SUMMARYThis paper presents the detailed architecture of the WISECOM system, which can quickly re-establish and provide telecommunication services after a disaster by integrating terrestrial mobile radio networks, such as GSM, WiFi, WiMAX and TETRA, with satellite technologies. The system aims to be a useful tool to be deployed in the early hours after a disaster event, for both the victims and the rescue services who will be able to communicate in a reliable and robust way, improving the coordination of the different teams and reducing the time needed to provide victims with the proper treatment. The paper presents in detail the different services provided by the system taking into account its two different versions, based on two different satellite technologies, Inmarsat BGAN and DVB-RCS. Together with the presentation of the system capabilities, a business model is also proposed. Thereafter, the architecture of the general system and the demonstrators that have been developed are detailed, according to the two versions of the system. The work also presents the outcomes of the tests conducted with a prototype of the system, and of the final project demonstration, which was held in Germany in May 2008 with the involvement of real end-users (fire brigades and civil protection authorities).

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Multi-channel Early Warning Systems are currently used to warn the population at risk and reduce the impact of crisis. Nevertheless, satellite networks, which offer robust and reliable communication solutions during major disaster events, are not yet being fully considered for direct communication to the citizens. The paper will address solutions for the transmission of alert messages to warn/inform the population in risk during crisis through GNSS. The solution proposed is based on a protocol for alert messages that is compatible with the Common Alert Protocol (CAP), but lightweight in comparison with CAP, so that it can be applied over a variety of communication links, i.e. over different communication standards, even in very narrow band channels, such as Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS). The paper will analyse the opportunities and implications of using GNSS to disseminate alert messages to the population and propose the principles for a flexible protocol that allows the translation of CAP messages (XML-based) into a very flexible and lightweight protocol for transmission in very narrow band channels.

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In disaster management scenarios with seriously damaged, not existing, or saturated communication infrastructures satellite communications can be an ideal means to provide connectivity with unaffected remote terrestrial trunked radio (TETRA) core networks. However, the propagation delay imposed by the satellite link affects the signalling protocols. This paper discusses the suitability of using a satellite link for TETRA backhauling, introducing two different architectures. In order to cope with the signal delay of the satellite link, the paper proposes and analyzes a suitable solution based on the use of a performance enhancing proxy (PEP). Additionally, robust header compression (ROHC) is discussed as suitable technology to transmit TETRA voice via IP-based satellite networks.

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