911-NOW: A network on wheels for emergency response and disaster recovery operations

Public safety organizations increasingly rely on wireless communication technology to provide effective command, control, and communication during emergencies and disaster response operations. Since emergencies can vary in scale from day-to-day operations to large-scale and widespread catastrophic events, any previously deployed network infrastructure may not be able to handle the traffic load. Worse, the wireless infrastructure may be damaged or destroyed, as occurred during the events of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. The 911-network on wheels (911-NOW) solution is a novel portable cellular system based on base station routers (BSRs) that does not require any pre-existing wireless infrastructure and provides capacity and coverage on demand. It is an auto-configurable system with a fully integrated service architecture that can be deployed as a single-cell solution for local communication or be configured to operate as an ad hoc network of cells. This paper describes the 911-NOW vision and discusses some of the differentiating features such as auto-configuration, network management, wireless mesh networking, and interoperability with existing public safety systems. We also highlight some of the research challenges associated with mobile and rapidly deployable wireless networks. In particular we provide an overview of issues centered upon dynamic assignment and management of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, online and real-time calculation and maintenance of routing information, mobility management, and dynamic configuration and optimization of radio parameters. © 2007 Alcatel-Lucent.