TETRA is a new European standard for digital trunked mobile radio. It can transmit up to four independent voice channels, real-time or packetized data up to 28 kilobits per second, or a combination of the two on a single 25 kHz radio channel.
The private mobile radio unit of Philips Telecom has staged TETRA demonstrations over the air, between an in-vehicle mobile unit and a base station. First tests were conducted to a stationary vehicle and then to a moving vehicle, operating at up to about 100 kilometers an hour and traveling to the edge of the coverage area.
“The excellent voice quality confirmed all predictions, being stable and virtually independent of the position and movement of the vehicle,” Philips said.
TETRA can transmit live video images in full color, using the latest data compression techniques. Tests also have shown TETRA has high data rates that will open the door “to entirely new types of application for PMR,” Philips said.
