Interoperable emergency radio
European emergency services use numerous incompatible communication technologies, making trans-border cooperation difficult. Furthermore, the respective agencies have already invested heavily and may be reluctant to help fund a new pan-European system. The answer is a gateway system, allowing the agencies to continue using existing equipment yet achieve full interoperability with other organisations. The EU-funded HIT-GATE (Heterogeneous interoperable transportable gateway for first-responders) project planned to develop such a system. The proposal was intended to seamlessly support a long list of legacy technologies, while also being able to accommodate future systems. The 11-member consortium ran between February 2012 and July 2014. Development began with an analysis of existing materials on first-responder operations, scenarios and exercises. Results focused on interoperability issues, including legal, operational and technical. Assessment included hardware components. The team proceeded to specify the first version of a high-level system architecture, of the TISPAN type. The architecture was compliant with LTE network architecture and suitable as a plugin for current 4G LTE networks. HIT-GATE also made preparations for a demonstration phase, scheduled to have begun during the second reporting period. The project yielded a gateway system for allowing legacy emergency communication networks to smoothly work together.
Keywords
Communication technologies, crisis response, interoperability, gateway system, first-responders