High-Speed Broadband Mobility for Public Safety and Public Transportation Applications

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1 High-Speed Broadband Mobility for Public Safety and Public Transportation Applications Introduction/Executive Summary To get the maximum benefit from mobile communications, the network must provide dependable access at high data rates and not at just at highway speeds, but at much higher railway speeds, as well. Without high data rates (the combination of high throughput and low latency), today s sophisticated multimedia applications cannot be supported. And without seamless access at highway speeds or greater, no application can truly be considered mobile. The advent of broadband mobility also offers a breakthrough advance applications such as video surveillance. Essential to homeland security, the advent of video over IP has made it possible to deploy cameras throughout an entire community more cost-effectively using routed wired or wireless networks. Although many of these cameras are remotely viewed and remotely controlled via Pan-Tilt-Zoom, nearly all are stationary today. By allowing cameras to be deployed on police cars and in trains, for example, headquarters personnel can monitor live action, such as a high-speed pursuit, suspicious passenger behavior and activity along railway tracks. Indeed, the combination of video over IP and broadband mobility eliminates all the obstacles to deploying real-time surveillance. The two public services that stand to benefit the most from broadband mobility are public safety and public transportation. For public safety agencies, mobility provides the means for first responders to gain full situational awareness while en route to an incident, and enhances the effectiveness of multi-agency strategic command, control and coordination. For public transportation, mobility provides railway, bus and other transit operators with the means to monitor the entire infrastructure in real-time, while also giving (or selling) passengers access to the Internet. Ideally, the network that delivers high-speed broadband mobility would also offer high reliability at a low cost in large-scale deployments. Only one solution meets these demanding criteria today: the convergence, capacity and coverage made possible only with a modular, multi-radio wireless mesh network. But enabling high-speed mobile access throughout a municipal mesh network is no trivial task. This is why previous generations of mesh networks support mobility only in a limited way or not at all. This document is organized into three sections followed by a brief conclusion. The first section outlines the previous barriers to broadband mobility. The second section describes how multiradio wireless mesh networking technology, such as Access/One from Strix Systems, overcomes these limitations to enable broadband mobility on a large scale and at highway speeds and faster. The third section highlights how the Access/One s broadband mobility capabilities can and are being used today in public safety and public transportation applications. Additional information on wireless mesh networking and broadband mobility is available on the Web at

2 Breaking Through with Broadband Mobility Those with a good understanding of communications systems appreciate the value of broadband performance in current and future applications for public safety and public transportation. Although both applications have their own unique requirements, they also share some important security needs. From the public safety side, video surveillance, strategic data applications and voice over IP (VoIP) are critically important to saving lives, reducing crime and improving overall communications. From the public transportation perspective, with increased attention on terrorism, the security and safety of the transportation infrastructure are a similar and equally important priorities. This section assesses both the opportunities and challenges for broadband mobility in both public safety and public transportation applications. The opportunities are quite compelling, but the challenges have proven to be insurmountable in the past. The only way to overcome the challenges is with networking technology specifically designed for community-wide broadband communications: the multi-radio wireless mesh network, which is the subject of the next section. The Broadband Opportunity in Public Safety Broadband networking enables powerful new video, voice and data applications for both intraagency and interoperable inter-agency communications. These applications benefit both the public and public safety agencies in numerous ways: o o Makes innovative, high-bandwidth applications possible for greater strategic and logistical support, such as rapid access to mug shots, building blueprints, aerial photographs and maps, other geographic information (GIS), hazardous material databases, medical records, weather forecasts, and more Multimedia capabilities enhance distributed, multi-agency command and control coordination and effectiveness with video surveillance, videoconferencing, online collaboration, etc. o Commanders gain better coordination with community-wide interoperable multi-agency communications o Live feeds provide real-time situational awareness for both first responders and command and control personnel o The addition of full mobility enables first responders to obtain complete situational awareness while en route to the scene of an incident o First responders also benefit with online and rapid access to all information available at or from the headquarters, including state and federal databases o Routine foot patrols can access online information and video feeds from laptop o computers and PDAs while moving about the jurisdiction Narrowband systems (both radio and cellular) remain fully complimentary and continue to assist solving issues related to critical communications infrastructure collapse and agency interoperability

