9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed Seeks Vendor Participants for 2021 Stage Zb Campaign
9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed LLC ("Test Bed LLC") invites vendors of new or emerging location technologies to participate in the 2021 Stage Zb test campaign.
Consistent with Stages Z and Za, Test Bed LLC seeks to evaluate the performance of wide-area location systems that determine the altitude (Z-axis) of a wireless 9-1-1 caller. The results of Stage Zb testing will inform wireless providers and public safety stakeholders about solutions that can meet requirements established by the United States Federal Communications Commission ("FCC").
Timeline
Field testing of Stage Zb campaign is tentatively planned to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021, depending on the number of vendors and complexity of the technologies to be tested. All applications will be reviewed by the Test Bed LLC’s Program Manager and Technical Advisory Committee ("TAC").
| Schedule | Planned Date |
|---|---|
| Application questions due | March 26, 2021 |
| Response to application questions | April 7, 2021 |
| Application due date | April 15, 2021 |
| Estimated start of Dry Run tests | October 1, 2021 |
| Estimated field test start date | December 1, 2021 |
Application Instructions and Questions
Any party interested in completing a Stage Zb application should send an email to Mr. Harish Punjabi at hpunjabi@911locationtestbed.org from a company email account.
All questions regarding the application instructions or the proposed testing should be emailed to Mr. Harish Punjabi at hpunjabi@911locationtestbed.org no later than March 26, 2021. Please note that questions and answers may be shared with all applicants.
Test Environment
The scope and nature of Stage Zb testing will closely follow the assumptions listed below. Further detailed information will be listed in the application.- Stage Zb testing will evaluate the accuracy of wide-area deployment location determination systems for wireless indoor 9-1-1 test calls.
- Stage Zb 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 Zb testing will be focused on evaluating the accuracy of systems estimating altitude above a reference (e.g., height relative to WGS84 ellipsoid), although additional vertical height estimation methods (e.g., floor number along with horizontal information) may also be considered.
- Depending on vendor capabilities, Stage Zb may also test for accuracy of floor level estimation and report on the correct floor and +/- 1 floor accuracy.
- Stage Zb testing should include Z-axis location systems that are deployed on a wide scale in buildings selected at random (i.e., not ‘only available’ in certain buildings).
- Stage Zb testing is targeted for up to 55 representative test buildings across a number of test areas. Each of the three test areas used in Stages Z and Za (San Francisco, Atlanta and Chicago) have been supplemented with additional test areas as defined in ATIS-0500043 to facilitate test building acquisition. Test buildings will be selected across all the four morphologies (dense urban, urban, suburban, rural) in the defined San Francisco and Atlanta test areas and in urban and dense urban buildings in the other areas (viz. Chicago, Houston, Minneapolis, New York / New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Seattle) to arrive at the overall target of up to 55 buildings. Testing will be conducted in accordance with guidelines in ATIS-0500030, ATIS-0500031.v002, and ATIS-0500040.
- Stage Zb testing will be performed with a range of dedicated off-the-shelf test handsets (i.e., handsets that do not have altered or otherwise uniquely calibrated hardware).
- All handsets will be tested by placing automated 9-1-1 test calls to ensure the test calls are not directed to a live PSAP. Application-based emergency calling will not be supported for Stage Zb testing.
- Stage Zb 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.
- Efforts 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 Zb technology vendor, and the Test Bed Administrator-Executor will be responsible for the acquisition of the test handsets and their configuration as well as the installation of any required test-supporting software tools that may be provided by the vendor.
Contact Information
All inquiries should be directed to:
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 Fourth 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 above to obtain information regarding upcoming events.