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NISTs rolling wireless net helps improve first-responder communications

Posted: 11 Aug 2016 12:00 PM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


This news item, published yesterday by NIST, is yet another development
that promises to marginalizeÂ*amateur radio in emergency communications. If
amateur radio wants to stayÂ*relevant, it needs something like AMSAT for
emergency communications, i.e. a group that will research and develop
emergency communications systems.Dan
NIST’s rolling wireless net helps improve first-responder communications

First responders often have trouble communicating with each other in
emergencies. They may use different types of radios, or they may be working
in rural areas lacking wireless coverage, or they may be deep inside large
buildings that block connections.








NIST engineer Ben Posthuma demonstrating the use of NIST’s Rapidly
Deployable Public Safety Research Platform, a mobile array of commercial
technologies that can be set up in strategic locations to enable over 200
local users of broadband smart phones, Wi-Fi, data terminals and older
walkie-talkie radios to all communicate with each other. Researchers use
this self-contained mobile network for research and demonstration projects
to improve public safety communications.
Credit: NIST

View hi-resolution image







To demonstrate improvements to emergency communications and foster research
on systems that can be quickly placed in strategic locations, the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has worked with industry
partners to integrate commercial technologies into a mobile wireless
communications system. About the size of a large file cabinet, the platform
offers more capabilities and faster setup than typical “cell on wheels�
systems.

As some users call it fondly on social media, it’s a Nerdcart.

NIST’s Rapidly Deployable Public Safety Research Platform—the more official
name—enables over 200 local users of broadband smart phones, Wi-Fi, data
terminals and older walkie-talkie radios to all communicate with each other
using voice, text, instant messages, video and data. The range is about 4
kilometers (2.5 miles) in a rural environment. Crucially, the system
interconnects Long Term Evolution (LTE) phones, the latest wireless
standard, with the public safety community’s traditional Land Mobile Radio
(LMR) systems. The nation’s estimated 5 million public safety personnel are
expected to use a mix of both systems. LTE data transmission rates are 30
to 1,000 times higher than LMR.

“The portable system was built to enable research in diverse environments,�
said Tracy McElvaney,an engineering supervisor in NIST’s Public Safety
Communications Research (PSCR) Division. “But it is modeled afterFirstNet’s
image of a vehicle-borne network system and the public safety community’s
vision of a rapidly deployable system to be used when the nationwide
network is not available.�

“Our role at NIST is not to develop the technology itself, but to integrate
the state-of-the-art pieces into a conceptual platform that will help drive
the industry to meet publicsafety needs—that is, to make portable systems
smaller, more robust and with more capabilities,� McElvaney said.

NIST’s research and demonstration platform was developed through PSCR’s
Broadband Consortium, in which more than 70 vendors provide equipment and
support. PSCR staff use the system for research projects such as evaluating
how to improve audio intelligibility amid crowds and background noise and
the development of a database of communications in high-stress, loud-noise
environments. The platform enables research into factors considered
critical to the public safety mission, such as how to establish “push to
talk� (i.e., using a button to switch from sending to receiving)
capabilities over broadband systems.

PSCR staff recently tested the system at a convention center and a stadium
in Harris County, Texas, an early adopter of LTE technology for public
safety.

“Typically, it takes on the order of hours to deploy a ‘cell on wheels’
system to provide coverage at an event, and multiple deployable systems are
needed to enable both LTE and LMR� McElvaney said. “Our system provides
LTE, LMR, video and data. We rolled the system from the vehicle into the
building, and once connected to an AC power outlet, we were making calls in
less than 5 minutes.�

The mobile system can also be connected to the internet, satellite or a
commercial cellular network to link users to a broader community. PSCR
staff are currently exploring integrating sensor data and analytics into
the system, and developing requirements for linking up with both personal
area networks that are already in place as well as temporary Incident Area
Networks, which are created as needed and can expand as an incident grows
in size and complexity.

NIST has Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) with the
partners contributing to the mobile platform. CRADAs are the principal
mechanism used by federal labs to engage in collaborative efforts with
nonfederal organizations and allow the exchange of resources with private
industry to advance technologies that can then be commercialized for the
benefit of the public and the U.S. economy.

The mobile net is just one of a number of deployable systems PSCR plans to
evaluate and leverage for research. Others include backpack systems that
can rapidly serve a small team of users, vehicle-mounted systems and
perhaps airborne systems.

The work was funded, in part, by the Department of Homeland Security’s
First Responder Group.

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