5G and UAVs for Mission-Critical Communications: Swift Network Recovery for Search-and-Rescue Operations
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5G and UAVs for Mission-Critical Communications: Swift Network Recovery for Search-and-Rescue Operations Alaa A. R. Alsaeedy1 · Edwin K. P. Chong1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract We introduce a new approach for Search-and-Rescue Operations (SAROs) to search for survivors after large-scale disasters, assuming the wireless communication network cells are partially operational and exploiting the recent trend of using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as a part of the network. These SAROs are based on the idea that almost all survivors have their own wireless mobile devices, called User Equipments (UEs), which serve as human-based sensors on the ground. Our approach is aimed at accounting for limited UE battery power while providing critical information to first responders: 1) generate immediate crisis maps for the disaster-impacted areas, 2) provide vital information about where the majority of survivors are clustered/crowded, and 3) prioritize the impacted areas to identify regions that urgently need communication coverage. Keywords Public safety communication · FirstNet · Crisis maps · Search-and-rescue · Human sensors · Discovery time · 5G · UAV
1 Introduction
1.1 Current MCPSC systems
Mission-Critical and Public Safety Communications (MCPSCs) are intended to provide vital mobile wireless communication services for first responder entities, such as police and firefighters, enabling them to exchange information during emergency situations. In the following subsection, we discuss the main trends in MCPSCs. Following that, we describe a potential point of failure in current MCPSC systems. Finally, at the end of this section, we outline the organization of this paper in addressing the need arising from the foregoing discussion. Details of our approach, based on UAVs as network elements, begin in Section 4, after discussing post-hazard issues in Section 2 and reviewing the relevant literature in Section 3.
Many conventional communication systems have been deployed to support MCPSCs. Since the 1930s, Public Safety Agencies (PSAs) have considered Land Mobile Radio (LMR)1 systems as the primary means to support MCPSCs for voice communication among emergency responders [41]. LMR systems are limited to voice and lowspeed data communication. Other MCPSC systems, notably Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TTRA) and Project 25 (P25), are still currently in service, although they are inefficient in terms of spectral utilization, data rate, and cost [35, 47]. Thus, many PSAs have migrated from conventional LMR systems to more advanced mobile broadband systems. TETRA and Critical Communications Association (TCCA) have asserted that the commercial Long Term Evolution (LTE) and its next generation (5G) are the most promising technologies for MCPSCs [35, 37, 39]. For this reason, in 2012, the US developed a nationwide MCPSC system called FirstNet, which uses the current LTE network as a basic platform; the US has spent $7 billion and reserved the use of the 700 MHz band for FirstNet communica
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