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JPS at the 2021 Presidential Inauguration
The Story
A large-scale event like a Presidential Inauguration necessitates planning, organization, and coordination to a scale far beyond the requirements of most events. Integral to that is the flexibility to react quickly to unexpected or unplanned-for activity. Such flexibility inherently requires absolutely solid communications.
Participants in the 2021 Presidential Inauguration, such as the Air National Guard, came to Washington D.C. from around the U.S. to provide security and assistance. For example, one Joint Incident Site Communications Capability (JISCC) unit from Louisiana was deployed at the U.S. Capitol to provide a critical radio communications link from inside the Capitol Building to a regional radio system outside. However, that was only one piece of a much larger communications network.
Learn more about how JPS equipment was used at the 2021 Presidential Inauguration.
The Challenge
Even within a single organization or group, there is no guarantee that everyone has the same communications device type. We see this every day. A cashier might use a Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC) application to request a manager, whereas a warehouse worker at the same store might use a portable radio. The challenge – and the solution JPS provides – is in linking the audio from these disparate devices without any disruption to end users.
Due to the high-profile nature of the Inauguration and the large number of participants, several levels of communications interoperability were required. First, audio from disparate radio and other communications channels needed to be bridged so their users could communicate seamlessly. Second, that audio had to be transported to systems outside the Metropolitan D.C. region.
The Solution
Sixteen Air National Guard JISCC units were deployed to provide communications interoperability support utilizing ACU-2000 and ACU-5000 interoperability gateways connected using a Wide Area Interoperability System (WAIS). The JISCC program fields over 120 systems nationwide and provides radio and voice communications interoperability for military and public safety agencies. Additionally, the Air National Guard provided six Mobile Emergency Operation Centers (MEOCs). Like the JISCCs, MEOCs have various Land Mobile Radio (LMR) resources (including HF radios) to support public safety and military operations. These are strategically staged throughout the U.S. and utilize JPS equipment to share communications with one another.
JISCC systems and MEOC trailers link disparate LMR systems, provide JPS Radio over IP (RoIP) capabilities, and utilize JPS WAIS. During the Inauguration, this allowed them to link their communications resources over various networks consisting of broadband, cellular, terrestrial, and KU Band satellite. In other words, users of different device types or on different channels could communicate effortlessly with one another. Moreover, all the audio was converted to JPS RoIP, which allowed for its easy transmission over a network to any destination.
The Result
Wide area interoperability was achieved. Audio from users of disparate radio and other communications channels was bridged to allow those users to freely communicate, and audio from and to the event could be brought to any destination over a network.
