Airbus : Defence and Space launches Viewcor real-time monitoring system for tactical operation

Airbus Defence and Space has introduced Viewcor, a new real-time monitoring system for tactical operations within Tetra networks, at the Critical Communications World (CCW) fair in Barcelona. The system displays the current status of a Tetra radio communications network using maps, tables, trend graphs and reports, thus helping public safety professionals to give a detailed picture of the current operational status of their network. Viewcor can be used for small or large networks as it is able to monitor information from up to several thousand Tetra base stations used during an operation or in a defined area.

Real-time monitoring can help to avoid potential congestion within radio networks, especially during operations with an increased need for communication, such as sports games, summits or other major events. Using Viewcor, the tactical operator is able to oversee the resource allocation, channel capacity and load of a Tetra base station used in the defined observation area, thus allowing him or her to immediately take control during an operation.

Viewcor users have straightforward access to the system via a web browser in a flexible and secure way. Providing a clear overview in real time about the status of the Tetra base stations, the predefined icons are able to show their load status in different colours. In this way network capacity can be better utilised by identifying which base stations are handling less traffic than they are dimensioned for, enabling capacity to be re-allocated to meet demand. Since all base stations in the observation area are shown in a geographical map view, the operator can easily search for base stations or display other information (e.g. police stations, hospitals, etc.). With multiple views the user can analyse all data and make decisions for call handling during an event more rapidly.

"Viewcor goes hand in hand with the other key Tetra products from Airbus Defence and Space, for example DXT3 and Tactilon, to collect, visualise and analyse the information from the radio access network and the rest of the Tetra infrastructure," Eric Davalo, Head Products and Services Portfolio at Communications, Intelligence & Security at Airbus Defence and Space. "Security, scalability and reliability have been the cornerstones in design and development since the very beginning of the project with the German BOS (public safety authorities). In a next step, there are plans to introduce other radio access technologies such as LTE to the solution."

Airbus Defence and Space is a division of Airbus Group formed by combining the business activities of Cassidian, Astrium and Airbus Military. The new division is Europe's number one defence and space enterprise, the second largest space business worldwide and among the top ten global defence enterprises. It employs more than 38,000 employees generating revenues of approximately €13 billion per year.