Emergency Alert System (EAS): Is Your System Ready? - SCTE

December 19, 2007

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December 19, 2007

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Russ Byrd
Director, Market Development
• Responsible for Trilithic’s EAS business
• 2 years with Trilithic
• Previous experience in wireless industry
Arthur Leisey
Director of Technology for EAS
• Started an EAS company that was purchased by
Trilithic
• Has worked with cable EAS since its inception
• 8 years with Trilithic

• Overview of EAS systems
• CATV architectures and their challenges
• Maintenance and Monitoring of EAS
delivery network
• Future of EAS

• Primary national warning system
– Provides for Presidential addresses in emergency or
attacks
– Can be used for hazards and alerts at the state and
local level; Tornado, Amber Alert, Toxic Leaks, etc.
• All video providers must broadcast Presidential
alerts immediately; State and Local alerts may
be optional currently, but many state plans are
adapting toward compulsory compliance

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• National alerts are issued through the PEP
(primary entry point) system; 34 radio
stations covering the majority of the US
• PEP stations are considered (NP) national
primary
• Each State’s EAS network must monitor at
least one PEP
• State’s have a state primary (SP), local
primary sources are designated (LP)

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• All Cable TV systems are required to follow the
State EAS plan; (links to plans are available at
www.fcc.gov)
• State plans specify the monitoring assignments
for each Cable TV system; LP-1, LP-2, and any
appropriate state or local relay frequencies
• Cable TV systems may also be required as a
part of a local franchise agreement to provide
local access; i.e. police or emergency
management

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• NWS issues more than 80% of all alerts handled
by the EAS network
• Most states require Cable TV systems to monitor
their local NOAA radio station
• NOAA uses SAME protocol for hazard alerts; i.e.
TOR tornado, FFW flash flood warning
• NOAA uses FIPS (Federal Information
Processing Standard) codes to designate the
affected EAS geographic zones, i.e. counties

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• Presidential Alert issued; FEMA activates the
PEP system
• Transmitters come under government control, a
Presidential message is sent out; an EAN code,
alert tones, and the audio message
• The EAN is passed from the PEP to SR (State
Relay) or SP to LP to Cable System to customer
TV
• An EAS End Of Message (EOM) is sent out, the
EAS network passes the message, and the
programming returns to normal

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Indiana
Washington DC
FEMA
PE
P
SP
SR
LP-2
PE
P
INDY
Cable
PE
P
LP-1
NOAA

• The EAS testing plan includes RMT, Required Monthly
Test, and RWT, Required Weekly Test
• RMT – issued by state designated stations and passed
through by Cable TV system includes all four elements
of an EAS message; digital header signal, two-tone
attention signal, audio message, and digital EOM signal
• Time limit for retransmission of RMT is 60 minutes
• SECC State Emergency Communications Committee
determines the EAS sources and the monitoring plan;
also set date and times for RMT
• RWT – issued by each Cable TV system and must be
random and includes digital header and EOM signal

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• A Complete EAS Solution includes;
– Encoder/Decoder – FCC certified
– Radios – AM,FM,NOAA
– Character Generator
– NIC (Network Card) and/or phone MODEM
– Distribution Equipment;
• Analog – IF system or Comb generator
• Digital – IP messages to devices directly (or RS-232 adaptation)

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• The EAS dedicated radios constantly monitor AM or FM
transmissions for EAS Header FSK interruption.
• The EAS Header consists of 3 bursts of FSK data and is
followed by an attention tone and the spoken message
• The Encoder/Decoder processes the alert information
and records the audio for playback
• The processing includes verification of valid alert,
priority, and location
• The alert is then encoded and distributed to the
appropriate devices; set-top servers, edge decoders,
cable cards

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• Cable TV providers are planning systems
covering large geographic
– Multiple FIPS codes, LP1 & LP2’s, multiple size and
capability headends
• Some systems are now experiencing traffic
issues, reception problems, and number of
radios required to monitor exceeds capability
• There is an opportunity to improve the entire
EAS system in addition to facilitating the
evolution of video delivery networks

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• MSOs desire to receive LP-1 and LP-2 radio station via
remote IP on the network, instead of the current baseband
backhaul, or equivalent.
• Having antennas and radios in one location and using
baseband audio from leased radio lines or microwave links
adds a level of uncertainty
• CFR47 part 11 lists the minimum requirements for a
decoder; this increases the cost for a distributed system
• Trilithic has designed a solution that can meet the
requirements of the market and the spirit of CFR47 part 11
and improve the EAS system at the same time while
lowering the cost of deployment

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Decoder
EASyIP
Network Receiver
Encoder
Decoder
EAS Encoder/Decoder
Current Configuration
Encoder
EAS Encoder/Decoder

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Receiving
Antenna
Network
Receiver

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• Extends the range of radio reception improving message
delivery
• Handshaking improves the reliability of message delivery
• Allows more sources to be monitored
• Lowers the cost of implementing a better system
• Consistency in methods and monitoring by regional
sources provides a better EAS system by moving the
control to a higher level engineer or manager
• Reporting capabilities are improved
• Redundancy is achieved by monitoring multiple sites
• Local level alerts could be provided by National
Providers

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• FSK Detection and Decoding
– FSK is detected to identify start and end of the EAS message,
remains idle, reduces traffic
• EAS Header Checking
– Header is checked for validity and redundancy, and user
programmed filters
• EAS Audio Storage
– EAS audio messages are stored on board reducing the chances
of a voice message being lost
• EAS Log Retention
– These logs are accessible from the network for troubleshooting,
verification and can be transferred to EASyPLUS to be added to
the EAS log file

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Russ Byrd
Director, Market Development
Trilithic, Inc.
rbyrd@trilithic.com
Arthur Leisey
Director of Technology for EAS
Trilithic, Inc.
aleisey@trilithic.com

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