When shopping for a radio communication device, you may come across specific terms: LMR, PTT, P25… What does it all mean?<\/p>\n
Here is a glossary explaining the most commonly used words and abbreviations in telecommunications!<\/p>\n
Digital radio is the transmission and reception of sounds transformed into patterns of numbers, or “digits” – hence the term “digital radio”. In contrast, traditional analog radios transform sounds into electrical signal patterns that look like sound waves.<\/p>\n
Digital radio reception is more resistant to interference and eliminates many of the imperfections of analog radio transmission and reception. However, there can be interference with digital radio signals in areas far from a station’s transmitter.<\/p>\n
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Bluetooth is an open wireless technology standard for transmitting data from fixed and mobile electronic devices over short distances. Bluetooth was introduced in 1994.<\/p>\n
Bluetooth technology communicates with a variety of electronic devices and creates personal networks operating in the 2.4 GHz band. A variety of digital devices use Bluetooth, including MP3 players, mobile devices and peripherals, and personal computers; wireless microphones, wireless headsets, PTT buttons, etc.<\/p>\n
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The Canadian Standards Association<\/em> (CSA) exists to develop safety and performance standards in over 57 areas including electrical and electronic equipment, industrial equipment, boilers and pressure vessels, compressed gas handling equipment, environmental protection and building materials.<\/p>\n These standards ensure a high standard of quality for our telecommunications products.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The \ud835\ude0b\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude28\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude35\ud835\ude22\ud835\ude2d standard \ud835\ude14\ud835\ude30\ud835\ude23\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude2d\ud835\ude26 \ud835\ude19\ud835\ude22\ud835\ude25\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude30 is an international standard created in the early 2000s to provide an affordable, low-complexity digital standard to replace existing analog systems, which were lacking in functionality, voice quality, security and channel efficiency.<\/p>\n The great advantage of DMR technology is that it offers twice the capacity per channel, enabling optimized, secure and more reliable communications for business radio users.<\/p>\n This is because, it can transmit two communication channels for the same amount of space as an analog channel through the use of TDMA (\ud835\ude1b\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude2e\ud835\ude26 \ud835\ude0b\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude37\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude34\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude30\ud835\ude2f \ud835\ude14\ud835\ude36\ud835\ude2d\ud835\ude35\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude31\ud835\ude2d\ud835\ude26 \ud835\ude08\ud835\ude24\ud835\ude26\ud835\ude34\ud835\ude34) technology, which divides a 12, 5 kHz channel into two independent channels, allowing for greater spectral efficiency.<\/p>\n Migration to digital is also simplified since the DMR is compatible with the 12.5kHz narrowband frequency of analog radios!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n GPS, which stands for Global Positioning System<\/em>, is a radio navigation system that allows land, sea and air users to determine their exact position, speed and time 24 hours a day, in all weather conditions, anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n IP is an abbreviation for Ingress Protection<\/em>. It is a waterproof certification used by electronic device manufacturers that determines the resistance to dust and water. Two numbers follow these letters and describe, in order, the level of protection against dust (maximum 6) and the other against water (maximum 9).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The ISO, or International Organization for Standardization<\/em>, is a non-governmental organization of safety standards working in 167 countries. It is the largest standardization group in the world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n LMRs, or Land Mobile Radios<\/em>, are designed to be mounted in cars or boats for long distance communication.<\/p>\n Mobile radios typically have 60 watts of power, while professional handheld radios have only 4 watts of power.<\/p>\n Mobile radios are typically used by emergency first responders, public works agencies, or companies with large fleets and field personnel.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n LTE (Long-Term Evolution<\/em>) is a fourth-generation (4G) wireless standard that provides increased network capacity and speed for cell phones and other cellular devices over third-generation (3G) technology.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The NXDN (\ud835\ude15\ud835\ude26\ud835\ude39\ud835\ude35 \ud835\ude0e\ud835\ude26\ud835\ude2f\ud835\ude26\ud835\ude33\ud835\ude22\ud835\ude35\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude30\ud835\ude2f \ud835\ude0b\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude28\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude35\ud835\ude22\ud835\ude2d \ud835\ude15\ud835\ude22\ud835\ude33\ud835\ude33\ud835\ude30\ud835\ude38\ud835\ude23\ud835\ude22\ud835\ude2f\ud835\ude25) protocol, as implemented by Kenwood’s NEXEDGE radios, is an FDMA (\ud835\ude0d\ud835\ude33\ud835\ude26\ud835\ude32\ud835\ude36\ud835\ude26\ud835\ude2f\ud835\ude24\ud835\ude3a-\ud835\ude0b\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude37\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude34\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude30\ud835\ude2f \ud835\ude14\ud835\ude36\ud835\ude2d\ud835\ude35\ud835\ude2a\ud835\ude31\ud835\ude2d\ud835\ude26 \ud835\ude08\ud835\ude24\ud835\ude24\ud835\ude26\ud835\ude34\ud835\ude34) communication standard using advanced techniques in digital voice processing. Since interoperability is a key factor in NXDN, it is easy to operate between various communication systems. Thus, with NXDN, radios can operate in analog, digital or mixed mode without any problem!<\/p>\n This technology also offers many advantages, including better noise suppression and encryption of communications to ensure confidentiality, among others.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mission Critical Push-To-Talk<\/em> is a telecommunications standard that PTT radio products operating on the LTE network must meet in order to be considered optimized for the needs of security organizations. Learn more in our article “What is MCPTT<\/em><\/strong><\/a>?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A radio system is multiband when it supports multiple frequency bands. For example, FM radio is one band that can broadcast multiple stations. The same is true for AM. Amateur radio is also a benefit of a multiband system.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n P25 is a suite of standards developed to provide digital voice and data communications systems tailored to the needs of public safety and first responders.<\/p>\n A key aspect of P25 is backward compatibility with existing equipment: P25 digital radios include an analog mode of operation that is compatible with existing FM radios, making it much easier to migrate your communications equipment from analog to digital!<\/p>\n <\/p>\nDMR\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
GPS<\/strong><\/h4>\n
IP\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
ISO\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
LMR\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
LTE<\/strong><\/h4>\n
NXDN\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
MCPTT\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
MULTIBAND\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
P25\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
POC, PTT, & GO MOBILE\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n