Del. Admin. Code tit. 16, Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Division of Communications, 200, app A
Test Plan Overview:
The purpose of this test plan is to determine if newly constructed buildings in excess of 25,000 square feet have been designed and/or constructed so that emergency personnel can send and receive communications from within all areas of those buildings; or alternately, to verify the performance of buildings equipped with emergency communications equipment (i.e., radiating cable, passive antennas, bi-directional amplifiers, distributed antenna systems) so that emergency personnel can send and receive communications from all areas within the building.
A Grid Acceptance Test (GAT) will be used to demonstrate that the required reliability of communication is provided among 95% of the total number of grid cells at a Delivered Audio Quality (DAQ) of 3.4., (i.e., speech understandable with repetition only rarely required. Some Noise/Distortion).
Terms and testing methodology described within the GAT are based on the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Telecommunications Systems Bulletin TSB-88-B, "Wireless Communications System - Performance in Noise and Interference-Limited Situations - Recommended Methods for Technology - Independent Modeling, Simulation, and Verifications."
Grid Acceptance Test:
| . | An approved vendor list shall be published by the Divisions of Communications and will be maintained on their website at www.Delaware.gov |
Comment:
| . | In the case of a shell and core - tenant fitout construction arrangement the process shall be as follows: |
| . | The facility owner shall commission a complete GAT test for shell and core C of O. |
| . | The approved vendor shall submit the results of the shell and core GAT to the Division of Communications for a pass/fail designation. |
| . | If the facility has passed the GAT, the Division of Communications shall forward an approval form to the responsible Building Code Official with the Division of Communications approval for "Shell and Core Only". |
| . | The facility owner shall commission additional, complete GAT test for each "initial tenant fit-out" following the same processes discuss above. |
| . | Any subsequent tenant fitout that may occur to an existing tenant fitout that was previously approved by the Division of Communications for C of O, would not be required to have a complete GAT test. The renovation impact upon the 800 MHz system will be discovered during the annual testing required by the In Building Regulations. |
The test will be conducted after exterior walls, roofs, windows and doors have been constructed/installed and all interior rooms, their walls and ceilings, are in place and doors have been hung as appropriate for the C of O application being sought i.e., shell & core or complete tenant fitout.
The test will be conducted using portable radios which operate on the State of Delaware's Emergency Radio Communications System.
The test team will verify that the test radios are functioning properly and meet minimum manufacturer's performance standards prior to test execution.
All tests will be performed using a lapel microphone with the portable radiontenna installed in a standard swivel case mounted on the hip belt with the operator remaining stationary during the test.
The building floor plan for all floors shall be overlaid with a uniform test grid. The test grid shall be established with each grid unit measuring 25 ft. by 25 ft. Each grid unit (cell) shall be uniquely identified and the results will be recorded in the Grid Acceptance Test Log (GAT Log). The grid map must be attached to the grid acceptance test log.
Grids in areas where electromagnetic interference (EMI's) will interfere with the efficient operation of equipment sensitive to EMI's will be excluded from the test and reliability calculations. When determining the coverage percentage, the total number of grids to be tested will be based on the total number of grids in a building minus the number of grids in EMI areas.
Stairwells, elevators and holding/jail cells are critical areas where Communication on both forward and reverse (transmit Tx & Receive Rx) paths must meet or exceed the DAQ 3.4 level to pass the requirements of this test. If an elevator or holding/jail cell falls in a grid area the grid and elevator or holding/jail cell will be tested separately. The test results for elevators and holding/jail cells are not included in the calculation for coverage determination.
When acceptance testing is performed in elevators, the internal and external doors shall be closed, and the test will be repeated on each floor. Tests in holding/jail cells shall be performed with the door to the cell in the closed and locked position.
