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BACKGROUND: Drexel University has developed and deployed next-generation wireless security technology for first responders. The Department of Public Safety in Atlantic County, New Jersey, will apply a $300,000 federal grant to test the technology on campus this summer, contrasting the emergency response rates of teams using the new system with those using traditional communications technology.
ABOUT THE SYSTEM: Called DragonForce, the new system is a suite of applications designed to enhance communications and enable spontaneous networking for campus public safety personnel. The ultimate goal is to have the DragonForce system replace GPS phones, two-way radios, handheld data recorders and incident report pads with a single, handheld PDA device. Among other benefits, it allows GPS to track officers' locations in real-time. Map directions can also be sent using the handheld devices. Each team member receives directions based on their location. This should greatly shorten response times in emergency situations. Later versions of the technology will add such features as the ability to send text messages, the file incident reports from a crime scene, view photos of criminal suspects, and view security videos of incidents mere minutes after they take place.
HOW IT WORKS: Location tracking technology has many different components, including geographic information systems, the global positioning system (GPS), wireless local area networks and the infrastructure that has evolved around cellular phones and personal data assistants (PDAs). The Drexel system features PDAs with GPS capability, which capture signals from several separate satellites in orbit to pinpoint objects on earth. Security officers can use the devices to track the locations of their fellow officers on a campus map.
The software uses programs called intelligent agents to enable mobile devices to function smoothly even if they can only access a wireless network sporadically. The agents monitor changes in the network and store and secure data in the event of a network disruption. Such programs can run on any type of mobile device, use any type of wireless network, and even establish their own ad hoc networks in the event that all other available networks fail. They enable GPS tracking, text messaging, white boarding, and mapping applications.
IEEE-USA contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.