This is the text of a Press Release issued by Catalyst at the 2023 International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE)
Catalyst Communications Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of Radio Control over IP solutions to the Push-to-Talk marketplace, was awarded a contract in September 2022 to research the feasibility of a Broadband Push-to-Talk Interoperability Platform. Catalyst had previously been awarded contracts from DHS S&T in 2018 and 2020 to research and develop a platform for communications between land mobile radio (LMR) subscriber devices and smartphones on LTE networks, including FirstNet™ built by AT&T, using a standards compliant Mission Critical Push to Talk (MCPTT) Application. With the proliferation of different push to talk over Broadband systems, there is now a need to research how these different LTE based systems might interoperate together. The findings of this research were published in February 2023 and are available to the public.
The research concluded that an interoperable platform to enable communications between disparate push to talk over broadband systems available in the marketplace today was feasible. The report recommends the standard 3GPP mission critical push to talk client interface be used when connecting systems that adhere to the 3GPP standard. 3GPP – the Third Generation Partnership Project – is an umbrella term for a number of standards organizations which develop protocols for mobile telecommunications. Its best-known work is the development and maintenance of LTE and related 4G standards. For systems providing push to talk over broadband that do not adhere to the 3GPP standard, Catalyst recommends the Project 25 Console Sub System Interface (CSSI), which is a common interface among many of these providers.
This award was a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Award. Catalyst has submitted a proposal for a Phase II. The objective of Phase II is to continue efforts to develop and demonstrate a working prototype, and catalyst has hopeful expectations to receive this Phase II Award. For a Summary Paper describing the research and the results, contact Catalyst Marketing vice president Jack Kelly at jkelly@catcomtec.com.