3 The Broadband Challenge for Public Safety Applications The current and emerging broadband multimedia public safety applications just described require a network solution capable of delivering high-speed, high-throughput, low latency and high resiliency throughout an entire access area, which may even be comprised of multiple jurisdictions. Providing mobile access for first responders is often the most important requirement for police, fire and EMS agencies alike. Providing intra-agency and interoperable inter-agency command and control is also a key requirement. A variety of different problems plague the different network technologies being used today to provide robust mobile communications for public safety agencies. The biggest problem is that none currently supports broadband data rates. While all are genuinely mobile, licensed 700 MHz and 800 MHz radio, and commercial 2G (second generation) cellular communications deliver only narrowband data rates, resulting in poor quality video and excessive download times for certain mission-critical information. In addition, the frequency allocation and low data rates of 700 MHz and 800 MHz radio communications combine to make it difficult to achieve fully-functional interoperability among different agencies. The commercial cellular network does afford such an opportunity, of course, but when a crisis occurs, oversubscribed cellular networks can quickly become saturated with calls. Only the 4.9 GHz spectrum, licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S. exclusively for use in public safety applications, has both the security and capacity required. To date, most implementations of 4.9 GHz communications have been in wireless mesh networking solutions. Some of these solutions also leverage unlicensed spectrum at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz to support public safety and/or public Internet access requirements. But these single- and dual-radio mesh networking solutions suffer from too many limitations (see discussion below) to be considered mission-critical, and many initial projects have been abandoned as a result. In the future, advanced 3G (third generation) cellular and WiMAX technologies will deliver broadband data rates to mobile users. But even when these technologies begin to be deployed, line-of-site and oversubscription will account for a large number of issues, in addition to secured licensed-band and combined performance requirements will prevent them from being as costeffective as wireless mesh networks for providing combined pervasive high-performance secured broadband coverage needed in public safety applications. The Broadband Opportunity in Public Transportation Broadband communications enable powerful new applications for railway/trains and other forms of public transportation by cost-effectively converging video, voice and data traffic on a common network infrastructure. These applications afford several benefits to operators and passengers alike:

4 o Video surveillance can be extended to cover the entire transportation infrastructure, including stations, terminals, bridges, tunnels, overpasses, locomotives and other moving vehicles with a mesh network that supports both track-side and in-vehicle mobility o Railway and mass transit operators are able to improve operational efficiency with better and faster access to real-time information o Passenger service can be enhanced with new applications, including Internet access at terminals and mobility-enabled trains and buses o Interoperable communications with public safety agencies permits a more coordinated response to incidents, thereby enhancing security and safety o Improved ability to satisfy federal and state security requirements potentially with grant funding from the Department of Homeland Security o Repair crews can gain better situational awareness and benefit from remote, on-site access to equipment documentation and other online diagnostic/repair resources o In addition to making video surveillance and Internet access mobile, broadband mobility enables other innovative applications, such as remote resource monitoring and management using on-board sensors and controls Broadband Challenge for Public Transportation Applications Although the applications just described are compelling, public transportation agencies face challenges similar to those confronting public safety agencies with one notable difference: the ability to utilize only unlicensed spectrum (e.g. 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) or commercial 2G cellular services. As with the options available for public safety, 900 MHz and 2G cellular services lack broadband performance, and deployments of single- or dual-radio mesh networking solutions have failed to scale sufficiently owing to the throughput degradation and increased latency caused in multi-hop mesh topologies. The problem of multi-hop performance degradation is caused by the very nature of radio communications where it is impossible for a single radio to both transmit and receive simultaneously on the same frequency. The problem continues to occur even in dual-radio systems where one radio is used for access and the other for backhaul. A single backhaul radio makes a mesh network half duplex by alternating between transmit and receive. In the full mesh topology, where traffic hops successively from node to node, throughput can be cut in half at each hop. Of course, latency also increases at each hop adversely impacting on the quality of VoIP communications. Deploying a nearly linear mesh network along a substantial stretch of railroad track creates almost a worst case scenario for single- and dual-radio mesh networks. Finally, even if a single- or dual-radio mesh network could be limited in its scale, or engineered (at great cost) to minimize the number of hops in a community-wide deployment (by adding considerably more wired egress points), most mesh networking solutions available today do not yet support genuine mobility. Handoffs from node to node must be fast and seamless to prevent disruptions that degrade voice and video quality, or cause active data sessions to time out and

