Emergency communications via satellite

A 10 kg GSM mobile phone network has been developed by European researchers to allow rescue workers to set up communications hours, or even minutes, after a man-made or natural catastrophe.

When disaster strikes communications are often one of the first infrastructures to go down, but it is exactly when effective communications are most needed.

The wireless infrastructure over satellite for emergency communications (WISECOM) project has developed hardware and software allowing rescue workers to respond faster in a catastrophe.

“We developed lightweight, portable systems that allow rescue workers to set up voice and data networks in a very short time,” said Matteo Berioli, WISECOM’s coordinator.

The hardware can then link up to satellites to connect with the world mobile and landline networks, according to Berioli. The system works anywhere there is satellite coverage.

The system comes in two versions, which exploit two different satellite technologies:

• BGAN is a satellite telephony standard, which is smaller with lower performance;
• DVB-RCS is a satellite broadcast standard and has much better performance, but is much larger.

The version working with BGAN is portable, the size of a small suitcase, and weighs 10 kg. It can be carried on a standard flight and delivered to the disaster zone, where non-technical rescue workers can set it up in minutes.

The DVB-RCS version is larger and heavier, weighing 60 kg. Most of the volume in the DVB-RCS version is taken up by a satellite dish.

Both systems come with an integrated GSM network and Wi-Fi connection. The BGAN version integrates a GSM pico-cell and offers coverage of over 300 m radius for voice and data, while the DVB-RCS version integrates a GSM micro-cell and can cover several kilometres and benefits from a larger bandwidth on the satellite connection.

The BGAN version is intended for immediate deployment during the initial emergency response, while the DVB-RCS has longer deploying times, mainly because the 1.2 m satellite antenna has to be carefully pointed. It is intended to help reconstruction efforts in the days and weeks after a disaster.

In addition to the hardware, the team developed software to maximise the impact of the system. Location-based services (LBS) allow emergency chiefs to track rescue workers as they seek out disaster victims.

The LBS for triage is one application of the system. For example, coding triage victims by colour — black, red, yellow or green — is an internationally recognised system. Black indicates a fatality, red someone who is near death, yellow is serious but not life-threatening, while green signals an injury.

“If a victim is red, the rescue worker notes that and the LBS software immediately, via WISECOM, tells the command centre where to find the victim. Then command can alert other rescue workers and establish voice communication with specific people to speed up the rescue,” Berioli said.

All this — voice and data, GSM and Wi-Fi — runs over WISECOM and the satellite. So the command centre could be on the other side of the world using the satellite link-up.

LBS and this system of electronic triage is just one example of the extra functionality the team built into the system. Tetra is another example.

“Tetra is the new communication standard, that serves the needs of emergency response and public safety,” said Berioli.

Tetra was not part of the original brief.

“We did not produce a full demonstrator, but we proved the functionality in the lab. It could be easily scaled up for real-world use. We did not have to do it, but it was very relevant to our system, so we were keen to do the work,” said Berioli.

Once all these elements were complete, the team tested the entire system in a live demonstration.

“There were over 150 people and 25 vehicles: fire trucks, ambulances … everything. We gave the rescue workers some training, but they did everything on the day, setting up the WISECOM system and going through an emergency drill. It worked very well,” the coordinator said.

The system is now ready for commercialisation. These types of systems are generally purchased by governments, or civil security forces, according to Berioli.

ICT Results
http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults