By Chuan Chuan (Winter) Leng, ICT Specialist and Senior Technical Manager, Hytera

The Middle East, a region renowned for its technological advancements, has long been an early adopter of new technologies, including mission-critical communications (MCC). In particular, they have been quick to deploy the latest 3GPP-based broadband technology, known as mission-critical services (MCX).

MCC used to be dominated by narrowband land mobile radio (LMR) solutions such as TETRA, P25, and DMR. Increasingly more users, such as the police, equipped with LMR systems have been publicizing RFI of interconnecting narrowband LMR networks with the newer 4G/5G broadband MCC systems.

A good illustration of this is the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, where the organizers implemented a hybrid network, which integrated both narrowband TETRA and broadband push-to-talk (PTT) technologies.

“Following the success of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, more Middle Eastern countries are now implementing broadband PTT technologies. For example, Abu Dhabi has set up a private 4G LTE network using 700MHz spectrum for its Smart/Safe City project, which has been recently updated to 5G to support advanced broadband MCC applications. Meanwhile, the Qatar Ministry of lnterior has completed the upgrade of its mission-critical capabilities and is rolling out a full range of MC services. Saudi Arabia is currently in the process of assigning broadband spectrum for public safety use,” said Jonson Wang, Product Marketing Manager of Hytera MEA.

The need for converged networks is increasing

Mahinsha Backer, the Asst. General Manager of Zener Marine Services, a much-acclaimed MCC solution distributor in the region, predicted that broadband MCX will dominate the future MCC market, but not as a replacement for traditional technologies. Rather, MCX will be deployed as an enhancement or unified solution ensuring redundancy in communication systems with broadband media capabilities.

Public safety agencies in the Middle East currently rely heavily on LMR systems due to their proven reliability and security. Despite the fact that more countries are beginning the transition to broadband technologies, TETRA systems will continue to coexist with LTE networks for a long time for technical and economic reasons.

Several countries in the region traditionally rely on mature TETRA and P25 networks, according to Ildefonso de la Cruz, principal analyst in the Public Safety & Critical Communications group at Omdia. In addition, Ildefonso also pointed out that new TETRA networks have been deployed to address the needs of sports as well as tourism-related contracts in Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia, including deployments in the F1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, as well as mission-critical solutions for the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Given the continuing deployment of LMR networks, the market needs to find a way to integrate these different technologies to deliver improved MCC services to its customers. This requires a unified, standards-based approach to tightly integrate LMR and LTE networks.

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of 3GPP, ETSI, and TCCA, particularly in the realm of MCX and the interworking function (IWF), it is expected that the majority of countries will embrace these standard-based approaches. This will pave the way for truly unified, fully interoperable MCC services.

Hybrid-mode devices, also known as converged devices, have already proven their value in the market. These devices are purposely designed to operate on both TETRA and LTE networks, ensuring uninterrupted communications for responders and paving the way for a seamless transition to broadband. Vendors active in the Middle East, like Hytera, offer a variety of hybrid-mode devices, such as the PTC760.

Control rooms move towards next-generation intelligent operation

Control rooms are becoming more intelligent, which is enabling public safety agencies to make a paradigm shift from reactive to proactive operations. Better quality intelligence delivered in near-real or real time enables public safety agencies to make more accurate predictions about outcomes, better-informed decision-making, and a more targeted allocation of resources.

A unified communications platform with a hybrid dispatch console capable of integrating multiple technologies such as LTE, TETRA and more, will ensure seamless connectivity among agencies to support the instantaneous exchange of information and enable a properly coordinated response.

Modern responders are equipped with a range of advanced devices, including smartphones, radios, and body cameras, which enable real-time interaction with dispatchers using built-in communication and location tools. By incorporating advanced intelligence data from the control room and leveraging these new tools, responders can carry out operations more swiftly, flexibly, and accurately, thereby enhancing their overall effectiveness.

Pioneering companies in the industry have showcased their expertise in delivering intelligent-centric command, control, and coordination solutions in the global market. By leveraging their capabilities, intelligence-enabled command centers are poised to play a crucial role in the next-generation of public safety operations in the region.

Advanced video surveillance, along with real-time and historical intelligence analytics can be deployed to accurately forecast threats and rapidly implement robust preventive protection measures for effectively handling anticipated or ongoing incidents and emergencies.

Next-generation Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems enable agencies to strategically deploy resources, initiate early intervention, and implement measures that deter or minimize the impact of potential threats, thereby improving response outcomes.

Telecom operators carve out a slice of the MCC market

With the ongoing expansion of broadband services in the Middle East, LTE and 5G NR mobile networks are gaining recognition as alternative platforms for providing push-to-talk (PTT) and multimedia services.

Mobile network operators (MNO) like STC in Saudi Arabia, Vodafone and Ooredoo in Qatar, and Omantel in Oman have been playing an increasingly important role in the market by introducing broadband PTT services for public safety and industrial users in recent years.