5 terminate. So even though wireless mesh networks afford the best possible option for broadband mobility, not all mesh network solutions are up to the task. The reality today is that existing public safety and public transportation solutions require a tradeoff between mobility and performance. In other words, the applications can be either mobile or broadband, but not both. This applies equally to narrowband systems ( MHz and 2G cellular), as well as to most existing broadband solutions (that utilize spectrum in the GHz range). The only solution available today that can fully eliminate this tradeoff and enable broadband mobility is the multi-radio mesh network. The Multi-radio Wireless Mesh Network Advances in wireless networking technologies now make broadband communications practical and affordable in large-scale metropolitan and rural deployments. Of the various alternatives, ranging from narrowband radio and cellular to broadband wireless data networking (WiFi and WiMAX) in both the licensed and unlicensed spectrums, only one the wireless mesh network satisfies the rigorous requirements for mission-critical public safety and public transportation applications. Recognizing the significance of these advancements and their potential to benefit to homeland security, the federal government in the U.S. allocated the 4.9 GHz ( MHz) spectrum for exclusive use in public safety applications. The FCC divided the 50 MHz allocation into 18 channels: 10 at 1 MHz each and eight at 5 MHz each, allowing support for both narrowband (1 MHz) and broadband communications. Although the 5 MHz channels do provide sufficient bandwidth for some data and multimedia applications, the regulations recognize the need for more by allowing channels to be combined to achieve bandwidths of 10, 15 or 20 MHz, resulting in four, three or two available non-overlapping broadband channels, respectively. The FCC even permits use of power levels beyond the commercial 20 dbm through the use of a special Dedicated Short Range Communications transmit mask designated DSRC-C. While officially designated as a short range mask, DSRC-C effectively provides a long-range capability that improves mesh performance, coverage and/or resiliency by doubling the distance over which nodes can communicate. The availability of the 4.9 GHz spectrum has made wireless mesh networking even more robust. With three radio frequency (RF) spectrums (2.4 GHz, 4.9 GHz and 5 GHz) each having multiple channels, it is now feasible to implement wireless mesh networking solutions using three or more radios to overcome the limitations inherent to one- and two-radio systems. It is these multi-radio, multi-channel, multimedia solutions that will fulfill the promise of wireless mesh networking to: o Create self-forming, self-healing and self-managing networks automatically o Achieve mission-critical reliability by eliminating single points of failure in the mesh backhaul topology a particularly significant advantage during a disaster o Enable a gradual or phased roll-out with the ability to add coverage and/or capacity incrementally as needed o Deliver genuine broadband throughput and quality of service (QoS) for converged voice, video and data applications

6 o Provide robust security for interoperable use by multiple agencies o Be deployed by the municipal or county government cost-effectively to support multiple applications in public safety, public transportation and public works o Remain under the total control of the municipal or county government, or designate agency o Minimize or eliminate dependency on (expensive) commercial cellular services o Optionally support community or economic development initiatives, such as providing Internet access for underprivileged citizens or in redevelopment zones o A multi-radio Access/One wireless mesh network is capable of supporting multiple voice, video and data applications on a community-wide basis. Broadband mobility is supported at speeds up over 200 MPH. The Access/One Multi-radio Wireless Mesh Solution from Strix Systems Strix Systems is the worldwide leader in carrier-class wireless mesh networks based on the company s ability to deliver the industry s highest performance and greatest flexibility for the lowest total cost of ownership. Strix Access/One wireless mesh products enable quick deployment of network infrastructure that delivers reliable, resilient, self-configuring converged voice, video and data services for real-time multimedia, mission-critical communications and situational awareness for public agencies and first responders. The Access/One products are ideal for a wide range of solutions, including security, surveillance, asset tracking, multimedia collaboration, extended IT network infrastructure, emergency services, transportation systems and mobile connectivity. The carrier-class dependability, scalability and performance enable deployment in city-wide metropolitan or county-wide networks covering local public safety needs, state and federal government applications, transportation systems, harbors and ports, airports, hospitals, hotels, shopping centers and other public accommodations, and universities and public schools.

