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“There are also a host of new innovative aspects to emergency support that can be supported even when terrestrial networks go down”, he adds. “We recently provided support to the German Red Cross when they were carrying out a major disaster scenario involving two planes crashing at Frankfurt airport and a simultaneous failure of terrestrial communications. “To handle the mass casualty triage, each patient was given an RFID wristband containing additional data on the patient. Using an Inmarsat BGAN terminal, this information could be easily transmitted to the command centre and onwards to the hospitals involved to speed emergency processing and share patient data.” As this emerging ‘network of networks’ continues to evolve – on land, under the sea and in space – it seems as if we’re building a nervous system for the planet. A nervous system for an increasingly nervous world? TETRA on Haiti, after the earthquake struckWhen an earthquake measuring 7·0 on the Richter scale struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, the impact was widespread. Around 300?000 people were left injured, one million homeless and literally countless dead. With Haiti’s undersea cable broken, numerous organizations such as Télécoms Sans Frontières, the ITU and NetHope sprang into action to provide communications support to the disaster relief efforts. The Venezuelan government, too, responded to the crisis, sending aid teams consisting of doctors, engineers and search and rescue experts. With almost no communications infrastructure remaining operational following the disaster, Venezuelan officials wondered whether it would be possible in any way to use their existing TETRA solution – from Teltronic – via a satellite link. VSAT links, however, introduce significant delays in communications between the node and remote zones. TETRA system design must therefore take into account optimized bandwidth, an asynchronous connection between the node and remote zone and a full implementation of Layer 2 of the TETRA stack at the remote zone. Fortunately, the Teltronic Nebula technology deployed by the Venezuelan authorities already incorporated all these features. This equipment allowed the Venezuelan aid team posted to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to use their own TETRA radios. A transportable base station was sent to Port-au-Prince and connected via the Venesat-1 satellite to the central TETRA node in Caracas. Successful trials were conducted, achieving fluid communications over the link by early February. The link was then maintained to allow aid workers to carry out their duties in the weeks and months following the disaster. Hungary: when the floodwaters began to riseHungaro DigiTel (HDT), Hungary’s largest satellite service provider, uses a network from the US supplier iDirect through its teleport near Budapest – a relationship that also includes support for Pro-M, the operator responsible for implementing and managing Hungary’s TETRA-based EDR system via 265 fixed and five mobile EDR base stations. The mobile base stations enable Pro-M to quickly extend TETRA communications to virtually any location, enabling efficient and secure performance of critical operations for Hungary’s emergency and law enforcement agencies. When major floods struck Hungary in 2010, many communications networks were put out of action. During the flooding – the severest for a century and affecting one-third of the country’s area – Pro-M, using HDT’s iDirect-based network, was able to provide connectivity to flood control vehicles in the areas most severely stricken by the flood. Standby connections One of the worst floods occurred at the intersection of two rivers in the small village of Rozsály. Within six hours of being requested, a Pro-M Satellite mobile base station vehicle travelled the 300 kilometres from its storage location to Rozsály and was operating at full capacity. The mobile base station provided stand-by emergency connectivity that enabled communication and co-operation between the various flood control forces, including more than 23?000 workers. Among them were police, firefighters, soldiers, water management crews and volunteers. This operation lasted for one week, during which secure and reliable communication was provided for all of the flood protection personnel. Current users of the EDR service include the National Police Command, the Hungarian Customs and Finance Guard, the fire service, the National General Directorate for Disaster Management, the national ambulance service, the army and the national security services. (中國集群通信網 | 責任編輯：陳曉亮) |