IPV6 network mobility in mountain rescue services A demonstrator was designed to ascertain the performance of mobile IPv6 and the basic network mobility protocol function when utilised in highly mobile environments. Digital Economy © Photodisc The EC-funded project 6NET has deployed and tested IPv6 under realistic conditions. It consists of an abundant combination of research and industrial organisations offering a native IPV6 network on an international scale. A main objective was to utilise the network to ensure that the new technology can meet the constant demands of the global Internet. One way to test for this was to use the domain of mountain rescue services. The selected site for this task was Lancaster University which borders the English Lake District. The area is extremely popular with hikers, fell runners and mountain climbers. The feasibility of using mobile routers for an on-mountain data networking solution was tested. The integration of mobile router technology into the current mountain rescue operational procedures posed a challenge. This was because of the issue of optimum connectivity in remote mountainous regions as well as supplying several communicating entities inside a command hierarchy. It is expected that the user base will be extended to additional mountain rescue teams in the Cumbria region.
