Low Size, Weight, and Power (SWAP) In-building Coverage Analysis System (ICAS) Solution

The purpose of this SBIR project is to solve the critical problem of ensuring emergency communications network coverage for the first responder in a host of building types and locations. The advent of FirstNet and other broadband networks as equally critical communications tools increases the complexity of this problem.While localities' code policies are accelerating the move toward providing for in-building coverage, we learned that evaluating public safety communications system coverage in buildings needs to integrate with standards, requirements, the commercial eco-system, the local authorities and communications officers.Only by improving the state of play for all stakeholders will a test system be commercially relevant.Epiq Solutions intends to deliver an innovative in-building coverage analysis system (ICAS) for commonly used first responders' network types: P25, FirstNet LTE as well as the emerging commercial 5G NR technology. This will be based on Epiq's software defined radio (SDR) products which are among the smallest and most capable commercial SDRs in the industry. The system will aggregate test data, manage it, and make the data available to all stakeholders so that first responders can have confidence in their communications in the event of incidents. In this phase, the objective is to build a minimum viable product (MVP) that will be initially complete and commercially successful.