7 The Strix Access/One platform is powered by Strix DMA (Dynamic Mesh Architecture), an intelligent Layer 2, 100 Mbps media-rate switching architecture supporting 6 radios in any configuration such as four radios for subscriber access and two radios dedicated to backhaul. By dedicating two radios to backhaul one for ingress and one for egress DMA achieves fullduplex throughput that does not degrade over multiple hops. This ground-breaking architecture, unique in the industry, provides the robust high quality transport to carry voice, video and data traffic for up to an unparalleled 10 hops with minimal latency and little reduction in throughput. By contrast, single- and dual-radio architectures are incapable of carrying traffic for more than a few hops without a significant reduction in throughput and a corresponding increase in latency. According to independent testing conducted in June 2006 by Iometrix, The sustained maximum forwarding rate measured on Strix System s OWS 2400 approached 35 Mbit/s regardless of the number of hops. This remarkable result shows that mesh nodes equipped with multiple radios can confound the commonly held view that backhaul throughput is an inverse function of the number of hops. Strix s use of multiple radios enables the OWS 2400 mesh nodes to maintain simultaneous upstream and downstream backhaul traffic flows with a level of performance that predictably matches maximum theoretical values. This near constant set of per-hop performance characteristics helps simplify wireless network design and deployment. The Strix Access/One OWS is also the industry s only fully modular system. The ability to upgrade or change configurations in the field completely protects the investment in OWS nodes, and results in lower capital expenditures when adding network capacity. Packed with features but small in size, the OWS supports up to six radios in any configuration of a, b/g and 4.9 GHz which can be fashioned to a variety of antenna options to meet a wide range of requirements. The modular design even allows new technologies, such as WiMAX, to be added without requiring a fork-lift upgrade. The result is the best performance (highest throughput and lowest latency) at the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) in the industry. To increase performance and coverage even more in public safety applications, Strix supports the long-range 4.9 GHz DSRC-C mask adopted by the FCC for high-power operations. This special option, which allows power levels to exceed 20 dbm, provides more than double the coverage area compared to standard WiFi and 4.9 GHz implementations, and is critical to enabling broadband mobility, while minimizing capital and operational expenditures.

8 High-speed Mobility in an Access/One Wireless Mesh According to Iometrix, Some of the most attractive applications that mesh networks bring to market rely upon broadband mobility. Emergency vehicles moving at very high speeds can transmit critical video streams, and trains and buses can offer live news and entertainment feeds. To support services like this, meshed nodes must be able to perform quick and seamless handoffs Strix calls on its fast roaming technique, which bases the decision to switch paths on signal strength instead of monitoring round-trip delay. Fast roaming delivers mobility handoff times that are nearly three times faster than the other technique. These industry-leading results enable the Strix Access/One solution to support even the most demanding applications in both metropolitan and rural environments. Whether involving date, voice or video or a multimedia combination of all three Access/One provides the high throughput, low latency and fast handoffs needed to make broadband applications fully mobile. In public safety applications, broadband mobility is provided by equipping vehicles and vessels with a Mobile Wireless System. The Strix Mobile Wireless System (MWS) 100 is a ruggedized, compact, high-powered edge node capable of high-speed seamless roaming throughout an entire community-wide Access/One wireless mesh network or track-side wireless broadband railway network. Utilizing dual-diversity antenna technology, intelligent radio algorithms and intelligent Access/One Edge capabilities, the MWS 100 automatically maximizes signal strength, detects alternate nodes and optimizes channel selections to instantaneously establish the best available network path in real-time and at speeds over 200 MPH. The MWS supports both wired and wireless connectivity to commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment including laptops, PDAs, specialized law enforcement systems, and more. Mobile Command Centers are normally equipped with both an MWS 100 edge node and OWS mesh node. The MWS 100 provides robust broadband mobility en route to an incident, while the OWS creates an Incident Response HotSpot that maintains connectivity with the larger mesh network to support first responders and backhaul live video feeds. Like other Access/One mesh nodes, the OWS utilizes an outdoor enclosure and supports multiple radios for local access, ingress backhaul and egress backhaul. Alternatively, the Mobile Command Center could be equipped with an Indoor Wireless System (IWS) mesh node and external antennae. Like the MWS 100, both the OWS and IWS mesh nodes provide a standard 10/100Base-T auto-sensing Ethernet port for interfacing directly or indirectly to other wired nodes, gateways, servers, laptops and/or COTS equipment. The same community-wide wireless mesh network that supports pubic safety applications can also be used to meet the needs of public transportation systems. On-board MWS and stationary or mobile OWS nodes, working in concert, can serve the video surveillance needs both track-side and internally on trains, as well as in bus depots, airports and other critical transportation infrastructure, including roads, major intersections, rail lines, bridges, parking lots and other venues. Some agencies also use the wireless mesh to monitor signaling equipment, traffic flow meters, and other measurement and control systems. Another popular application is public Internet access for waiting passengers. Today s increasingly mobile workforce now expects to have access wherever they travel, especially when forced to wait. Broadband mobility extends these traditionally stationary applications on-board the moving vehicle using Access/One MWS and OWS. The most common use today is in trains where a

