Public safety network design for broadband wireless access

Public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) agencies rely on wireless communications to respond in the event of emergencies. Public safety networks (PSNs) provide the wireless network used by emergency services. PSN is used to support push-to-talk services with some data transmission by employing land mobile radios. However, PPDR agencies are increasingly relying on additional information such as videos that require higher bandwidths. Therefore, many countries are transitioning or integrating their public safety networks with advanced broadband wireless communication systems such as fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) and planning to evolve to fifth-generation (5G) new radio (NR) in the future. The paper investigates infrastructure sharing mechanisms and deployment strategies in the transition of PSNs to a 4G LTE network, including a roadmap for cost analysis. Additionally, the paper examines LTE-based PSN deployment scenarios in various countries and engages in a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of different sharing mechanisms and coexistence schemes. Finally, the challenges within the Public Safety Broadband Network (PSBN) are addressed and potential future research directions in this domain are deliberated.