Digital radio of the authorities and organizations with security tasks

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The digital radio of the authorities and organizations with security tasks (also called BOSNet within the manufacturer EADS ) is based on TETRA , a standard for digital trunked radio . It is a universal voice and data radio system for all authorities and organizations with security tasks (BOS) in Germany.

history

The development of the German BOS radio began immediately after the Second World War , initially with continued use of Wehrmacht or US military radios. In accordance with the state of the art at the time, the devices were equipped with tubes and from today's point of view rather unwieldy. From the 1960s onwards, the radios were specially developed and built on behalf of the authorities. Advances in electronics have led to the constant shrinking of the devices as we know them today.

Until the end of the 1980s, only voice was transmitted, then the radio reporting system was added to relieve the staff of routine reports . Digital telegrams could be transmitted within the voice channel, but their annoying noises put a strain on the listener. Initially only short telegrams for status information, later also extended telegrams e.g. B. be sent with coordinates for navigation devices in the emergency vehicles.

Another burden on the system was the increasing alerting of emergency services with radio receivers . This was also transmitted in the voice channel. Depending on the extent of the damage and the size of the district , the speech connection was lost for several minutes when the operations control computer triggered the alarm.

A completely new system was necessary as a way out of the bottleneck. On the one hand, this should no longer be structured regionally, but nationally; on the other hand, it should be a network for all authorities, which should replace the existing individual networks for each organization. "Scanner friends" should also be prevented from eavesdropping on radio traffic. In principle, a new cellular network was sought for the authorities.

Depending on the technology available, the following standards or suppliers were available:

technology

Transmission security

BSI security card

Three levels of encryption can be used for voice and data transmission in the TETRA standard:

  • No encryption. The speech is digitized directly behind the microphone with a speech codec , but then transmitted unencrypted
  • Encryption of radio transmission. The radio transmission from the end device to the base station is encrypted with a secret, device-internal radio key. TEA-2 is used as the algorithm , a special cryptosystem developed for European security authorities . The devices without TEA-2 that are temporarily present in some test networks must be withdrawn at the latest at the start of regular operation.
  • End-to-end encryption of all user data. In addition to the encrypted radio transmission, "end-to-end encryption" is carried out, a technology that has been introduced across the board for all participants in the German BOS digital radio network for the first time. The radio conversation remains secret via all exchanges and radio links . It is only decrypted again in the recipient's end device .

The key card shown is a prerequisite for access to use the German authorities' radio network. It is only issued to authorized subscribers and is intended to ensure the authenticity of the radio subscriber . The algorithm stored on the card also ensures the integrity of the radio call.

Site security

The detailed planning of the networks takes place in the sovereignty of the regional councils of the federal states. Various concepts are pursued here to ensure the security of the locations:

  • Attempts are made to keep the location of the locations secret.
  • In Baden-Württemberg, specially made containers are used for the stations. Cables for data and electricity are securely inserted into the ground and continued at a minimum depth.
  • In Brandenburg, a double-bar mesh fence with underground protection is used to secure the stations.

Frequencies used

The BOS digital radio network works at 380–385 MHz in the uplink, at 390–395 MHz in the downlink.

As of 2014, most DMO groups will be relocated from the above frequency range to a new frequency range, as further duplex frequencies are urgently needed for network planning ( TMO ). The new frequency range 406.1–410 MHz was assigned to the BDBOS for exclusive DMO use. This means that 156 DMO frequencies and thus 156 DMO groups are available.

However, radio astronomy is the primary user there in a sub-area. In Germany, this affects the Effelsberg (NW) radio telescope . In order to exclude interference here, it was therefore initially agreed to block the frequency range from 407–409.1 MHz within a protection zone - with a radius of 150 km around the Effelsberg site. This affects parts of the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland .

Within this protection zone, only the frequency ranges 406.1–407 and 409.1-410 MHz, so-called "Effelsberg frequencies" (72), may be used for DMO.

Outside the protection zone, all 156 frequencies, including the 84 so-called "non-Effelsberg frequencies", may be used.

The following DMO groups are then available:

Effelsberg Freq. Non-Effelsberg Freq. total
Nat. Reserve (TBZ) 15th 15th 30th
fire Department 10 10 20th
Civil protection 2 8th 10
police 10 10 20th
Ambulance service 5 7th 12
Federal BOS 20th 21st 41
Special forces 4th 6th 10
defense of Constitution 3 3 6th
Marsh canal 1 0 1
Property supply 2 4th 6th
total 72 84 156

construction

End device distribution winter 2016

The German BOS are increasingly working with the digital radio network of the authorities and organizations with security tasks, but also with analog radio in many areas . The federal government created the BDBOS to set up the network. A federally financed rump network was put out to tender by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 2005. A consortium of EADS (GU) and Siemens , a consortium of Motorola , T-Systems and R&S  BICK as well as Vodafone with BOS-GSM participated in the bidding process for the digital government radio . EADS was the only provider to advance to the second round of the tender. All others were eliminated in the first round. After a selection process that also included laboratory and practical tests, the contract for the network infrastructure was awarded to EADS in August 2006. The operation of the network was to be transferred to the DB Telematik subsidiary . After their offer was neither technically nor financially convincing, the federal and state governments decided on the alternative phase concept, which provides an operator for regular operation after the first network sections have been set up. This was signed with Alcatel-Lucent on March 22, 2010.

