Trilithic Inc. Joins AWARN Alliance

Trilithic Inc. (which recently became a part of VIAVI Solutions) is joining broadcasters, public safety agencies and other technology companies to develop and deploy the Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN), which utilizes the capabilities enabled by Next Generation Television. The goal of the AWARN Alliance is to create the most advanced emergency alerting system in the world.

The AWARN Alliance membership includes commercial and public broadcasters who reach 90% of U.S. households, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Consumer Technology Association, LG Electronics, and a growing number of U.S. and Korean technology companies and service providers.

“We are pleased to welcome Trilithic Inc. to the AWARN Alliance,” said John Lawson, executive director of the AWARN Alliance. “In 2018, we will work to develop a standards-based, end-to-end beta solution for advanced alerting. Trilithic has deep experience with alerting technology using the Common Alerting Protocol across diverse platforms. We look forward to working with them as we develop our upgrade to America’s alerting capabilities.”

“We are pleased to be part of the effort that seeks to revolutionize the way the public receives, views and responds to emergency alerts,” said Adam Jones, Trilithic’s EAS product line manager.

At its Nov. 16 meeting, the FCC gave approval to broadcasters to begin voluntary transmission in the Next Gen TV standard, also known as ATSC 3.0. By leveraging the powerful new features of Next-Gen TV, the AWARN Alliance is creating a system that eventually can deliver geo-targeted, rich-media emergency messages to a wide range of enabled consumer devices, including 4K Ultra HD television sets, tablets, smart phones, and connected cars. AWARN alerts will provide a major upgrade to the alerting systems available to the American public today.

The Alliance is also supported by the AWARN Advisory Committee (AAC), a standalone committee that is comprised of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the National Weather Service, and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate also announced its participation in the AAC. The AAC supports the work of the Alliance by contributing to meaningful discussions regarding the aggregation of content from alert originators and the social science elements required for actionable alerts.