Smartzone and Smartnet...

[N467RX]

Are they the same thing?

 

[N_Jay]

Yes, No, Maybe!

They are both "brand names" so their use may not always follow technical definitions.

SmartNet is Motorola's brand for their first public safety trunking system, (APCO 16 compliant).
It has been used over the years for most of their private (non-SMR) trunking systems and products.
SmartZone was the brand names used for SmartNet multi-site steering systems. It has since been expanded to include multi-site simulcast systems, and has even been used with single site systems by calling the one site a "zone".

Now are we all confused?

 

[DickH]

... It has since been expanded to include multi-site simulcast systems, and has even been used with single site systems by calling the one site a "zone".

My city has 4 Simulcast sites and 9 Intellirepeater sites. When riding in the back seats of the apparatus, I can see the radio display. When switching from a TAC talk group to Dispatch, the display shows DISP ZONE D. I haven't paid much attention, but I think it's D, at least near the downtown area. I assume Zone D is a group of IR sites to which the radio is affiliated at that time. Is that a correct assumption?

 

[N_Jay]

My city has 4 Simulcast sites and 9 Intellirepeater sites. When riding in the back seats of the apparatus, I can see the radio display. When switching from a TAC talk group to Dispatch, the display shows DISP ZONE D. I haven't paid much attention, but I think it's D, at least near the downtown area. I assume Zone D is a group of IR sites to which the radio is affiliated at that time. Is that a correct assumption?

You would need to ask someone familiar with that system to tell you.

 

[DickH]

You would need to ask someone familiar with that system to tell you.

So the term "Zone" used in a Smartzone system has no general meaning?

 

[DiGiTaLD]

Radios can also have zones, that can be different groups of talkgroups on the same system, or different systems entirely. Motorola uses the term "zone" for a lot of things.

 

[DickH]

Radios can also have zones, that can be different groups of talkgroups on the same system, or different systems entirely. Motorola uses the term "zone" for a lot of things.

Thanks.

 

[boomboy64]

Actually, it has nothing to do with zones/channels on the radio.

Smartnet is Motorola's brand-name for their trunking systems. The difference between Smartnet and Smartzone is the 'logical' number of sites. In Smartnet, it is basically one site and you can add more, but by multicasting. All transmit the same thing and act as one. This isn't very scalable and loses efficiency as you add more as you tie up a lot of freqs.

Smartzone is a bunch of Smartnet sites tied together via dedicated links. It is more frequency-efficient in that the site controller 'knows' who is using the site and only transmits those talkgroups associated with those users. It knows who's on because Smartzone radios auto-affiliate to the site when they are within range.

The effect for a scanner is that unlike Smartnet, a Smatzone site will only pass traffic for radios actually affiliated to the site. You might have a whole bunch of busy talkgroups across a system that you want to monitor, but unless an affiliated radio is actually monitoring that particular talkgroup, the site won't pass it and you'll hear squat.

Hopefully this helps. Check out the trunking section of the RR Wiki for details.

Cheers,

 

[DiGiTaLD]

Zone

Actually, it has nothing to do with zones/channels on the radio.

On the XTS5000 (and I'm sure quite a few others), different systems, talkgroups, and/or conventional channels can be programmed into different "zones" of the radio. Sure, it doesn't have anything to do with the difference between Smartnet and SmartZone systems, but I was just making the point that Motorola has been known to use the word "zone" for several different things depending on the context.

 

[boomboy64]

On the XTS5000 (and I'm sure quite a few others), different systems, talkgroups, and/or conventional channels can be programmed into different "zones" of the radio. Sure, it doesn't have anything to do with the difference between Smartnet and SmartZone systems, but I was just making the point that Motorola has been known to use the word "zone" for several different things depending on the context.

Understood. I just wanted to make clear that in this case the two, while using the same word, didn't have anything to do with each other.

Cheers,

 

[N467RX]

Actually, it has nothing to do with zones/channels on the radio.

Smartnet is Motorola's brand-name for their trunking systems. The difference between Smartnet and Smartzone is the 'logical' number of sites. In Smartnet, it is basically one site and you can add more, but by multicasting. All transmit the same thing and act as one. This isn't very scalable and loses efficiency as you add more as you tie up a lot of freqs.

Smartzone is a bunch of Smartnet sites tied together via dedicated links. It is more frequency-efficient in that the site controller 'knows' who is using the site and only transmits those talkgroups associated with those users. It knows who's on because Smartzone radios auto-affiliate to the site when they are within range.

The effect for a scanner is that unlike Smartnet, a Smatzone site will only pass traffic for radios actually affiliated to the site. You might have a whole bunch of busy talkgroups across a system that you want to monitor, but unless an affiliated radio is actually monitoring that particular talkgroup, the site won't pass it and you'll hear squat.

Hopefully this helps. Check out the trunking section of the RR Wiki for details.

Cheers,

Yeah, it helps a lot, I get it now.