SOLUTIONS

Dedicated Networks: Public Safety

It almost goes without saying that emergency services and other agencies involved in public safety require highly secure and reliable communications networks for both voice and data. Front line communications are often wireless-based, but radio access points need backhauling, and secure wired links are needed with response systems and back end databases for effective operation in an emergency. Recent high profile disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. or the July 7 2005 attacks on London’s underground rail network, have exposed deficiencies in many existing public safety networks, both in radio and fixed line communications.

Such events have shown the need for dedicated, well-managed networks, with full alternate routing and communications dispersed across different physical media, including fiber, copper and microwave to protect against larger system wide failures. The need for rapid deployment of network upgrades was also highlighted by some recent disasters, making use of existing physical infrastructure where possible. Many public safety networks can exploit copper already in the ground for backhauling radio access points, and connecting different sites together within a secure and resilient framework. Yet, emergency services are increasingly demanding broadband connections for access to, or transmission of, video or high-definition images from crime scenes, accidents or disasters. The Actelis ML series of Ethernet Access Devices (EADs) can play an important role by delivering broadband connections over copper to support voice over IP (VoIP), video, or data, within front line public safety networks. The ML EADs have built-in resilience with protection against lightning strikes, spikes or surges in electricity, and can guarantee levels of performance even when there are variations in the quality of individual copper pairs. Furthermore, the platform can be deployed quickly within days or even hours, meeting the tight project deadlines common in the public safety arena.

The underlying message is that the existing copper infrastructure can play a pivotal role in highly available dedicated public safety networks alongside fiber and microwave links, and is no longer a weak point. Equally important, the copper component of the physical network can be managed easily and deployed quickly. Confidentiality and data integrity are also critical, and with the Actelis ML EADs, copper measures up on these counts also.