (MRT) are examples of common objective tests. - Karl Reardon
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The figure presented above (Steeneken, H., and Houtgast, T.) provides a qualification and relation between tests involving:
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Phonetically Balanced (PB) words - used by DRT;
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Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) – Used by MRT; and
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Sentence based tests such as Speech Reception Threshold (SRT).
Results are presented in terms of Speech Transmission Index which is analogous to MOS levels. The following important observations regarding the MRT method can be made from the above figure (Note that MRT is shown by the CVC curve):
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MRT tests have good dynamic range across a broad range of channel impairments when compared to other test methods;
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Regardless of the communications channel the maximum MRT is ~95%; and
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Sentence Intelligibility is very close to 100% for MRT score greater than 75%.
While the above figure was produced for analogue transmission methods, I have observed that a similar relationship holds true for digital environments. - Karl Reardon |
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Research & Development - Keeping us Ahead of the Curve
Since its inception, Planetworks has conducted a wide range of special studies, technical assessments, and strategic and financial analyses related to telecommunications services and information technology. A current example is the multi-phase critical infrastructure assurance system project for the Government of Saskatchewan led by Paul Childs with assistance from Gary Li. The goal of this project is to design, build and deploy an open standards architecture with solutions for data sharing between critical infrastructure owners and operators. In addition, Pamela Bunnin completed a review of telecommunications contracts for the University of Alberta and Mory Kapustianyk conducted a 9-1-1 dispatch study for the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen.
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