The Engineering Committee and its Subcommittees develop and maintain standards for private radio communications systems and equipment (e.g., Public Safety services and commercial operations) for both voice and data applications; addressing all technical matters for systems and services, including definitions, interoperability, compatibility and compliance requirements.

Engineering Committee TR-8 has over 60 years of standards formulation history, starting with Private Land Mobile Radio Systems and frequency modulated (FM) analog technology. However, the past decade has seen the development of standards for digital radio systems of various technologies. This transition has increased the sophistication of radio systems and, as a result, has necessitated an increased level of standardization for many of the components of these systems. In addition, as new technologies are deployed, issues of compatibility and interoperability are of prime importance. In communications systems for public safety and emergency services, reliability and interoperability are especially important. The criticalness of these communications also requires the avoidance of unwanted interference. All these requirements have caused Engineering Committee TR-8 to assume a wider scope in the standards being developed. Due to the nature of this committee, most standards and projects are related to this compendium's subject nature. See below for descriptions of activity under this TIA Engineering Committee.

This Engineering Subcommittee is responsible for Data Circuit Terminating Equipment (DCE) and the interfaces between DCEs and Data Terminal Equipment (DTE), together with the transmission media to which they are connected (e.g., the Public Switched Telephone Network). Standards include functional, electrical, and mechanical characteristics; involving such devices as modems, standard and IP facsimile and textphones. Much of this engineering committee's activities also involve developing contributions for input to ITU-T Study SG 16, Multimedia Services, Systems and Terminals.

Related to this compendium, activities presently being explored involve such topics as Internet/IP facsimile security and emergency accessibility service capabilities for textphones over IP and PSTN networks, involving national and international standards activity. The work done in this committee has emergency telecommunications service implications and aspects, including Enhanced Priority Treatment, Network Security, International Connectivity and Quality of Service.

TR-30.1, Modems and Facsimile Terminal Equipment and Systems

This subcommittee develops domestic standards relating to modems, including modem control, maintenance, error control, and line signals and facsimile terminal equipment and systems. Another main function is the development of technical contributions relating to modems and textphones (i.e., TTY, TDD) for presentation in international standards I such as the ITU-T (Study Group 16). For example, TIA TR-30.1 is working with and providing input to ITU-T Study Group 16, Question 11 on an ITU-T Recommendation for Text over IP (ToIP). This may involve Text Telephony Telecommunications Device for the Deaf [TDD] and teletypewriter [TTY]) over VoIP networks.

Facsimile, as referred to here, includes any system that transmits (and receives) still rasterized images, including bi-level, continuous tone and color images. Related to this compendium, activities presently being explored involve such topics as Internet/IP facsimile security and related emergency service capabilities. Standards include functional, electrical, and mechanical characteristics and communication protocols that involve point-to-point and multipoint facsimile and audiographic services. Additionally, TIA TR-30.1 is working to develop technical contributions to enhance ITU-T Recommendation T.38, "Procedures for Real-Time Group 3 Facsimile Communication over IP Networks," involving enhanced capabilities for Facsimile over IP (involves emergency telecommunications service aspects and implications).

• PN-3-0098 (to be published as TIA-1001), "Transport of TIA-825-A over IP Networks" (In TIA ballot): This project is developing a standard for a gateway to provide reliable transport of textphones over IP networks. Consideration is also being given to emergency telecommunications service and capabilities.
• ANSI/TIA-825-A-2003, "A Frequency Shift Keyed Modem for Use on the Public Switched Telephone Network." This (data interchange equipment) document specifies a FSK modem which operates at nominal data signaling rates of 50 or 45.45 symbols per second over the switched telephone network.

TIA TR-34 Engineering Committee is an established, open forum for satellite technology development. This TIA Engineering Committee recently reviewed the issue of Lawfully Authorized Electronic Surveillance (LAES) in support of Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) for satellite systems and concluded that TR-34 could be an avenue (coordination, new work initiation) for applicable security and emergency service/accessibility related communications standards activity, if deemed by membership to be appropriate in the future.

TIA TR-41 Engineering Committee, User Premises Telecommunications Requirements

This Engineering Committee is responsible for standards and recommendations relating to telecommunication terminal equipment, user telecommunication systems, private telecommunication networks, private network mobility, unlicensed wireless user premises equipment, and auxiliary equipment and devices, used for voice service and integrated voice-data service. Network interface characteristics are addressed from a terminal equipment perspective. This Engineering Committee contributes input to ITU-T SG 12, as appropriate, in matters related to transmission performance and quality of service. Additionally, TIA TR-41 developed documents are applicable to emergency telecommunications service requirements.

