Moto TRBO trunking, anyone have a primer or overall rundown on how it works?

[PRC148]

I know all about trunking, P25 trunking all that stuff but to be honest I'm pretty much in the dark about TRBO. Does anyone have any links to sources of info that give an overall layout of how it works? I understand TDMA and how the basic technology works with time slots and color codes but the trunking part is what I'm unclear on.

Is it similar to smartzone?
Do the radios roam to strongest sites as they do with P25?
System keys?
How are sites interconnected?
Is there a central controller?
With dual comm paths due to TDMA is one control and one available for voice?
If there any sort of OTAR available?

I guess I'm just trying to get an understanding of where it parallels regular trunking and where it differs.

 

[Bill_G]

P25.ca System Planner
RR Wiki on Trbo

 

[com501]

Absolutely the system planner is your go to source. Read through it carefully to get a good overview of the various flavors of Trbo trunking, there is more than one. Basically, Capacity Plus is trunking with no control channel, similar to LTR, and Connect Plus with a dedicated control channel, which is capable of multisite, multizone. The only added clinker is Trbo gives you TWO voice paths per RF frequency (two slot TDMA) which is different than analog or P25 Phase I. You can have dedicated data paths, also, an added complication. Enjoy!

 

[Jim1348]

Moto TRBO Trunking, Anyone Have A Primer Or Overall Rundown On How It Works?

A friend on mine works at a place that has Motorola XPR6550 radios. He doesn't know if they are trunked. What can I tell him to help determine if they are trunked? I sort of joked that in theory they could be using analog, simplex on the XPR6550s!

 

[com501]

Please start a new thread and don't hijack this one. Thanks!

 

[hcfd225]

Is it similar to smartzone?
A: In my opinion not really, but I’m sure some of the guys with a deep understanding of smartzone (I personally have little to none) could point out some similarities.

Do the radios roam to strongest sites as they do with P25?
A: Probably the best way to answer this is yes, if MOTOTRBO is deployed using one of the two multi-site trucking solutions (connect plus and linked capacity plus) but with that said, it is also possible to engineer MOTOTRBO’s non trunking multisite linking configuration with a form of site roaming.

System keys?
A: There is no true system key on board MOTOTRBO at this time, there is some optional features that can give you some system security, but not as an actual sys key.

How are sites interconnected?
A: The most basic answer to this is via IP, without opining a huge can of worms with any IP network you can be as simplistic or as complicated as what fits your needs and preferences.

Is there a central controller?
A: In the case of MOTOTRBO connect plus a dedicated hardware controller is utilized, in the case of Capacity or linked Capacity plus, one repeater is designated as the “master” and assumes the responsibility of designating the “rest slot”.

With dual comm paths due to TDMA is one control and one available for voice?
A: correct, in all of the MOTOTRBO trucking configurations with the exception of connect plus, dynamic trunking architecture is utilized. Loosely the way it works is all the radios on the system that are not in a call are monitoring the rest slot, when a call is initiated all of the subscribers involved is this call stay on this slot; the rest slot is then reassigned to the next available slot and all of the non-involved subscribers move to the new rest slot accordingly and so on.

If there any sort of OTAR available?
Absolutely, it is part of what Motorola calls Radio Management. Radio Management technically has 3 parts, the Radio management module on board CPS, the radio management server and an application called device programmer. It sounds complicated, but is rally pretty easy to set up. I have used it and it has worked fantastic for me.

Like the previous post advised, the system planner has in depth answers to your questions and a multitude of other good information. If you have any questions please let me know and I will try and help as best I can.

If you are looking at deploying a MOTOTRBO system, reach out to your local shop they can help you out with everything from design to implementation.

 

[radiotechs]

My reply is based on Connect Plus trunking

Is it similar to smartzone? From what i understand of Smartzone it is similar in concept, how it happens i am not sure of with smartzone

Do the radios roam to strongest sites as they do with P25? Yes they have a preferred site ID in the radio , they attempt to register with this first, from there it is based on roam values of dropping below a preprogrammed value for a preprogrammed time, then it will search its other sites.

System keys? Not used, radios have codeplugs and frequency files for system infomation

How are sites interconnected? via IP, mixture of ADSL, fibre, Motorola Canopy, other wireless IP links

Is there a central controller? Dedicated controller at each site

With dual comm paths due to TDMA is one control and one available for voice? Timeslot 1 of a repeater is control channel at each site. the remainder is Voice slots

If there any sort of OTAR available? Yes, Anythign residing on the option board is able to be OTA programmed. Talkgroup information, contact lists, roam values etc, these can all be targetted to a individual. Frequency files and new sites etc can be broadcast out for all to download during times, but not to an individual only
Same with option board firmware. can be sent OTA but available for all to download.