This should ensure the implementation of the network by 2012 and compliance with the budget of 4.5 billion euros. In order to enable the financially acceptable migration from analog to digital radio, a 10-year transition period is expected in which both networks are operated in parallel.

In November 2019, 4,700 base stations were in operation and usable. This means that 99.2% of the area of ​​the Federal Republic of Germany is covered by radio and over 875,000 users are registered in the network. More than 50 million radio messages are sent every month.

End device funding for non-police BOS

Since the replacement of all radio devices also means considerable expenses for the non-police BOS (e.g. rescue services, fire brigades) and their respective organizations (districts, municipalities), the procurement of these devices is partly funded by the federal states. In accordance with the federal character of the Federal Republic, there are different funding models in the federal states. The models known so far are listed below:

Fixed amount of EUR 600 per piece, including installation and accessories. A prerequisite for funding is the submission of a certificate of the technically full digital functionality of the integrated control center in the city / district in the course of the respective year.
The municipalities receive an 80% end device subsidy in return for the provision of municipal locations.
The municipalities receive a 30% end device subsidy. All KatS vehicles are converted 100% from state funds. In addition, the state of Hesse bears all operating costs for digital radio. The tender launched at the end of June 2010 includes a total of at least 22,000 HRT handheld radios, 9,000 MRT vehicle radios, 2,000 stationary FRT radios and 600 HRT-ex handheld radios. At the same time, the expression of interest process for the procurement of 60,000 radio receivers for the non-police BOS was started.
All devices on the vehicles after DIN loading are funded at 50%. Everything that goes beyond that has to do without funding. Device prices for HRT of EUR 130 are possible.
All terminal devices that were in operation on December 31, 2007 will be replaced 1: 1 free of charge by digital devices. It does not matter whether the number of radios is DIN-loaded or more. However, they are older types of the Sepura SRH3800 series. The devices have already been purchased and delivered in a tender from the state, but cannot yet be used due to the lack of a network.
The municipalities received a 50% end device subsidy for devices that were procured through nationwide collective procurement. Devices that exceeded the standard load were not funded.
All radio technology eligible for funding and its additional services are funded 70% from state funds. The remaining 30% should come from the municipal financial equalization funds through advance deduction. The total costs are therefore estimated to be around 25 million euros.

For comparison, the funding in Austria:

  • Each aid organization receives a device for free.
  • Another device is funded at 50%.
  • Anything beyond that must be purchased without funding.

Construction and operation

The then Interior Minister Otto Schily , after years of dispute over the costs, placed the order for the construction and operation of the trunk network in March 2005 without a tender from DB Telematik in order to be able to put a trunk network into operation by the 2006 World Cup. On December 13, 2006, negotiations between the federal and state governments with the rail subsidiary about the construction and operation of the trunk network were declared to have failed for 15 years. The order was withdrawn from DB Telematik because its cost estimate had been increased by the parent company Deutsche Bahn from originally 4.5 billion euros to 5.1 billion euros most recently. This was sharply criticized, especially by the federal states, because it was no longer affordable.

On June 1, 2007, at the conference of federal and state interior ministers, the administrative agreement for setting up the TETRA network was signed. The agreement stipulated that the network should be completed by 2010. The newly founded Federal Agency for Digital Radio of the Authorities and Organizations with Security Tasks, BDBOS for short, is responsible for organizing the construction and maintenance of the network . The companies EADS and Siemens were commissioned to deliver the technical infrastructure. However, at the beginning of 2009 it was recognized that the original deadline by the end of 2010 could not be met. Therefore, this date was postponed by the BDBOS to the end of 2012.

Choice of system technology

On August 28, 2006 the company EADS Secure Networks was commissioned by the procurement office of the Federal Ministry of the Interior to set up a nationwide rump network. EADS, originally the provider of Tetrapol , had taken over the Nokia Professional Mobile Radio (PMR) division in summer 2005 in order to be able to offer TETRA technology in the tender for a nationwide digital radio system.

In the bidding process for digital government radio, the consortium of EADS Secure Networks with Nokia and Siemens prevailed against the consortium of Motorola and T-Systems and R&S BICK, as well as Vodafone with BOS-GSM. EADS was the only provider to advance to the second round of the tender. All others were eliminated in the first round of the procedure.

Breakdown of costs

Due to the structure of the BOS in Germany, the assumption of costs is such that the federal and state governments assume the retrofitting of disaster control authorities , state police , federal police and THW , but the municipalities, according to the city ​​council spokesman Jens Metzger, assume the costs of retrofitting the fire brigade , rescue services and the regulatory agencies have to. Therefore, in a resolution of November 2001, the Association of Cities called for “The federal and state governments, as those responsible for the billion-dollar project”, must also take over its financing.

