2016-APCOWRC_RadioMigrationCutoverPlan_2016-03-09_final

1 www.ebe-consulting.com
Susan E. Ronning, P.E.
Principal Engineer, EBE Consulting LLC
Mobile: (971) 718-7574
www.ebe-consulting.com
susan@ebe-consulting.com
EBE Consulting, LLC
Migration & Cutover Planning
of Your Radio System
www.ebe-consulting.com
APCO Western Regional Conference
March 9, 2016

Abstract
When it comes time to upgrade a radio system, the
migration plan and cutover schedule impacts end
users the most.
By identifying and developing a clear migration plan
early on, agencies can use this knowledge to phase
system deployments, develop budget cycles, and
reduce impact to end users.

Speaker Bio
Susan Ronning, P.E., BSEE, MBA
• Member of APCO, IEEE, Women with Moxie
• Volunteer Team leader for Arbor Lodge & Kenton
Neighborhood Emergency Team (ALK-NET)
• EBE Consulting, Principal Engineer
• Previous associations: Tait Communications,
Federal Engineering, L.R. Kimball & Associates,
City of Glendale CA, Motorola

Migration Timeline
Plan
Prepare
Execute
Monitor /
Fallback

Definition
• Soft cutover
- Allows users to return to a previous operational
state with minimal effort
• Hard cutover
- Some or all portions of the system cannot
revert to a previous state due to major
hardware or software reconfigurations

The ideal cutover
• A soft cutover allows the existing radio system to
be cutover to the new system with limited impact
to the end users and their operations
• All constraints are alleviated when a new radio
system can be installed and tested alongside the
existing radio system

Migration Timeline
Plan
Prepare
Execute
Monitor /
Fallback

Planning considerations
1. Technology shift
2. Operational groups
3. Groups’ area of operation
4. Technical limitations

Plan: Technology shift
• Radio system configuration affects user operations
- Major: Conventional vs. trunked operation
- Minor: Analog vs. digital modulation
• Example(s)
- Minor: Add site(s) to existing system; add/ modify
channels to existing system
- Major: Transition from conventional… single site single
frequency transmit vs. multi-site voted or multi-site
transmitter steered-voted or simulcast… to trunked

Plan: Operational groups
• Identify each distinct group of users; identify day-to-day
& emergency communications required between groups
• Who talks to whom? When? Why?
• Are these internal departments or neighboring agencies?
• Are communications dispatched or ad-hoc?
- Law, Fire, Medical, Utilities, Transportation

Plan: Operational areas
• Identify where each user group operates
• What is their physical area of operations? Citywide?
Countywide? Along a specific route?
• Does location change based on time of day?
• Do groups interoperate with neighboring jurisdictions?
- Federal, State, County, City, District, Area boundaries

Consider: Technical limitations
• Spectrum
• Backhaul network
• Physical space & power
• Subscriber radios

Technical limitation: Spectrum
• Spectrum, also known as frequencies or channels
• If existing frequencies must be reused…
- Major impact to end users!!
• Will channels be added to the system?
• Is the system migrating to ‘spectrally efficient’ TDMA
modulation?

Technical limitation: Backhaul
• “Backhaul” is the microwave, fiber, or leased line
connection between sites; also includes IP routers and
switches or TDM multiplexers
• Backhaul must have sufficient bandwidth (and jitter,
latency, QoS) to support the new system
• If both radio systems will co-exist, then sufficient
bandwidth and network ports for both new and old radio
equipment is required

Technical limitation:
Physical space & power
• Radio Sites
- Antenna space on tower; tower loading capacity
- Tower space for more or replacement coax line
- Rack space in existing rack or new floor space in
equipment room; additional equipment power
• Dispatch console
- Space on desk next to existing position; power and
network connections for new equipment

Physical space & power
• Control stations
- Space and power for new control station on desk
- Antenna installation and associated transmission line
• Mobiles
- If required, physical space and power for 2nd mobile
mounted in vehicle

Subscriber radios
• Mobile radios capabilities of communicating on existing
and new radio systems allow for simpler cutover
schedule
• Where existing mobiles cannot operate on new radio
system, installations drive the cutover schedule

Migration Timeline
Plan
Prepare
Execute
Monitor /
Fallback

Preparation considerations
1. Identify migration strategy
2. Create project schedule
3. Perform cutover pre-work
a) Perform “make ready” work
b) End user and technical training
c) Define hour-by-hour cutover schedule
4. Develop fallback plan

Prepare: Migration strategy
• Analyze technical constraints
- Spectrum, space, power, backhaul
- Console, mobile, and portable capabilities
• Analyze operational constraints
- Operational groups vs. operational areas
- Consoles or radio gateways may be required to
patch old and new radio channels together

