29 June 2018 - College Station, Texas, USA: The first versions of the Mission Critical Push to Talk (MCPTT) Open Source software development kit (SDK) and sample MCPTT app have been released by the Mission Critical Open Platform (MCOP) project, during the second ETSI MCPTT Plugtests ongoing this week in Texas. The entire source code is available to download from the MCOP repository.

The MCOP SDK and sample MCPTT app facilitate the development of mission critical services by handling most of the complexity of MCPTT application development. The SDK implements all the protocols and signaling specified in 3GPP Release 13/14 MCPTT standards while providing neat APIS for both APP developers and UE vendors, the so called MCOP Unified Open API- MUOAPI, and Integration API, publicly available under resources section.

The MCOP project is designed to remove the entry barriers of multiple technologies and proprietary platforms. It ensures interoperability, and provides a catalyst for more players to enter the MCPTT market by making the business case more attractive. All MCOP components are fully compliant with 3GPP standards.

Released with the MCOP SDK, the sample MCPTT app serves as a simple proof of concept of what can be achieved in a few lines of code using the MCOP SDK. Both the app and the SDK can be remotely tested in a full 3GPP MCPTT system using the MCOP Testing platform.

Additionally, a SIM-authentication emulation plugin following the MCOP architecture is provided for those developers that have no access to a MCOP Integration API supporting device.

Fidel Liberal, MCOP project coordinator said “We are really excited to release this version of the MCOP SDK to the community. It will allow us to validate MCOP architecture and check it is proven to be useful for different stakeholders including user equipment vendors, apps and SDK developers, researchers and new mission critical communications practitioners.”

About MCOP

The MCOP project, funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), aims to meet the challenges of the emerging and complex MCPTT ecosystem. The project, set to complete by mid-2019, will define, develop and validate an MCPTT client open platform that identifies neat open interfaces between the different technologies and reduce the integration efforts as well as a live and an online testbed for the applications. MCOP is led by the University of the Basque Country with partners Bittium, Expway and TCCA, supported by Nemergent.

For further information please contact editor@tcca.info  + 44 77 66 33 32 77

The MCOP project was part of the conferences that took place during the Critical Communication World in Berlin last week.

MCOP showcasing simplicity of development for MCPTT applications at Critical Communications World 2018 in Berlin.