Title: First responder communication in urban environments

Authors: Kamill Panitzek; Immanuel Schweizer; Tobias Bönning; Gero Seipel; Max Mühlhäuser

Addresses: Telecooperation Lab, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 10, D-64289, Darmstadt, Germany. ' Telecooperation Lab, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 10, D-64289, Darmstadt, Germany. ' Telecooperation Lab, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 10, D-64289, Darmstadt, Germany. ' Telecooperation Lab, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 10, D-64289, Darmstadt, Germany. ' Telecooperation Lab, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 10, D-64289, Darmstadt, Germany

Abstract: Communication is crucial for first responders. Crisis management is nearly impossible without good means of communication. Unfortunately the communication technology used by first responders today does not scale well. Also most of the given infrastructure, such as cell towers, might be destroyed. In recent research ad-hoc and peer-to-peer-based communication has been proposed to solve the problem of resilient communication. Most mobile devices are equipped with wireless transceivers that make them suitable to participate in ad-hoc networks. But node density might be too small for a connected topology. In this paper, we therefore discuss the implications of an emergency switch for privately owned wireless routers. Wireless routers can transition to an emergency mode to create a supportive wireless mesh network. To analyse if such a network would be beneficial and give a resilient topology real data from wireless routers in a city is gathered. We calculate the locations of these routers from GPS traces and the resulting topologies are analysed investigating suitability and resiliency issues.

Keywords: wireless mesh networks; urban areas; private wireless routers; first response; resiliency; analysis; mobile network design; wireless networks; first responder communications; crisis management; emergency management; cities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMNDI.2012.048489

International Journal of Mobile Network Design and Innovation, 2012 Vol.4 No.2, pp.109 - 118

Published online: 23 Oct 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article