The exact cost allocation key can be found on the BDBOS website.

This cost allocation key only contains a basic network supply according to the GAN list (basic network requirements). The Bavarian State Chancellery is now demanding that the municipalities contribute to the costs incurred in closing dead zones in the Bavarian TETRA network, otherwise they would have to continue broadcasting analogously. An agreement was reached on November 30, 2009: In return for a payment of 3 million annually, the fire brigades can now also broadcast digitally in Bavaria. In the past, the Adonis project, the former BOS radio system in Austria, failed to solve this cost issue .

Training facilities

The Police Academy Hessen (HPA) in Wiesbaden is one of the few training facilities within the BOS that not only provides training for the police sector, but also across the BOS.

From the police and enforcement area (Pol-BOS), most seminars in the ICT area can also be held by employees of the state and federal police, the judiciary, the protection of the constitution, customs and other federal and state authorities that use BOS radio are concerned, are visited.

Even people from the so-called non-police BOS area (nPol-BOS), such as B. from the fire brigades, disaster control and aid organizations (e.g. MHD, ASB, DLRG, DRK, THW, JUH) can i. d. Usually attend the ICT seminars.

In the digital radio sector, u. a. Seminars for multipliers as well as further seminars for ICT technicians and tacticians as well as for employees of the authorized, responsible and coordinating bodies in the area of ​​BOS radio.

The seminar series BOS-Funk includes u. a. various parts for basics, technology, deployment planning, object radio systems, measurement technology and antenna technology.

The HPA also offers further seminars in the field of electrical engineering and electronics.

Further information and contacts can be found on the website of the Hesse Police Academy, Department 6.

gallery

  • Tetra antenna (orange) on a municipal building in Upper Bavaria

  • Tetra mast in Brandenburg

  • TETRA base station TB3 from EADS

  • Sepura STP8000 TETRA handheld radio

  • TETRA digital radio hand control on the dashboard of a police vehicle

Terminal equipment provider on the German BOS market

In contrast to the proprietary Tetrapol , for which there is only one manufacturer, the open standard at TETRA led to a large number of manufacturers. However, only a few of the approx. 12 manufacturers were able to win one of the national tenders. In order of market share these are:

For details, see the map above

Infrastructure supplier / operator

literature

  • Michael Marten: BOS radio. Volume 1: Basics, devices, operating technology, radio communication. 5th edition, completely revised, updated and expanded. Siebel, Meckenheim 2006, ISBN 3-88180-616-4 .
  • Michael Marten: BOS radio. Volume: paging names, channels, maps. 11th, completely revised edition. Siebel, Meckenheim 2006, ISBN 3-88180-647-4 .
  • Christof Linde: Structure and technology of the digital BOS radio. Franzis, Poing 2008, ISBN 978-3-7723-4216-5 .

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ § 2 of the law on the establishment of a federal agency for digital radio for the authorities and organizations with security tasks
  2. ↑ EN 300392-2 V3.2.1. (TETRA Part2 - Air Interface), Chapter 11 Call Control (CC) service description
  3. ↑ Digital radio BOS: Contract conclusion with operator ( Memento from May 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Questions and answers about digital radio: How big is the BOS digital radio network? In: bdbos.bund.de. Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
  5. ^ Interior Ministry BW: Administrative regulation of the Interior Ministry on grants for the fire service. In: VwV Grants Fire Brigade - VwV-Z-Feu. Ministry of the Interior, BW, December 11, 2017, accessed July 24, 2020 .
  6. ^ Digital radio Bavaria ( Memento from June 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ http://www.hessen.de/irj/HMdI_Internet?cid=15d15abbed2f52cd90cb62b7767fe577  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.hessen.de
  8. ↑ https://www.digitalfunk-sh.de/DFSH/userfiles/files/120716-IV3315_Einfuehrungsschreiben_Digitalfunk.pdf
  9. ↑ Distribution of costs between the federal and state levels || http://www.bdbos.bund.de/cln_161/nn_422252/SharedDocs/Publikationen/Gesetzestexte/Verwaltungsabkommen,templateId=raw,property=publicationFile.pdf/Verwaltungsabkommen.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: Der Link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bdbos.bund.de  
  10. ↑  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) sueddeutsche.de@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.sueddeutsche.de
  11. ↑ http://www.stmf.bayern.de/internet/stmf/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/2009_419/index.htm  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.stmf.bayern.de  
  12. ↑ Police Academy Hessen - Department 6 / IuK-Schulungen | url = https://www.polizei.hessen.de/Dienststellen/Polizeiakademie-Hessen/Fortbildung/broker.jsp?uMen=2a770ee1-825a-f6f8-6373-a91bbcb63046&uCon . = 26d703 -e085-7631-3cb2-2794ef798e7b & uTem = bff71055-bb1d-50f1-2860-72700266cb59