GUARD Is In NYC
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, the Fire Department of New York adopted Internet Protocol (IP)-based satellite technology as part of an intensive wireless communications upgrade. The department deployed Inmarsat Global Area Network terminals and service for video, voice and data connectivity for selected response vehicles and the Fire Department Operations Center and other fixed and mobile command centers. The department also is putting emphasis on live video, installing mast-mounted cameras aboard mobile command posts to provide high-resolution video feeds via the Inmarsat link.
In addition to the Global Area Network, a ground-breaking emergency communications project known as Geospatially-Aware Urban Approaches for Responding to Disasters (GUARD) has been developed. It came to life three years ago and taps into local public broadcaster Thirteen/WNET's Educational Broadband Service Band, a spectrum licensed to educational institutions, not-for-profit organizations and public broadcasters across the United States, to provide wider bandwidth than conventional emergency response communications systems. GUARD enables the integration of applications such as automatic vehicle location tracking, wireless electronic command boards, video all points bulletins for the New York Police Department and live mobile command and control video and audio monitoring. GUARD continues to evolve, with prototype testing of broadband wireless access technology and mobile capabilities underway.
"We integrated a simple DVB-RCS two-way satellite feed for our final demonstration earlier this year. This allowed an audience in Washington, D.C., to observe our live demonstration interactively as we conducted our drive-thru in [New York City] with two-way wireless broadband," says Stephen Carrol-Cahnmann, director of digital convergence for Thirteen/WNET. "We have not perfected the satellite interconnection aspect of our prototype system, but we plan to do so in the next phases of our work."
The GBS currently does not include a two-way capability, but the requirement probably will be added by the Pentagon, says David Ihrie, CTO at Virginia-based Rosettex Technology and Ventures Group, part of the GUARD team. "The expectation is that the GBS controlling requirement documents will include a two-way capability in their next iteration and the DVB-RCS will likely fill that new mission requirement," he says.
In June, the U.S. National Technology Alliance awarded Rosetex a $3 million contract to transition GUARD to a "nationally relevant regional model" for first responder communications and decision support capability. The GUARD plan calls for extending the enhanced capability with a second interconnected regional solution in St. Louis and a third in Washington, D.C. or Las Vegas.
"Satellite capabilities will be used in two ways for emergency response," Ihrie says. "First, as part of a seamless satellite/fixed base station wireless network, particularly in urban areas like New York where full satellite coverage is problematic and as part of an emergency interconnect between different regional emergency management implementations."
Email
Comments
Print
Reuse
