A system and protocols for self-healing post-disaster communications | |
| Author | Majid, Sonia |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.TC-09-01 |
| Subject(s) | Disasters Emergency communication systems |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Telecommunications, School of Engineering and Technology |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. TC-09-01 |
| Abstract | This study addresses the problem of evolving a self-organizing emergency communications network, which may allow survivors to communicate information among them and / or with the rest of the world, without manual intervention i.e., establishment of base stations by rescue teams etc. Possible components and techniques are also identified for an emergency communications system i.e., from source to sink. Moreover, the mechanism for transferring information about the disaster victims to the disaster information center (DIC) is also presented in this study. To deal with immediate post-disaster situations, we classify disaster scenarios in two broad categories: partial destruction of the communications infrastructure (scenario I) and communications infrastructure becoming totally non-operational (scenario II). In both cases the mobile handsets (MS) are used to sense an emergency situation. Under these situations, the mobile nodes working in cellular mode (normal mode) are able to automatically switch to emergency mode. The switching of mobile handset's mode from normal to emergency may be activated either manually (by a surviving and / or injured victim) or automatically (for an incapacitated / dead disaster victim). In this study we propose a software module, emergency communications component (ECC), to be installed in mobile handsets. This ECC enables mobile handsets to manually switch their handset to emergency mode either by simply pressing an emergency button on mobile handset or setting up emergency mode in device setup panel. However, when manual switching is not possible, a two-phase process for automatic identification of emergency situation is proposed. In post-disaster scenario we propose the process of establishment of emergency response network (ERN) using a clustered based ad hoc network approach. For scenario I, the cluster head (CH) is the MS node closest to a surviving base station. In scenario II, the cluster head is the node that has good battery power and maximum degree of freedom. However, to reduce the ripple effect under both scenarios, a standby cluster head node (SH) is also introduced. The routing and MAC protocols for the proposed emergency network are also discussed. The routing protocol is explained at two levels namely, inter-cluster (based on global network topology table) and intra-cluster routing (based on local network topology table) mechanism. We also use a novel metric "utilization factor" for routing protocol. The proposed MAC protocol is based on cognitive radio concept. A serial switched model for cooperative spectrum scanning is used at the cluster head level. The MAC protocol makes use of the information provided by this serial switched model to perform its activities. The dissertation presents a novel emergency communications system. Performance of the said system and protocols are tested against delay, energy consumption, spectrum efficiency and system load. Moreover, the proposed system and protocols are tested through some hypothesis along with probability calculations for successful identification of emergency situation, formation of ad hoc group and Emergency Beacon Message (EBM) transmission. |
| Year | 2009 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. TC-09-01 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology (SET) |
| Department | Department of Information and Communications Technologies (DICT) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Telecommunications (TC) |
| Chairperson(s) | Ahmed, Kazi Mohiuddin |
| Examination Committee(s) | Rajatheva, R. M. A. P.;Poompat Saengudomlert;Kanchana Kanchanasut |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Lahore College for Women University, Pakistan;AIT Fellowship |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2009 |