Upgrade Overview

KEWS operates using older analog technologies that are obsolete and will not support modern digital technologies that are rapidly emerging and necessary for increased capacity and high speed data capabilities.  Manufacturers of analog equipment have migrated to digital equipment and replacement or introduction of new analog products are nonexistent.  KEWS microwave infrastructure is over 25 years old with replacement parts that are not available and network failures that will impact the various communication systems riding on the KEWS network are increasing at an alarming rate.  With the modern digital upgrade, KEWS will evolve again to provide a secure, highly survivable and redundant wireless digital Public Safety Communication system that is critical for the protection of life and property in the Commonwealth.

The importance to upgrade the analog microwave infrastructure to a modern digital system is paramount for the critical day-to-day communication requirements of public safety agencies throughout the Commonwealth.  The upgrade will enhance and expand communication services among the various disciplines of public safety spanning the multiple levels of government.  This includes wireless services to allow public safety officials to access centralized databases such as Criminal History, Vehicle Registration, Mug shots, Fingerprints, and Geographical Information Systems from their cruisers and emergency vehicles.  It will also allow for the collaboration and sharing of information/intelligence to gain situational awareness in real time of the developing emergency with the capability to transmit/receive command and control directives from the emergency operations center, thus leading to a more efficient and effect response. 

The KEWS Request for Proposal (RFP) has been issued and negotiations are underway with the vendor.  The objective of the RFP is to provide the Commonwealth with a robust and highly survivable statewide public safety digital microwave system.  The vendor’s mission is to develop an Internet Protocol (IP) packet-based architecture on the microwave backbones and spurs that will be scalable and reliable in transporting current voice and data circuits as well as future applications.  This would allow connectivity between equipment and systems between State, Local and interagency organizations to coordinate response operations.

This robust and highly survivable statewide public safety digital microwave system will allow various government entities the capabilities to improve its efficiencies and effectiveness of its operations when responding to an emergency by utilizing voice and data circuits that would allow connectivity between equipment and systems between State, Local and interagency organizations to coordinate response operations.  Among the public safety interoperable communication systems the new infrastructure will support, but not limited to be:

• Land Mobile Two Way Radio Voice Communication Systems
• Mutual Aid Voice Communication Systems
• Mobile Computer Data Systems
• Computer Aided Dispatch Systems
• 911 Systems

The design consists of a multi-segmented implementation for replacement of the existing KEWS analog 1,200 channel microwave communication network with a state-of-the-art Digital Microwave backbone and an IP based infrastructure.  This project is a “Design and Build” project which will be fully defined after Field Surveys and Engineering efforts have completed.

The existing radios, voice multiplexes, and circuit conditioning equipment will be replaced with digital microwave radios, TDM to IP Multiplexers, Routers, Switches and ancillary support equipment.  This new system will provide a highly robust and efficient MPLS based OC-3 across the backbone, and multiple T1s to each Spur site.  New microwave links will be engineered and built to create additional loops which will better employ the rerouting and backup capabilities of the MPLS protocol.   
COS/QOS/VLAN/Traffic Engineering and other features are available out-of-the-box.  Internet, Intranet, VoIP, and other applications yet to be defined, will be simple to implement.

All digital microwave paths shall be designed for an annual one-way end to end DS1 availability in accordance with the following schedule:

• 99.9999% @ 10-6 BER for loop backbone sites
• 99.999% @ 10-6 BER for spur routes.

For execution of this project, the Commonwealth has been divided into four primary segments encompassing Site 1 and C1, the Western sites, the Eastern sites, and the Northern and New Madrid sites.  Surveys, Engineering, and Implementation on these segments will overlap and as many as three segments may be in execution at the same time.