These operators leverage their extensive network coverage to provide comprehensive broadband PTT solutions that integrate devices, services, and traffic into a single package. This approach offers several benefits, including reducing network maintenance and construction costs for their customers.

Furthermore, these operators are utilizing their network assurance and maintenance expertise to actively support the delivery of large-scale events and activities. An example of this is Vodafone’s involvement in providing broadband PTT services for the volunteers at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and NVIDIA announced NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE, a portfolio of co-developed AI solutions and joint go-to-market integrations that enable enterprises to accelerate adoption of generative AI.

Among the portfolio’s key offerings is HPE Private Cloud AI, a first-of-its-kind solution that provides the deepest integration to date of NVIDIA AI computing, networking and software with HPE’s AI storage, compute and the HPE GreenLake cloud. The offering enables enterprises of every size to gain an energy-efficient, fast, and flexible path for sustainably developing and deploying generative AI applications. Powered by the new OpsRamp AI copilot that helps IT operations improve workload and IT efficiency, HPE Private Cloud AI includes a self-service cloud experience with full lifecycle management and is available in four right-sized configurations to support a broad range of AI workloads and use cases.

All NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE offerings and services will be available through a joint go-to-market strategy that spans sales teams and channel partners, training and a global network of system integrators — including Deloitte, HCLTech, Infosys, TCS and Wipro — that can help enterprises across a variety of industries run complex AI workloads.

Announced during the HPE Discover keynote by HPE President and CEO Antonio Neri, who was joined by NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang, NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE marks the expansion of a decades-long partnership and reflects the substantial commitment of time and resources from each company.

“Generative AI holds immense potential for enterprise transformation, but the complexities of fragmented AI technology contain too many risks and barriers that hamper large-scale enterprise adoption and can jeopardize a company’s most valuable asset – its proprietary data,” said Neri. “To unleash the immense potential of generative AI in the enterprise, HPE and NVIDIA co-developed a turnkey private cloud for AI that will enable enterprises to focus their resources on developing new AI use cases that can boost productivity and unlock new revenue streams”.

“Generative AI and accelerated computing are fueling a fundamental transformation as every industry races to join the industrial revolution,” said Huang. “Never before have NVIDIA and HPE integrated our technologies so deeply – combining the entire NVIDIA AI computing stack along with HPE’s private cloud technology – to equip enterprise clients and AI professionals with the most advanced computing infrastructure and services to expand the frontier of AI.”

HPE and NVIDIA co-developed Private Cloud AI portfolio

HPE Private Cloud AI delivers a unique, cloud-based experience to accelerate innovation and return on investment while managing enterprise risk from AI. The solution offers:

