First responders get more emergency communications options

August 7, 2008 (Computerworld) Emergency response teams may be getting more help on the radio communications front, in the form of a prototype "breadcrumb" system developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology as well as a new multiband radio from Motorola Inc.

NIST announced this week that it had demonstrated its prototype two-way radio communications system for emergency crews making their ways into buildings, mines, tunnels and other structures in response to fires and collapses. The demonstration was held at a workshop for emergency responders on Tuesday at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass.

In a newsletter, NIST said the system features smart multihop relay devices, called breadcrumbs. The relay devices run software that can notify emergency crews when they need to place another of the breadcrumbs along their route to extend the range of communications down a hallway or tunnel.

The system uses off-the-shelf microprocessors and other standard hardware along with the NIST-developed software, which monitors the status of radio communications signals. NIST said the software can rapidly assess the strength of the signal that emergency workers are receiving, so they can get an alert before they walk out of range and lose contact with the last relay device.

Currently, workers such as firefighters sometimes lay down conventional breadcrumb relay devices in certain standard locations, such as stairwells, or at a set distance from one another in a corridor. But such approaches don't take into account all the environmental variables that can degrade a communications signal, according to Nader Moayeri, a member of NIST's development team.

The NIST researchers used computer simulations of a wide number of emergency scenarios as part of the development process, Moayeri said. The agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, developed two versions of the prototype system, one for the 900-MHz communication channel and the other for the 2.4-GHz channel. NIST said it is willing to share the prototypes with businesses and other organizations working on first-responder communications systems.

On Monday, meanwhile, Motorola introduced its APX line of multiband radios, saying that the devices support both voice and data transmissions and offer multiagency interoperability for emergency response workers. The APX line works in the 700-MHz, 800-MHz and VHF bands, runs across FDMA and TDMA networks, and includes integrated GPS capabilities.

The new radios, the fourth generation of Motorola's P25 technology, are 15% smaller and 50% louder than its existing devices, according to the company. A custom-designed microphone suppresses background noise and uses a digital processor to enhance speech, said Motorola, which announced two models: a portable radio for workers to carry, and a mobile unit that can be fixed in police cars and other vehicles.