System and method for simulating a land mobile radio system

1. A method for simulating a land mobile radio system having a plurality of land mobile radio sites, the method comprising:

simulating one or more land mobile radio sites each comprising a plurality of simulated land mobile radio site applications, each simulated land mobile radio site application associated with at least one unique IP address, the plurality of simulated land mobile radio site applications comprising:

a control channel application having a unique control channel IP address and configured to request allocation of one or more simulated traffic channels,

a land mobile radio site controller application having a unique site controller IP address and configured to allocate the one or more simulated traffic channels requested by the control channel application,

and

one or more simulated traffic channel applications each having a unique traffic channel IP address and configured to simulate communication between one of the simulated traffic channels allocated by the site controller application and one or more subscriber units;

simulating one or more subscriber units for communicating with at least one of said simulated land mobile radio site applications over an IP network;

associating each of said one or more simulated subscriber units with a subscriber unit IP address;

associating at least one simulated subscriber unit with an IP address of at least one simulated land mobile radio site application; and

controlling operation of said one or more simulated subscriber units.

2. The method for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 1 , wherein simulating said one or more subscriber units communicating with said simulated land mobile radio site applications over said IP network comprises:

communicating, over said IP network, data packets between an IP address associated with at least one of said simulated land mobile radio site applications and an IP address associated with at least one of said simulated subscriber units.

3. The method for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising configuring said simulated land mobile radio system.

4. The method for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising performing diagnostic testing of said simulated land mobile radio system.

5. The method for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising communicating, over said IP network, data packets between said system and one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites.

6. The method for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 5 , further comprising configuring at least one of said non-simulated land mobile radio sites.

7. The method for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 5 , further comprising performing diagnostic testing of at least one of said one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites.

8. A system for simulating a land mobile radio system having a plurality of land mobile radio sites, the system comprising:

a first server configured to simulate one or more land mobile radio sites, said one or more simulated land mobile radio sites each comprising a plurality of simulated land mobile radio site applications, each simulated land mobile radio site application associated with at least one unique IP address, the plurality of simulated land mobile radio site applications comprising:

a control channel application having a unique control channel IP address and configured to request allocation of one or more simulated traffic channels,

a land mobile radio site controller application having a unique site controller IP address and configured to allocate the one or more simulated traffic channels requested by the control channel application,

and

one or more simulated traffic channel applications each having a unique traffic channel IP address and configured to simulate communication between one of the simulated traffic channels allocated by the site controller application and one or more subscriber units;

an IP network configured to provide an IP-based interface between said first server and a second server;

said second server configured to simulate the one or more subscriber units for communicating with one or more of said simulated land mobile radio site applications through said IP network, each of said one or more simulated subscriber units associated with a subscriber unit IP address and one or more of the simulated land mobile radio site application addresses; and

a user interface configured for controlling operation of at least one of said first server and said second server such that the at least one of the first server and second server performs diagnostic testing of the system.

9. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein said second server is configured to communicate data between at least one simulated subscriber unit and at least one simulated land mobile radio site application using said IP-based interface.

10. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein at least one simulated subscriber unit is configured to be associated with at least one simulated land mobile radio site application over said IP network.

11. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein said land mobile radio site controller application is further configured to simulate one or more tasks from the group consisting of call set-up, call routing, subscriber unit validation, site controller redundancy control, talkgroup affiliation validation, group call validation, unit call validation, emergency call validation, emergency alarm management, group call resource arrangement, subscriber management, inhibiting subscriber units, dynamically regrouping subscriber units, selector locking subscriber units, requesting subscriber unit reregistration, and mobility management.

12. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein said control channel application is further configured to communicate at least one or more control channel messages.

13. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein said one or more simulated traffic channel applications are configured to communicate voice data with one or more of the simulated subscriber units.

14. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein said second server is configured to transfer voice data over said IP network from one or more of said simulated subscriber units to one or more of said simulated land mobile radio site application IP addresses.

15. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 14 , wherein said voice data is generated by said second server.

16. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 14 , wherein said voice data is generated by the user interface.

17. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein said first server is further configured to generate voice data.

18. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein said system is configured to simulate communicating between a simulated subscriber unit and a simulated land mobile radio site application by communicating data packets across said IP network, wherein said data packets are communicated between an IP address associated with said simulated land mobile radio site application and an IP address associated with said simulated subscriber unit.

19. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the user interface is further configured to control operation of one or more of the simulated subscriber units.

20. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein at least one simulated subscriber unit is associated with at least one of the simulated land mobile radio sites.

21. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the user interface is further configured to configure said system.

22. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , further comprising:

one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites; and

one or more non-simulated radios configured to communicate with said one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites using a radio frequency interface;

wherein said IP network is further configured to provide an IP-based interface between said first server, said second server, and said one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites.

23. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 22 , wherein the user interface is further configured to control diagnostic testing of at least one of said one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites or said one or more non-simulated radios.

24. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 22 , wherein the user interface is further configured to configure at least one of said one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites or said one or more non-simulated radios.

25. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 8 , further comprising:

one or more network management systems; and

one or more dispatch consoles;

wherein said IP network is further configured to provide an IP-based interface between said first server, said second server, said one or more network management systems, and said one or more dispatch consoles.

26. A system for simulating a land mobile radio system, the system comprising:

one or more primary servers each configured to simulate one or more land mobile radio sites each comprising a plurality of simulated land mobile radio site applications, each simulated land mobile radio site application associated with at least one unique IP address, the plurality of simulated land mobile radio site applications comprising:

a control channel application having a unique control channel IP address and configured to request allocation of one or more simulated traffic channels,

a land mobile radio site controller application having a unique site controller IP address and configured to allocate the one or more simulated traffic channels requested by the control channel application,

and

one or more simulated traffic channel applications each having a unique traffic channel IP address and configured to simulate communication between one of the simulated traffic channels allocated by the site controller application and one or more subscriber units;

an IP network configured to provide an IP-based interface between said one or more primary servers and a secondary server;

wherein said secondary server is configured to simulate the one or more subscriber units for communicating with one or more of said simulated land mobile radio site applications over said IP network, each of said one or more simulated subscriber units associated with a subscriber unit IP address and one or more of the simulated land mobile radio site application IP addresses; and

a user interface configured for controlling operation of at least one of said one or more primary servers and secondary server such that the at least one of the one or more primary servers and secondary server performs diagnostic testing of the system.

27. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26 , wherein said IP-based interface is configured to provide communication between at least one simulated subscriber unit and at least one simulated land mobile radio site application.

28. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26 , wherein said IP network is configured to associate at least one simulated subscriber unit with at least one simulated land mobile radio site application.

29. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26 , wherein said land mobile radio site controller application is further configured to simulate one or more tasks from the group consisting of call set-up, call routing, subscriber unit validation, site controller redundancy control, talkgroup affiliation validation, group call validation, unit call validation, emergency call validation, emergency alarm management, group call resource arrangement, subscriber management, inhibiting subscriber units, dynamically regrouping subscriber units, selector locking subscriber units, requesting subscriber unit reregistration, and mobility management.

30. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26 , wherein said control channel application is further configured to simulate at least one or more control channel messages.

31. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26 , wherein said secondary server is configured to transfer voice data over said IP network from one or more of said simulated subscriber units to one or more of said simulated land mobile radio site application IP addresses.

32. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26 , wherein said IP-based interface is configured to simulate communicating between a simulated subscriber unit and one of the plurality of simulated land mobile radio site applications by communicating data packets over said IP network, wherein said data packets are communicated between an IP address associated with said one of the plurality of simulated land mobile radio site applications and an IP address associated with said simulated subscriber unit.

33. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26 , wherein the user interface is further configured to control operation of one or more simulated subscriber units.

34. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26 , wherein at least one simulated subscriber unit is associated with at least one of the simulated land mobile radio sites.

35. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26 , wherein the user interface is further configured to configure said system.

36. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 26 , further comprising:

one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites; and

one or more non-simulated subscriber units configured to communicate with said one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites using radio frequency;

wherein said IP network is further configured to provide an IP-based interface between said one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites, said one or more primary servers, said secondary server, and the user interface.

37. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 36 , wherein the user interface is further configured to control diagnostic testing of at least one of said one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites or said one or more non-simulated subscriber units.

38. The system for simulating a land mobile radio system as set forth in claim 36 , wherein the user interface is further configured to configure at least one of said one or more non-simulated land mobile radio sites or said one or more non-simulated subscriber units.