NXDN™ Common Air Interface Accepted by the International Telecommunications Union-Radiocommunications Sector

NXDN-Forum announces that the NXDN Common Air Interface (CAI) was accepted at the meeting of the ITU-R (International Telecommunications Union Radiocommunications Sector) held in November 2016 and it has been added to Report M.2014-3, published in February 2017. This inclusion is highly significant since it represents official recognition – by the organization in charge of international standards – of NXDN as an international digital land mobile system, paving the way for its even wider adoption on a global scale.

NXDN is an open standard narrowband digital protocol employing 6.25 kHz and 12.5 kHz 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 communication. NXDN™ is the result of a joint technical alliance between Icom Incorporated and JVCKENWOOD Corporation to offer an alternative for the Land Mobile Radio (LMR) industry that would facilitate development of more affordable digital radio products that would satisfy the FCC narrowbanding mandate. It is also intended to help address increased pressure on frequency spectrum resources in Europe and other regions for their public safety agencies and business operators.

This future-proof protocol offers numerous advantages. For example, 6.25 kHz dual-channel systems can be configured to fit within a 12.5 kHz channel, effectively doubling spectrum efficiency compared to an analog FM system occupying the same channel. Two NXDN channels can be allocated as voice/voice, voice/data, or data/data. Compared to analog FM, it provides wider coverage and superior multipath characteristics, but at the same time NXDN systems support true mixed digital/analog operation, thus facilitating smooth migration to a narrowband digital system. Advantages such as clear voice quality and strong security, it has have proved proven highly successful and the number of NXDN radio terminals supplied into mission-critical and non-mission critical applications has grown rapidly. NXDN has truly become a leading digital protocol for mobile communications.

The NXDN™ Forum was established in July, 2008 for the promotion of the NXDN™ digital air protocol for use with 6.25 kHz and 12.5 kHz narrowband technology.