The test procedure shall require the quality of communication to be judged by a stationary tester and mobile tester while the mobile tester move from grid unit (cell) to grid unit (cell), throughout the building, covering all grid units (cells) on all floors. The procedure has the following attributes:
| . | The test requires two testers. One tester shall be stationary and located in a known good reception area (the stationary tester). The mobile tester shall systematically roam all floors through the building. |
| . | From each grid unit (cell), at least one (1) test calls shall be made to the stationary operator in a known good reception area. |
| . | Tests will be conducted at the center of the grid. If the centermost point of the grid is not accessible the next closest area to the center of the grid will be used. Any grids not accessible will be excluded from the test and reliability calculations. |
| . | The mobile tester shall verbally count from one to five and then five to one (for a total of ten numbers verbalized). The stationary receiver shall be required to acknowledge whether reception is or is not acceptable. |
| . | The stationary tester shall verbally count from one to five and then five to one (for a total of ten numbers verbalized). The receiver (the mobile tester) shall be required to acknowledge whether reception is or is not acceptable. |
| . | The test will consider both forward and reverse (Tx & Rx) communication paths. Communication on both forward and reverse paths shall meet or exceed the DAQ 3.4 level to meet the requirements of this test. |
| . | The tester initiating the call from within each grid unit (cell) shall determine the success or failure of the call. Results will be recorded in the GAT log with a pass/fail rating system. |
| . | The mobile tester must issue a "pass" decision to constitute a successful result for each tested grid unit (cell). This process will be repeated for each grid unit (cell) that is part of the grid acceptance test. |
| . | TSB-88-B defines DAQ 3.4 as, "Speech understandable with repetition only rarely required. Some Noise/Distortion." "Rarely" shall be quantified as no greater than 10 percent re-test. This means a maximum of 10% of all the grids will be allowed a repeated transmission within three feet of the original test location. |
| . | In the event that a specific grid unit yields a fail decision, a quantitative measurement will be taken to be the final determination of grid acceptance. A Spectrum Analyzer shall be used to measure the received signal power from the Emergency Radio Communication System's control channel frequency within the grid unit. If it is found that received signal power is greater than or equal to -95.0dBm, then the grid unit shall be considered a pass decision. Once all data is collected, coverage percentage, CP, will be determined by Equation 1: |
CP = (TP)/(TC) x 100%
Note: CP is a function of the Pass/Fail results for each grid unit tested within the building, not the ratio of successful calls to unsuccessful calls within each specific grid unit.
| . | State, County & Municipal Emergency Services Personnel and The State of Delaware Division of Communications may at their discretion, witness coverage testing |
Emergency Radio Communications System
In-Building Coverage
System Frequencies
Note: TX is the specific frequencies transmitted from the State of Delaware to be received inside the building.
RX is the specific frequencies received by the State of Delaware to be transmitted inside the building.
*NOTE - These frequencies are pre rebanding and will change 15MHz once rebanding is complete it is estimated that rebanding in DE will be completed by YE2011.
In-Building Coverage
For Informational Purposes Only
Request for Proposals/Equipment specifications
Scope of Work: General:
The building owner and/or owner's representative shall request services to design, install, test and make operational an in-building Communications System (the "System" -- including, but not limited to, radiating cable, passive antennas, bi-directional amplifiers, and distributed antenna systems) on all levels of the building. The implementation of the System shall require work throughout all floors, including levels below grade, and shall result in a specified, minimum level of signal strength on all floors of the building, as well as the ability to successfully transmit and receive using typical hand-held audio transceivers used by the State of Delaware. The minimum acceptable signal strength and ability to successfully communicate shall be achieved 95% of the time and, with certain exceptions, among 95% of the 25' X 25' cells into which each floor is divided for testing and validation purposes. As part of the scope of work, the building owner and/or owner's representative and the contractor shall identify specific, critical areas on each floor that shall be required to have the minimum acceptable level of signal strength at all times as long as the System and external (to the building) Emergency Communications System are operational. These critical areas shall include, but shall not be limited to, all stairwells, elevators and holding/jail cells.
Deliverables:
Warranty:
The contractor warrants that the signal strength and the ability to acceptably communicate according to the test procedures noted in Attachment "C" shall be at or above minimum acceptable levels in 95% of the 25' X 25' test cells into which each floor of the building is divided 95% of the time with the following exceptions:
| . | Signal strength and the ability to communicate will be at or above minimum acceptable levels in all stairwells, elevators, holding/jail cells and critical cells on all floors of the building. This requirement shall be achieved 100% of the time as long as the System is functioning and as long as the external (to the building) Emergency Communications System is operating. |
The contractor shall warrant all materials, labor and workmanship for a period of at least one-year from the date the testing and validation report for the final phase of installation is accepted by the owner's representative. The contractor shall warrant all materials and components for a period of at least one-year unless the manufacturer provides a longer warrantee period. If so, the contractor warrantee shall continue until the manufacturer's warrantee has expired. The warrantee shall include all components of the in-building System installed on each floor (including components located on the roof and cabling between the roof and lower levels).
Information to be included in the Bidder's Proposal:
Del. Admin. Code tit. 16, Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Division of Communications, 200, app A