● Support for inference, fine-tuning and RAG AI workloads that utilize proprietary data.
● Enterprise control for data privacy, security, transparency, and governance requirements.
● Cloud experience with ITOps and AIOps capabilities to increase productivity.
● Fast path to consume flexibly to meet future AI opportunities and growth.
Curated AI and data software stack in HPE Private Cloud AI
The foundation of the AI and data software stack starts with the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform, which includes NVIDIA NIM inference microservices.
NVIDIA AI Enterprise accelerates data science pipelines and streamlines development and deployment of production-grade copilots and other GenAI applications. Included with NVIDIA AI Enterprise, NVIDIA NIM delivers easy-to-use microservices for optimized AI model inferencing offering a smooth transition from prototype to secure deployment of AI models in a variety of use cases.
Complementing NVIDIA AI Enterprise and NVIDIA NIM, HPE AI Essentials software delivers a ready to run set of curated AI and data foundation tools with a unified control plane that provide adaptable solutions, ongoing enterprise support, and trusted AI services, such as data and model compliance and extensible features that ensure AI pipelines are in compliance, explainable and reproducible throughout the AI lifecycle.
To deliver optimal performance for the AI and data software stack, HPE Private Cloud AI delivers a fully integrated AI infrastructure stack that includes NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet networking, HPE GreenLake for File Storage and HPE ProLiant servers with support for NVIDIA L40S, NVIDIA H100 NVL Tensor Core GPUs and the NVIDIA GH200 NVL2 platform.
Cloud experience enabled by HPE GreenLake cloud
HPE Private Cloud AI offers a self-service cloud experience enabled by HPE GreenLake cloud. Through a single, platform-based control plane, HPE Greenlake cloud services provide manageability and observability to automate, orchestrate and manage endpoints, workloads, and data across hybrid environments. This includes sustainability metrics for workloads and endpoints.
HPE GreenLake cloud and OpsRamp AI infrastructure observability and copilot assistant
OpsRamp’s IT operations are integrated with HPE GreenLake cloud to deliver observability and AIOps to all HPE products and services. OpsRamp now provides observability for the end- to- end NVIDIA accelerated computing stack, including NVIDIA NIM and AI software, NVIDIA Tensor Core GPUs and AI clusters as well as NVIDIA Quantum InfiniBand and NVIDIA Spectrum Ethernet switches. IT administrators can gain insights to identify anomalies and monitor their AI infrastructure and workloads across hybrid, multi-cloud environments.
The new OpsRamp operations copilot utilizes NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platform to analyze large datasets for insights with a conversational assistant, boosting productivity for operations management. OpsRamp will also integrate with CrowdStrike APIs so customers can see a unified service map view of endpoint security across their entire infrastructure and applications.
Accelerate time to value with AI – expanded collaboration with global system integrators
To advance the time to value for enterprises to develop industry-focused AI solutions and use cases with clear business benefits, Deloitte, HCLTech, Infosys, TCS and WIPRO announced their support of the NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE portfolio and HPE Private Cloud AI as part of their strategic AI solutions and services.
HPE adds support for NVIDIA’s latest GPUs, CPUs and Superchips
● HPE Cray XD670 supports eight NVIDIA H200 NVL Tensor Core GPUs and is ideal for LLM builders.
● HPE ProLiant DL384 Gen12 server with NVIDIA GH200 NVL2 is ideal for LLM consumers using larger models or RAG.
● HPE ProLiant DL380a Gen12 server support for up to eight NVIDIA H200 NVL Tensor Core GPUs is ideal for LLM users looking for flexibility to scale their GenAI workloads.
● HPE will be time-to-market to support the NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 / NVL2, as well as the new NVIDIA Blackwell, NVIDIA Rubin and NVIDIA Vera architectures.
High-density file storage certified for NVIDIA DGX BasePOD and NVIDIA OVX systems
HPE GreenLake for File Storage has achieved NVIDIA DGX BasePOD certification and NVIDIA OVX™ storage validation, providing customers with a proven enterprise file storage solution for accelerating AI, GenAI and GPU-intensive workloads at scale. HPE will be a time-to-market partner on upcoming NVIDIA reference architecture storage certification programs.
Availability
● HPE Private Cloud AI is expected to be generally available in the fall.
● HPE ProLiant DL380a Gen12 server with NVIDIA H200 NVL Tensor Core GPUs is expected to be generally available in the fall.
● HPE ProLiant DL384 Gen12 server with dual NVIDIA GH200 NVL2 is expected to be generally available in the fall.
● HPE Cray XD670 server with NVIDIA H200 NVL is expected to be generally available in the summer.

The UAE’s Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications Office and Rittal FZE have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This partnership aims to collaborate on various AI initiatives, enhance AI adoption and learning, and strengthen the robust digital infrastructure of the UAE through international joint efforts.

The MOU was signed by Saqr Binghalib, Executive Director of the UAE’s Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications Office, and Syed Tahir Nazir, Managing Director of Rittal FZE , during the AI Retreat 2024. This event, the largest of its kind, aims to accelerate AI application adoption and features participation from over 2,000 decision-makers, experts, and officials from both the government and private sectors. It was organized recently by the Dubai Center for AI Applications in collaboration with the National Program for Artificial Intelligence.

Saqr Binghalib emphasized that the UAE Government focuses on building skills and talents as a key element in the digital development journey and in creating a future based on intellect and creativity. He noted that Strengthening partnerships between the government and the private sector contributes to enhancing the country’s position as a global hub for the AI sector, reinforcing its active global role, and supporting the national strategies’ goals of building future competencies and equipping them with the necessary tools for development and advancing towards a future based on digital skills.

Syed Tahir Nazir, Managing Director, Rittal FZE said: “We are fully committed and support the vision of the Office of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications during our discussion and agreed with Mr. Saqr Binghalib. Rittal FZE is committed to support capacity building, knowledge enhancement, and technology advancements through innovations in the field of AI and other smart applications, especially to support programming in the field of Robotics and Industry 4.0 system and applications along with supporting Green Technologies. Rittal continues its efforts for environmental protection and reducing carbon footprint with its innovative products and solutions through collaborations with government and public sectors to secure a better future for our communities and next generations. We are excited to be a partner of AI department and are looking forward to working with H.E Saqr Binghalib for a mutually successful collaboration.”

The agreement between the Office of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications and Rittal, aims to achieve the objectives of the UAE Strategy for AI and its ambitious goals to support private sector initiatives, increase productivity, build a strong research and development base, and develop AI talents and skills. Additionally, it aims to enhance cooperation in various AI initiatives, and enrich and enhance the coding ecosystem and coding community in the UAE. This includes organizing training courses, discussions, and dialogues to develop coding skills and technological innovation among youth, experts, and enthusiasts. Furthermore, it aims to enhance collaboration and communication opportunities between leading technology companies and coders, contributing to driving digital transformation and building a better future.