Standards formulated by this committee include service and performance criteria as well as information necessary for proper interworking of equipment, systems and networks with each other, the public networks, and carrier provided private line services. Work also includes regulatory, safety and environmental requirements, network security, QoS and applicable accounting and billing aspects. Recent security issues that are being worked in the TR-41 committee include IP Telephony, as an emerging technology involving the amalgamation of telephony operations on a Local Area Network/Wide Area Network/Metropolitan Area Network (LAN/WAN/MAN) infrastructure. The threats from telephony can be overlayed with the threats native to the IP environment, both passive (i.e., copying information in transit/during storage) and active (modifying information in transit/during storage or disruption of normal operations). In addition to threats against an IP Telephony (IPT) infrastructure (i.e., routers, switches, authentication resources), greater exposure is also being directed towards threats against the IP Telephony application itself, including toll fraud, unauthorized access to resources, unauthorized access to voice mail and other private user information. Other threats involve IPT endpoints (i.e., IP phones, gateways, and "softphones"), passive and active attacks on the signaling stream (including eavesdropping) and other issues that are of importance. Infrastructure assurance, network security and enhanced emergency telecommunications service are aspects addressed within this committee's work.

Annex 7 is a list of current TR-41 activities related to this compendium.

This Engineering Committee is responsible for commercial, industrial and residential cabling standards including telecommunications infrastructure administration, pathways and spaces, and copper and optical fiber systems requirements, including information and requirements necessary for the implementation of telecommunications infrastructure. The activities and documents of TR-42 can be applicable to physical infrastructure issues associated with assurance, security and emergency telecommunications availability. In particular, the ANSI/TIA/EIA-569-A and 758 standards provide some guidance for alternate routing of cabling into a building to help prevent loss of communications. Annex 8 contains a current snapshot of related TR-42 work.

This Engineering Committee is responsible for performance, compatibility, interoperability and service standards for mobile and personal communications systems. These standards pertain to, but are not restricted to, service information, wireless terminal equipment, wireless base station equipment, wireless switching office equipment, ancillary apparatus, auxiliary applications, inter-network and inter-system operations and interfaces.

TIA TR-45 has been involved with the development of security features since the early 1990s (i.e., Authentication, Signaling Message Encryption and Voice Privacy), including Joint Standards Development Work with Committee T1 to address legislated and mandated security services. Authentication, Signaling Message Encryption and Privacy are supported in TIA/EIA-41 Networks and their radio technologies - Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) (i.e., cdma2000®) , and Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS)-based systems. In the ongoing interest of security, enhancements to these basic security features have been adopted by TR-45 to support Enhanced Subscriber Authentication (ESA) and Enhanced Subscriber Privacy (ESP) mechanisms for Third Generation (3G) Systems.

The engineering committee has also developed standards for Wireless Priority Service (WPS) for CDMA Systems, in parallel with WPS Industry Requirements work. Note that WPS is a voluntary service based on FCC R&O 00-242 (WT Docket No. 96-86), and is provided to National Security/Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) Personnel, supporting multiple levels of priority (assigned by DHS National Communications System personnel in U.S.A.). WPS is invoked on a per call basis and is primarily for voice and circuit-switched data calls. WPS requires no modifications to existing handsets; call request is given priority treatment (e.g., queued) when no radio channels are available in the originating or terminating wireless network; calls are completed (based on priority level) when a radio traffic channel becomes available.

Emergency calling service, location identification, lawful interception and surveillance capabilities and are also developed within this engineering committee. Activities include Joint Standards Development Work with Committee T1 (now ATIS) to address legislated and mandated services, including emergency services (e.g., E9-1-1 location) and CALEA. Note that recently published European emergency call handling requirements (e.g., ETSI SR 002 180) have been made available to TIA TR-45 and are being taken into consideration within the course of its work (i.e., coordination of E9-1-1/E1-1-2 aspects). TIA TR-45 coordination is also being proposed with TIA TR-41.4 and others regarding E1-1-2 requirements for cdma2000® systems operating in impacted areas. In a related note, currently there are no 3GPP2 documents related to Emergency Services as the project considered such aspects regional. For the North American region, emergency service standards are being developed within TIA TR-45 Committee and referenced in 3GPP2 documentation.

An emerging and important area to address will be emergency services for packet data. 3GPP2 (TSG-X) recently decided this work should not be done in 3GPP2. Likely work may be addressed in TR-45.2, Emergency Services Ad-Hoc Group, and may involve potential coordination with TIA TR-45.6 activities responsible for packet data network support. Also note that work to support IP-based location services is a project in 3GPP2 and such work may also impact Emergency Services for packet data networks (and vice a versa). The impacts to TR-45.2 Emergency Services existing specifications and future TR-45.2 IP-Based Emergency Services work projects have not been addressed at this time.

Annex 9 contains a listing of related work and projects for TR-45.