Technologies to Enhance Fire Safety

Communications between fire fighting teams traditionally consists of two-way, trunked and conventional radios that severely degrade once inside of a building or tunnel. The proposed research is focused on solving the uninterrupted in-building and in-tunnel voice and data services which are critical for fire fighter safety. Innovative Wireless Technologies (IWT) of Forest, Virginia proposes a feasibility study for an Ultra Wideband (UWB) network that is rapidly deployable, low cost, small in size, and power efficient. This study will determine UWB's capabilities inside buildings via simulation and UWB hardware measurements. Ad-hoc networking algorithms relative to the fire fighting application will be explored with a focus on redundant routing and latency. Through IWT's alliances with leading public safety equipment providers, such as M/A Com and Thales Communications, interoperability concerns with existing radio services will be examined. COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: Post 911 initiatives are driving new and innovative research to further protect First Responders. IWT's close ties with public safety equipment providers such as M/A-COM and Thales Communications, coupled with our relationships with simulation and RFIC providers, Agilent and RF Micro Devices, provide an excellent opportunity for partnering and commercial of UWB technology. By requiring that our technological advancements are backward compatible with existing Fire Safety technology, the commercial market will embrace the deployment of safety enhancing subsets that compliment their equipment. Another commercial application of IWT's concept is the use of this UWB network in Homeland Defense initiatives. The basic framework will be in place for a rapidly deployable, low cost, small in size, and power efficient system that can be interfaced to CBNR sensors for terrorist threat reduction. Communications between fire fighting teams traditionally consists of two-way, trunked and conventional radios that severely degrade once inside of a building or tunnel. The proposed research is focused on solving the uninterrupted in-building and in-tunnel voice and data services which are critical for fire fighter safety. Innovative Wireless Technologies (IWT) of Forest, Virginia proposes a feasibility study for an Ultra Wideband (UWB) network that is rapidly deployable, low cost, small in size, and power efficient. This study will determine UWB's capabilities inside buildings via simulation and UWB hardware measurements. Ad-hoc networking algorithms relative to the fire fighting application will be explored with a focus on redundant routing and latency. Through IWT's alliances with leading public safety equipment providers, such as M/A Com and Thales Communications, interoperability concerns with existing radio services will be examined. COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: Post 911 initiatives are driving new and innovative research to further protect First Responders. IWT's close ties with public safety equipment providers such as M/A-COM and Thales Communications, coupled with our relationships with simulation and RFIC providers, Agilent and RF Micro Devices, provide an excellent opportunity for partnering and commercial of UWB technology. By requiring that our technological advancements are backward compatible with existing Fire Safety technology, the commercial market will embrace the deployment of safety enhancing subsets that compliment their equipment. Another commercial application of IWT's concept is the use of this UWB network in Homeland Defense initiatives. The basic framework will be in place for a rapidly deployable, low cost, small in size, and power efficient system that can be interfaced to CBNR sensors for terrorist threat reduction.