JVCKENWOOD announced that the NXDN Common Air Interface (CAI) was accepted at the Study Group 5 (SG5) meeting of the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunications Sector (ITU-R) held in November and in report M.2014-3 published in February. This inclusion paves the way for wider global adoption of NXDN because it represents official recognition by an international standards organization that NXDN is an international digital land mobile system.
NXDN is an open standard narrowband digital protocol employing 6.25 and 12.5 kilohertz FDMA technology to comply with frequency coordination requirements in many countries; it supports a comprehensive radio system including trunked, non-trunked and direct mobile-to-mobile communications. JVCKENWOOD and Icom developed NXDN as an alternative for the mobiel radio industry to facilitate development of more affordable digital radio products.
The technology satisfied the U.S. telecom regulator FCC’s 2013 narrowbanding mandate and is intended to help countries that lack sufficient frequency resources for their public-safety agencies and business operators.
The protocol’s 6.25-kilohertz dual-channel systems can be configured to fit within a 12.5-kilohertz channel, effectively doubling spectrum efficiency compared with an analog FM system occupying the same channel. Two NXDN channels can be allocated as voice/voice, voice/data or data/data. Compared with analog FM, the technology provides wider coverage and better multipath characteristics and supports mixed digital/analog operation.
NXDN is implemented in the KENWOOD-brand NEXEDGE product range, which since 2008 has offered digital conventional and trunked radio solutions. And 2015 saw the debut of Gen2, the second generation of NEXEDGE products, with enhanced features, flexibility and performance including the capability to link up to 1,000 sites or 24 networks.
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