Sam Ray is the Mission Critical Voice (MCV) Research Portfolio Lead for NIST’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Division. Sam actively contributes as a technical expert, utilizing his background in telecommunications and electrical engineering. He honed his expertise at Motorola, where he specialized in telecommunications cellular infrastructure and system testing and deployment, particularly for rest-of-world markets and throughout the United States. After spending a few years as an Engineering Manager, his passion for system testing and deployment drew him back to the laboratory, focusing on testing the long-term evolution (LTE) radio access network (RAN). Sam's unique perspective, combining systems engineering and electrical engineering, greatly influences his approach to the work he undertakes, making him an invaluable asset to the team.
PSCR’s communication team interviewed Ray to shed light on the indispensable role of interoperability in public safety communications and share firsthand experiences of working closely with first responders.
Can you describe the projects your team is working on?
SR: LMR (land mobile radio) has long served as a reliable mainstay in this field, primarily offering push-to-talk (PTT) functionality. However, first responders require additional capabilities available on broadband networks. Although broadband is currently limited in terms of PTT applications and lacks device-to-device (D2D) capability, efforts are underway to support the transition and help first responders evaluate the benefits of adding broadband capabilities, including interoperability with LMR, while preserving or improving the performance of mission critical voice. The goal is to ensure that they can have an experience on broadband that equals or surpasses their previous experience with LMR. Education plays a crucial role in bridging any knowledge gaps, and many first responders already possess a mature understanding of technology. However, assistance is often ..
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