Providing real-time information integration for better public safety performance

Public safety operations of all kinds often require split-second decisions that make use of the latest situational information. However, timely access to all relevant data requires adequate support. Accepted practice today calls for installation of laptops and other mobile computing technologies in remote environments, such as ambulances, fire vehicles, and police cruisers. While these tools are helpful, officers and other personnel generally lack the skills needed to install, use, and update freely available data sets that could substantially assist decision-making and enhance public safety. At the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Consolidated Advanced Technologies Laboratory (CATLab), we have developed a system to maintain and optimize communications and operations in the public safety arena. With a focus on information delivery and integration, Project54 is a proprietary collaborative research and development program. Using datacasting and cellular technologies, it incorporates and embeds mobile computing equipment and wireless networking into the patrol vehicles of the New Hampshire Department of Safety (NHDS). Project54 systems integrate all in-car electronic devices and systems, including software and user interfaces, to provide advanced support for New Hampshire State Police.1 Datacasting is crucial to the implementation of Project54. Broadcasters invariably have a slice of continuously available, unallocated bandwidth for transmission of nontelevision digital data.2 Text, audio, graphics, and video can all be transmitted on a one-way channel from broadcast center to remote stations. Digital television channels support transmission rates of 19.38 megabits per second (Mbps), with a significant portion of bandFigure 1. Display of the mapping application in Project54. Red star indicates global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the vehicle via publicly available map data.