9 track-side wireless mesh network provides both ingress and egress backhaul for video surveillance, locomotive measurement, control and diagnostic systems, and, of course, public Internet access. The ability to support video surveillance cameras with the on-board wireless access network enables cameras to be deployed virtually anywhere in passenger cars, in crew cabs, fore and aft of the train, or wherever else needed. Where the mesh network covers highways or surface roads, buses can be similarly equipped for similar applications. Strix Systems has made another breakthrough advance in dynamic, large-scale and longdistance mobile mesh networking with its new SuperCloud fleet management capabilities. Current railway deployments with Strix Access/One products enable unparalleled range and performance for track-side-to-train and in-train, multi-car mesh networking. With Strix new SuperCloud capability, locomotives and passenger or freight cars (carriages) can be changed without the need for configuring/reconfiguring the mesh. Any locomotive can now connect to any combination of cars, and all Strix Access/One nodes, including both MWS and OWS, automatically reform the mesh network with full and visual management from a centralized or other remote location. Access/One at Work in Public Safety and Public Transportation Here are just five real-world examples of how public safety and public transportation agencies are benefiting today from the broadband mobility provided by an Access/One wireless mesh network. Beijing s Public Security Bureau Secures Critical Areas In preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing s Public Security Bureau began a phased deployment in 2005 with an initial installation of Strix OWS and IWS mesh nodes along all main roads, on top of strategic buildings in the Xicheng district s most critical areas, as well as in mobile command vehicles. Ultimately, wireless mesh nodes will be placed in all public areas in Beijing and Olympics event venues. Before selecting Access/One from Strix, the Beijing Public Security Bureau tested several solutions from leading manufacturers. Only Strix s modular OWS was proven to deliver the high-bandwidth performance over multiple hops needed, while simultaneously supporting mobile video surveillance, voice and data with adequate quality of service. In addition, Strix s multi-radio, multi-rf design provides exceptional broadband coverage and seamless high-speed roaming. Brookline, Massachusetts Combines Public Safety with WiFi Access This city-wide, multi-use wireless mesh network was the first in the U.S. to utilize the 4.9 GHz spectrum licensed for exclusive use in public safety applications. The Strix Access/One network was deployed in a public/private partnership between Brookline and Galaxy Internet Services, an ISP that owns and operates the network. The goal of the project was to satisfy Brookline s need for improved public safety and municipal communications, while providing consumers and businesses with new options for Internet access. The use of licensed spectrum provides multiagency interoperability that enables local first responders to communicate with state and federal agencies for improved security. With broadband wireless access throughout the community, the city will also be able to utilize new applications to distribute information more effectively to all personnel, whether in the field or in a command center. Brookline s wireless mesh network is strategic on many fronts, and the Strix Access/One OWS is the best product to deliver the wide range of services needed as well as high-power 4.9GHz, which was an important requirement for Brookline s public safety applications. We found that Strix products work seamlessly, supporting 4.9 GHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5 GHz simultaneously while maintaining the high levels of performance, resilience, and security needed for the scope and scale of this network. We realize the user density and demands of the network will increase and

