It’s official. The Army is scrapping the development of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS).

JTRS had all the makings of a dream come true in design. Its goal was to make a single radio system that would work and be compatible throughout all operations.

However, they rapidly found that they were unable to overcome some stumbling blocks.

I am going to walk us through some of the issues and also talk through the implications for our more modest commercial strategies.

• Processing and Power. Encrypting Voice is a delicate balance of speed and security. You want to encrypt as strongly as possible and at the same time not delay the communication experience. By in large, this does not really have an implication for M2M. However, the battery to support the processing is a case in point. If the battery life is a problem for people that are used to carrying a backpack, clearly we need to make sure our systems stay close to power sources and probably back up systems. 
• Technology and Spectrum (News - Alert) (News - Alert). The use of cognitive radio has been part of JTRS and it will be interesting to see if the military continues any work here. Much of the early proof that TV white space could be a viable market was based on the combination of cognitive radio and the use of the database. In the end, the database became the tool and cognitive radio was looked at as a future use. For M2M, this is significant, as it means that the use of a gateway between the sensors and cellular network is still the safest method for deployment. Cognitive radio also had the implication that TDD LTE (News - Alert) was a smart strategy. Again, I would say that it’s clear that FDD LTE is going to be the norm, which means that the military is going to guard its spectrum now more than ever.
• Commercial Markets. The scrapping of JTRS also means that the military sees the existing consumer market to be the best place to source. This means we should probably follow suit and accept that the market of devices is strongest with the army of ARMs. Bluetooth, WiFi (News - Alert) and Zigbee all have their spots, but we should look to have a starting point with what is available with the wireless industry. 

The Internet was a military vision. I know it comes as a shock to you that the military, through DARPA, is the friend to the Internet. However, we would not be on it if they had not wanted it, so accept that fact. Having said that much, the true indication of the death of JTRS is that radio is going to stay focused on layer 2 for the near future. We can talk about LTE and a single evolved packet core. We can say all we want about it just being transport, but radio frequency and spectrum are going to be a continued problem for us in the near future.

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Want to learn more about M2M technologies? Then be sure to check out the M2M Evolution Conference, collocated with TMC’s ITEXPO East 2012taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. The M2M Evolution Conference is for industry professionals interested in capitalizing on a rapidly growing segment of the telecom industry. The M2M Evolution Conference embraces the any-to-any strategy of the Internet today. Co-sponsored by TMC (News - Alert) Partner Crossfire Media, it showcases the solutions, and examines the data strategies and technological requirements that enterprises and carriers need to capitalize on a market segment that is estimated to grow to $300 Billion in the year ahead. For more information on registering for the M2M Evolution Conference click here.

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Carl Ford (News - Alert) is a partner at Crossfire Media.

Edited by Rich Steeves