Wireless Communications for Emergency Response

Consider the mobile, “emergency response” users as depicted in the figure. These users either need to keep continuous connectivity, as in the case of mobile terrestrial platforms, or there may be logistical requirements that require “instant communications infrastructure” access. This requirement could easily arise in a campus disaster recovery or emergency situation in which installed infrastructure is destroyed. Imagine that just like TV satellite broadcasts can be set up by driving a van to a location, mobile base stations/routers could be driven or flown in response to an emergency. Our controlled topology and autonomous reconfiguration will allow for such improved communications. The rapidly deployable, flexible and agile FSO/RF communications approach facilitates autonomous setup and reconfiguration.

Critical infrastructure protection and response

What do we mean by civil infrastructure? Infrastructure is the basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of society, such as water supply, fuel and electric energy supply, transportation, telecommunication, the internet, government and emergency services, financial services, and others. We adopt the taxonomy of infrastructure proposed by the President’s Commission on Infrastructure Assurance [1]. Infrastructure is important. Public health and safety, economic well-being, and the smooth functioning of society all depend on efficient, well-running infrastructure. Critical infrastructures are the backbone of the economies of both the developed world and the developing world, providing material support for the delivery of basic services to all segments of a society. These infrastructures are interacting and interdependent. Modern society has become almost totally dependent on this increasingly complex–but also increasingly fragile–infrastructure. We have developed tightly-coupled, non-redundant systems which rapidly propagate failure. These many components of infrastructure interact in complex, interdependent ways.

CATEGORIES OF US INFRASTRUCTURE AS CATEGORIZED BY CIAO [1]

• US Infrastructure sectors (alphabetically)
• Banking and Finance
• Electric power generation and transmission
• Emergency services
• Gas and oil production, storage, and delivery
• Government operations
• Telecommunications
• Transportation
• Water supply systems

The problem posed by modern, complex infrastructure is that, first, society has become almost completely dependent on the reliable functioning of these infrastructure systems; or as a corollary, on rapid response and recovery in the event of disruption. Yet, second, we do not fully understand the systems behavior of these interacting, interdependent networks, and we do not acquire sufficient real time monitoring data with which to make critical decisions or from which to respond to emergencies. Of special importance to the issue of monitoring and information gathering are the following:

• The ability to place autonomous nodes in difficult-to-reach locations, such as under bridges, on dams, or nuclear plant containment buildings without the need for any installed wiring or fiber.
• The ability to handle data rates far in excess of that currently available for wireless communications
• Compact autonomous hardware that is rapidly deployable
• Flexible dynamic, physically reconfigurable networking
• Network algorithms that intelligently (re) configure networks for the best possible performance

It is helpful to think of specific scenarios where these types of network characteristics are especially useful, and where their unique capabilities are apparent.

• Very large bridges [Description]
• Response to major incidents [Description]
• Nuclear plant security [Description]
• Real time traffic and evacuation response [Description]

The proposed system is well suited to these applications because its nodes can be installed very easily, no wiring or power is required, and the nodes could have intelligent setup capability [3]. In addition, such nodes are difficult to defeat, since they could be installed in locations where access is very difficult, and there are no wires to cut. It is also virtually impossible to jam such communications. An additional of the proposed work is the use of nodes that are multiple-connected, since from the network optimization standpoint, including topology selection and Quality of Service (QoS), this adds considerable flexibility to network operation. In other words, the nodes have multiple transceivers that allow for spatial diversity. The ability of optical wireless to provide bursty data communication would allow the downloading of buffered data from moving nodes, mounted for example on rail cars, truck, or barges. This would permit dynamic adjustment of traffic flow within the communication network by intelligent exchange of detailed situation data between fixed and mobile nodes. It is easy to imagine a scenario in which a moving vehicle traveling at 60mph sets up a temporary data link with a fixed node as it flies by and exchanges gigabyte quantities of data in the brief time for which the link exists.

• [1] CIAO,"Critical Foundations: Protecting America's Infrastructures." President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, US Department of Commerce, Washington, DC., 1997.
• [2] Gilbert, Paul H., Jeremy Isenberg, Gregory B. Baecher; Lawrence T. Papay, Lawrence G. Spielvogel, Joan B. Woodard, and Edward V. Badolato, Infrastructure Issues for Cities Countering the Terrorist Threat,Journal of Infrastructure Systems (1): 44-54(200(3).
• [3]  National Research Council. (2000). Risk analysis and uncertainty in flood damage reduction studie, National Academies Press, Washington, DC.