An emergency communication system based on software-defined radio

Gianmarco Baldini,Taj Sturman,Alberto Dalode,Claudio Sacchi,Andrea Kropp

doi:10.1186/1687-1499-2014-169

Abstract

Wireless telecommunications represent an important asset for public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) organizations as they improve the coordination and the distribution of information among first responders in the field. In large international disaster scenarios, many different PPDR organizations may participate to the response phase of disaster management. In this context, PPDR organizations may use different wireless communication technologies; such diversity may create interoperability barriers and degrade the coordination among first-time responders. In this paper, we present the design, the integration, and the testing of a demonstration system based on software-defined radio (SDR) technology and software communication architecture (SCA) to support PPDR operations with special focus on the provision of satellite communications. This paper describes the main components of the demonstration system, the integration activities as well as the testing scenarios, which were used to evaluate the technical feasibility. The paper also describes the main technical challenges in the implementation and integration of the demonstration system. Finally, future developments for this technology and potential deployment challenges are presented.

Highlights

Public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) organizations play a major role in disaster preparedness and recovery, assisting the response to emergency events
Natural disasters like floods or earthquakes may impact the existing communication infrastructure with the consequence that wireless communications may not be available to public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) organizations in the area of the crisis and alternative solutions must be designed and deployed
6 Conclusions The challenge in EULER was to design high data rate wireless networks suitable to integrate and make interoperable different communication technologies used in PPDR scenarios

Summary

Introduction

Public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) organizations play a major role in disaster preparedness and recovery, assisting the response to emergency events. The integration of the networking architectures and the coexistence and synchronization of the different communication systems used in the project were complex These challenges are present in the demonstration system described in this paper. Even if the application domain is not related to PPDR, the paper addresses issues, which are of interest to the PPDR community; in particular, support for interoperability for different wireless communication technologies and the provision of security functions (e.g., TRANSEC, INFOSEC, COMSEC). Another more recent example of an emergency network project is the Rapid Emergency Deployment mobile Communication (REDComm) project [20].

Integration and testing scenarios

Conclusions