Category # Federal/Provincial/Territorial Expectation

SOREM Public Alerting Working Group
FPT EXPECTATIONS for WIRELESS PUBLIC ALERTING v. 0.9
Category
Message
Content
Message Source
Immediate
Dissemination
Blanket
Coverage
No Adverse
Impact
System
Availability
Security
Resilience
#
Federal/Provincial/Territorial Expectation
1
Wireless Public Alert Dissemination (WPAD) is for Broadcast Immediately 1alert messages (alerts)
only.
2
WPAD receives a CAP-CP alert message, which has a WPAD-specific parameter that contains a
text message, currently constrained to not exceed 90 characters in length2.
3
WPAD does not alter or modify alert contents.
4
Alerts are in text format, at the initial implementation stage of WPAD.
5
WPAD receives CAP-CP alerts from an authorized national public alerting system (NPAS)
aggregator.
6
WPAD disseminates alerts immediately and automatically upon receiving alerts from an authorized
public alerting aggregator.
7
Alerts are transmitted to all mobile devices within the targeted geographic areas simultaneously
within a participating wireless telecommunication service provider’s network.
8
By default, WPAD-capable mobile devices receive WPAD alerts and cannot opt out.
9
WPAD does not adversely affect telecommunications availability and responsiveness.
10
WPAD gateway's availability is 99.999%.
11
WPAD broadcasts only alerts received from authenticated government-authorized sources.
12
WPAD protects the integrity of alerts. The system, its component and the alerts are protected from
unauthorized access and tampering.
13
WPAD has measures in place to prevent false alerts.
14
WPAD supports all defined and relevant interfaces and associated security protocols established for
an authorized public alerting aggregator.
15
WPAD uses the available redundant connections provided by an authorized public alerting
aggregator to retrieve alerts.
16
WPAD provides resilient and redundant connections between the WPAD gateway and participating
carriers.
17
WPAD gateway includes a geographically redundant infrastructure that enables it to operate
seamlessly should the primary infrastructure fail.
18
WPAD maps geo-targeting information contained in alerts to the associated wireless network
transmission area.
19
WPAD transmits alerts to geo-targeted areas using all necessary and available transmission sites
required to provide coverage for the geo-targeted alert area indicated.
Geo-Targeting
1
May 24, 2013
As defined in the NPAS Common Look and Feel Guidance document (http://capan.ca/index.php?/en/npas/)
2
FPT alert issuers will determine the composition of the message, and pursue the development of the short text
message within NAAD and other authorized public alerting aggregators.
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SOREM Public Alerting Working Group
FPT EXPECTATIONS for WIRELESS PUBLIC ALERTING v. 0.9
Category
#
Federal/Provincial/Territorial Expectation
20
WPAD disseminates alerts in the order of earliest CAP-CP <sent> time.
21
WPAD prioritizes alerts over other communications, i.e. puts alerts first in the queue for
dissemination.
22
WPAD-capable mobile devices prioritize receiving alerts over other communications if the devices do
not display alerts while in session.
23
WPAD alerts do not pre-empt on-going data or voice communications.
24
WPAD provides records of alerts disseminated to the public, to alert issuers, when requested.
Records for each alert are to be retained for a minimum of seven years and are to contain: The time
of receipt at the gateway; time of receipt for each carrier; time of broadcast at each cell tower; a
transcript of the alert message broadcasted; the geographic dissemination area; and the number of
times the message was broadcasted.
25
WPAD does not translate any languages found in the messages.
26
Mobile devices display alerts in the languages as received.
27
WPAD supports and performs system tests based on and in compliance with test policies
established by authorized public alerting authorities and aggregators.
28
Mobile devices subscribed to a WPAD participating wireless telecommunication service provider’s
network are able to receive alerts when roaming on another’s network that also participates in
WPAD.
29
Alert issuers encourage the use of the Canadian Alerting Attention Signal.3
30
Alert issuers encourage the use of a vibration cadence that has a temporal pattern that matches the
audio attention signal. If using the Canadian Alerting Attention Signal, this would be an alternating
“fast” 0.5 second vibration during Tone 1 and a 0.5 second “slow” vibration during Tone 2 for the
entire duration of the attention signal. If not possible on certain handsets, a vibration cadence of 0.5
seconds ON, 0.5 seconds OFF should apply.
31
WPAD-capable mobile devices are pre-configured to receive all alerts.
32
Battery life in WPAD-capable mobiles devices are not to be significantly reduced by the public
warning system.
33
WPAD-capable mobile devices automatically suppress duplicate alerts. A duplicate is a repetition of
a previous alert, as determined by unique parameters.
34
WPAD-capable mobile devices have the ability to present previously displayed alerts if requested by
the user.
35
WPAD-capable mobile devices are able to support concurrent reception of multiple alerts.
36
The audio attention signal and vibration cadence must be restricted to WPAD alerts.
Priority
Records
Management
Language
Tests
Roaming
Mobile Devices
3
May 24, 2013
The Canadian Alerting Attention Signal is defined in the NPAS Common Look and Feel Guidance document.
(http://capan.ca/index.php?/en/npas/)
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