10 know from experience that Strix products provide the performance to handle that increase. Bob Carp, President of Galaxy Internet Services Neighboring Newton, Massachusetts Makes the Mesh Multi-Jurisdictional By utilizing the licensed 4.9 GHz spectrum, multi-agency interoperability can be extended among adjacent jurisdictions to support cross-border mutual aid and other common needs. That is precisely what occurred when Brookline s neighboring town, Newton, implemented an Access/One wireless mesh network, which is also owned operated by Galaxy Internet Services. The use of Strix s long-range DSRC-C mask technology gives Newton s entire police department dependable and constant access to police records, crime incidents, remote video surveillance and other collaborative applications. The city s fire department will install WiFi-enabled laptops on vehicles to provide a tactical and strategic advantage when fighting fires, and responding to emergency medical or other incidents. Fire officials will also now gain access to Newton s database of structures, hazardous chemical sites and other information essential to effective command and control. Railroad Industry Study Proves Viability of Mesh Networks The Advanced Telecommunications Engineering Laboratory at the University of Nebraska conducted a rigorous WiFi testing program for the railway industry in According to the lab s director, Dr. Hamid Sharif, I see a huge potential for wireless mesh networks in the rail industry. Our findings will help railroads decide what types of wireless networks to install in their yards and along their tracks to improve the safety, security and operational effectiveness of railroads. The study, sponsored by the Federal Railway Administration, and the BNSF and Union Pacific railroads, revealed that only one mesh networking solution was able to fully satisfy all of the demanding test criteria: Access/One from Strix Systems. In the real-world testing of real-time video and voice (VoIP) communications, Strix s OWS achieved the maximum throughput and lowest latency, along with zero packet loss and perfect roaming hand-offs as the train passed from one mesh node to the next up and down the track. San Diego s North County Transit District Secures the Coaster Rail Line With grant funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the North County Transit District in San Diego contracted with network integrator Datel Systems to implement a Strix Access/One wireless mesh network along a critical 10-mile stretch of the Coaster rail line. The Coaster line runs through the Camp Pendleton Marine base and is the nation s second most traveled line. Coaster uses Strix OWS nodes to provide critical communications and video surveillance monitoring both inside the trains and along the track, including at stations, bridges and tunnels. To ensure 24x7 uptime and emergency backup, the Strix OWS nodes are solarpowered. In the next phase of deployment, the District will use its own funds to extend Coaster s high-speed Access/One network along the entire 42 miles of rail. Strix promised exceptional performance, and unlike many other vendors, delivered on its promise. Once we tested Strix products, it was clear that only the Strix OWS could support Coaster s demanding applications. In fact, we were able to implement more applications than we originally envisioned. Installing a Strix OWS is nearly as easy as installing a home wireless system. The entire Coaster OWS network was up and running in only three months, and that included setting up poles and getting power for the signaling equipment. Bill Bryant, Director of Sales at Datel Systems

11 Conclusion Wireless mesh networks are the best and for the time being the only way to provide the convergence, coverage and capacity needed for dependable, community-wide communications for public safety and public transportation applications. But not all wireless mesh network solutions provide the scalability and mobility needed to get the most from the investment. Access/One from Strix Systems is the exception. With its innovative modular, multi-radio architecture, Access/One stands alone in its ability to deliver high throughput and low latency over a large-scale, multi-hop mesh topology with an industry-leading low total cost of ownership. By delivering the industry s best price/performance, Strix Systems has been recognized for its marketplace leadership by three separate industry analysts. In-Stat s 2007 Worldwide WiFi Mesh Equipment Market report ranks Strix Systems first in revenues and second in unit shipments. The WiMAX and Outdoor Wireless Mesh Network Equipment report from Infonetics also places Strix first in market share based on revenue. And Dell Oro s recent 2007 Wireless LAN Report also ranks Strix second in number of radios shipped. To learn more about how your organization can benefit from the industry s only modular, multiradio system specifically designed to meet the demanding broadband mobility requirements in public safety and public transportation applications, visit Strix Systems on the Web at or call (818)