Created at a cost of $14 million in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, STARCOMM was first deployed in 2006 to allow police, fire, and emergency first-responders to immediately share information between all entities in real time.
We worked together with STARCOMM to develop the solution to modernize equipment and software for its microwave and fiber optic system while preserving and improving its existing DS-3 and OC-3 microwave.
Using an advanced multi-service Ethernet platform (MSEP) gave STARCOMM the flexibility to replace existing legacy equipment and cutover to the new system with minimal downtime
Implementing the JumboSwitch Windows-based TCView® Network Management System (NMS) provided STARCOMM with several benefits
The JumboSwitch also improved audio quality, performance and reliability and met all of STARCOMM’s interoperability requirements, including providing interfaces such as VoIP, Modem-over-IP(MoIP), T1 circuits, 2- and 4-wire (analog) circuits, Ethernet, fiber, OC3 and DS3
The 2006 STARCOMM network consisted of a multi-site, 6-channel digital 800 MHz Motorola P-25 Trunked radio system. The Motorola system operated on a five 5-site Alcatel microwave system with 4 OC3 sites, 8 radio rings, 1 DS3 sites, and 4 radio hot standby spurs.
The original Alcatel system used multi-service concentrators and intelligent T1 multiplexers along with 2 servers to operate a primary and backup system manager software system for management and alarm monitoring. This system linked all STARCOMM and 911 sites back to the Woodbury County 911 and Dakota County 911 PSAP’s by single mode fiber optics.
The 911 system consisted of a 7-site Woodbury County Fire paging and Talk-Back radio system that used the STARCOMM microwave system along with three 4.9 microwave system links to the Alcatel microwave system.
Much of the STARCOMM upgrade focused on modernizing equipment and software that operated its microwave radio and fiber optic system. Some of the more pressing performance and reliability issues were equipment obsolescence and failures, network management, and network expansion.
Additional requirements included:
To design and implement the STARCOMM upgrade, the consortium of public safety agencies from three Siouxland counties – Union, Dakota and Woodbury – selected Calhoun Communications, a local systems integrator that currently provided maintenance for STARCOMM’s current system and specialized in Public Safety communications networks. Calhoun’s Vice President, Tony Carpenter, called the upgrade project’s requirements challenging.
Calhoun Communications reached out to multiple vendors to find the best replacement solution for the existing STARCOMM network. It ultimately recommended the JumboSwitch® Multi-Service Ethernet Platform from TC Communications.
STARCOMM replaced its aging multi-service concentrators and some T1 multiplexers with a modern JumboSwitch® Multi-Service Ethernet Platform. Using JumboSwitch, they created a single interoperable network platform that uses Radio-over-IP (RoIP), Modem-over-IP (MoIP), T1, Ethernet and VoIP interfaces over OC-3, DS-3, fiber, and microwave radio transport mediums. This enabled all voice communications for law enforcement and emergency services to be shared between all parties in real time.
The 2015 STARCOMM ring topology network uses the JumboSwitch to provide advanced multi-service Ethernet connectivity for T1, 2/4wire analog, telephone and modems between all sites over OC-3 microwave and fiber; DS3 microwave; and, Ethernet radio and fiber. Interfaces between the network nodes including FXS/FXO, T1, MoIP, 10/100/100 Ethernet and 600 ohm analog.
