futures
Mapping the future for Finland’s rescue services
In a recent study from the Emergency Services College of Finland, Markku Rantama and Kari Junttila analysed the forces behind the evolution of radio data communication in Finland’s fire and rescue services. In this article Markku Rantama outlines their findings
Te main bottleneck in TETRA data
transmission is its modest transmission rate: when a single timeslot is used, data rates vary in practice between 2 kbit/s and 4 kbit/s. SDS- based data is sufficient for short status and location information messages and even for image delivery tailored for the small screens of handportables – but it will not be enough to meet future requirements for high-resolution still pictures, large files, video streaming and other multimedia content. Because of VIRVE’s limited data
Evolution of communications in the Finnish fire and rescue services: the diagram highlights some key terms relevant to the present state and the future, and the driving forces for change. Behind some of the initials are ERCs’ transaction handling system (ELS Geofis) and the command and control systems of the fire and rescue services (Merlot/PEKE). @450 is a commercial broadband data network based on Flash-OFDM wireless technology
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n Finland, the work of the fire and rescue services today is closely tied to the national mission-critical TETRA radio network,
VIRVE (VIRanomaisVErkko means Authority Network). Te diagram above illustrates the process of evolution through which the service is now passing, and introduces some of the key terms used in this article. An Emergency Response Centre (ERC)
sends emergency information with task-related data to fire and rescue resources by means of status and SDS messages. When necessary, resources which are not equipped with TETRA radios can be contacted via SMS over commercial mobile networks. Alerted persons
Class narrowband wideband broadband Information carried alarm, status, location info
still picture, query, announcement, low-resolution video, Internet access
high-resolution video Issue 3 May 2011 TE TRA TODAY
acknowledge the messages received and send their status information back to the ERC by status messages. But the most important and valuable
communication channel is TETRA’s group call capability. Trough this, task-related additional information from the ERC is simultaneously conveyed to all resources. It is used also for communication across authority boundaries among officers on similar duties and responding to larger incidents. SDS and status messages are also used for
the ERCs’ transaction handling system and the command and control systems of the fire and rescue services.
Service used status message, SDS, LIP file transfer, email, IP data multimedia, streaming
transmission throughput, many regional fire and rescue service departments have been experimenting with – and have even deployed – data services supplied by commercial mobile networks (2G/3G and @450) for purposes such as video transmission and Internet browsing. A serious problem with these services is that they are not designed or deployed to suit the demands of mission- critical communication. When most needed (in times of disaster or crisis) they may be unavailable because of their lack of resilience or heavy usage by the general public. Meanwhile, Finland’s regional fire and
rescue service departments are deploying secure IP access (PeIP) into the security network of the state authority. By using PeIP, they can access services reserved for public bodies and in addition they can communicate securely among themselves.
Evolution process Factors and forces driving change are users’ needs, the reconfiguration of ERCs, technological evolution and – especially – the
Rate needed < 100kbit/s
100–1000 kbit/s >1 Mbit/s 29
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