Prepare: Project Schedule
# Description
1 Kick off meeting & site visits
2 Requirements assessment, system design, migration plan
3 Place equipment order; receive and inventory
4 Rack & stack; staging test; perform technical training
5 Perform radio site installations; site acceptance test
6 Console installation; site acceptance test
7 Coverage verification test
8 System-wide operational acceptance testing
9 Perform end user training for consoles & subscribers
10 Perform cutover; monitor and accept system

Prepare: Cutover pre-work
• Prepare sites
- Space, power, backhaul network…
- Make room for additional equipment at…
• Tower sites, control stations, console positions
- Update power & grounding systems
- Perform tower loading analysis and make modifications
if/ as necessary

Prepare: Cutover pre-work
• Prepare people
- Share plans and intentions with stakeholder group(s)
- Perform end-user training
- Define cutover groups
• Which groups must be transitioned concurrently?
- Define hour-by-hour cutover schedule
• What time is a groups’ regular shift change?

Prepare: Fallback plan
• Analyze potential risks -- what ‘might’ happen
• Identify critical STOP drivers
• Consider time of year, time of day, shift changes, public
events
• Outside forces: severe weather, unplanned emergencies
• Know hard & soft cutover limitations

Migration Timeline
Plan
Prepare
Execute
Monitor /
Fallback

Execution considerations
1. Check pre-cutover tasks
2. Communications plan – day before/day of
3. Follow cutover schedule
4. Post cutover close-out

Execute: Pre-cutover check
• RF sites tested – patch / gateways installed
• Radios programmed and installed/ distributed
• Control stations programmed and installed
• Dispatch consoles installed
• Field and dispatch users trained
• Technical and user documentation provided
• Share plans with field operations and dispatch
• Share cutover communications plan

Execute: Communications plan
1. Clearly identify risks and share Fallback plan
2. Identify cutover strategy critical indicators for work
stoppage
3. Disburse technical personnel identified to assist
dispatchers and field users throughout cutover timeframe
4. Distribute detailed daily schedule to field users and
dispatch operators
5. Broadcast start and end of cutover group(s) on old and
new radio systems

Execute: Cutover schedule
1. Technicians assigned to monitor dispatchers, end users,
mobile installation teams
2. Begin cutover
3. If issues encountered, follow Fallback plan…
a) STOP, identify issue, analyze impact (major or minor)
i. If minor, RESTART cutover, resolve concurrently or
later (as appropriate)
ii. If major, identify solution, resolve, THEN continue
based on Fallback plan

Execute: Post Cutover
• Final equipment and user inventory updates
• Project team celebrate: high-five!
• List outstanding issues/ concerns
• Lessons learned

Migration Timeline
Plan
Prepare
Execute
Monitor /
Fallback

Example Documents

Example 1
Summary: Radio system modification from analog
conventional to digital trunked network
• Hard limitations
- Reuse existing spectrum
- Single touch mobile remove & replace
• Soft limitation
- Remote sites able to sustain both existing and new
radio systems (backhaul, power, antenna, coax,
equipment racks)

Frequency by Site – Old & New
Base
Station
(BS)
Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 5 Site 6 Site 7 Site 8
BS-1 Ch-1 Ch-6 Ch-3 Ch-3 Ch-4 Ch-4 Ch-5 Ch-5
BS-2 Ch-2 Ch-10 Ch-7 Ch-7 Ch-8 Ch-8 Ch-9 Ch-9
BS-3 Ch-11 Ch-11 Ch-12 Ch-12 Ch-13 Ch-13
BS-4 Ch-14 Ch-15 Ch-15 Ch-16
BS-5 Ch-17 Ch-18 Ch-18 Ch-19

Cutover
Groups
• A – Northern
• B – South East
• C – Campus 1
• D – Campus 2
A
B
C
D

Mobile Installation
• Total # vehicle installations: 194
• 2 hours per vehicle per team to install 1 mobile
• 4 installation teams per site

Radio
Template
Operational
area
Work group(s) Primary
Talkgroup
Cutover
Group
Public
Safety
County Sheriff CS-1 A
Fire FD-1 B
City A Fire Insp. FD-2 B
City B Police PD-1 A
Public
Service
City A Bus BU-1 C
Facilities PW-F C
City B Utilities PWR-1 D
Plan: Groups vs. areas

Mobile Installation
• Placeholder slide
A
B
C
D
Note: Dates are NOT final & durations are approximate

80 vehicles
30 vehicles
59 vehicles + 5 boats 16 vehicles + 2 boats
Total: ~ 194 vehicles
GROUP A: EPH
GROUP B: MLD GROUP C: WAN
GROUP C: WAN GROUP D: PRD
Note: Dates are NOT final & durations are approximate

Questions?

Thank you!

2016-APCOWRC_RadioMigrationCutoverPlan_2016-03-09_final

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