Testing
There are three technical milestones that must be successful to be ready to transition to PSERN. The following is an update on their status:
Coverage Testing
The PSERN Project is excited to announce that the Coverage Testing in the Primary Bounded Area (PBA) was successful and the PSERN Project Joint Board has approved the results! PBA Coverage Testing was conducted over 5 months, from May – October 2021, and included staff physically traveling throughout King County on every accessible roadway and major waterway to verify that the PSERN System met the requirements. King County was plotted into .2-mile squares, referred to as tiles, and these three coverage assessments were made by covering each tile twice:
- Bit Error Rate (BER) Test: Test of channel performance or signal quality
- Portable to Dispatch Delivery Audio Quality (DAQ) Test: Test of audio quality between a portable (hand-held) radio to a dispatch center
- Portable to Mobile Delivery Audio Quality (DAQ) Test: Test of audio quality between a portable (hand-held) radio to a mobile (vehicle) radio
PBA Coverage Testing Results:
| Type of Test | Target | Result |
| Bit Error Rate (BER) | 97% | 98.59% |
| Portable to Dispatch DAQ | 97% | 99.32% |
| Portable to Mobile DAQ | 97% | 99.39% |
These results met the 97% requirement for portable radio coverage on streets within each of the 39 cities in King County and portable radio coverage on waterways where watercraft are permitted. The Coverage Testing along highways and in association with new DAS/in-building coverage will be conducted starting in 2022.
Operational and Functional Test
The Operational and Functional Test was conducted for 30 consecutive business days from October 20 – November 24, 2021, and successfully demonstrated that the PSERN System is properly configured, optimized, and can operate without major failures. The PSERN Project Joint Board approved the results.
Pilot Test
The Pilot Test began on December 6, 2021 and will run for 30 days until January 5, 2022. The test includes usage of 100 PSERN radios by 13 Fire, 12 Law Enforcement, and 7 Local Government agencies to test known coverage issues and high service call areas while becoming familiar with the new equipment and adjusting to digital audio. No public safety activities will be performed over PSERN during this test. Participating agency testers will provide feedback on their experience using PSERN in their operational areas.