In public safety, ESInets are a game changer

Transcription

1 In public safety, ESInets are a game changer The first step toward NG9-1-1, these broadband-powered networks will make PSAPs dramatically more effective and resilient By Jeff Lupinacci Over the past few years, many technological advances have occurred in all fields of industry. There is no stopping technology evolution, which seemingly occurs at warp speed. One technologically advanced industry that typically is not thought of as such except when it is critically needed is the life safety and emergency services industry. This industry, like many others, is pressured to do more with less due to shrinking tax revenues and limited grant program availability over the last decade. Yet, public safety agencies are expanding their service offerings and providing better and faster emergency response, because the mission matters. In many instances, it is the advanced technologies that are enabling emergency response entities to meet this challenge. This is particularly true in the thousands of public safety answering points (PSAPs), which handle the nation s emergency calls. A PSAP is staffed by telecommunicators who have been trained to field calls from the public and gather information related to an emergency situation. Telecommunicators also dispatch first responders to the emergency, including law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services (EMS). Dispatch operations entail taking the information received from the call regarding the emergency situation and appropriately coordinating activity among the various first responders. Sometimes PSAPs are organized to segregate the dispatching of emergency services into dedicated groups corresponding to law enforcement, fire and EMS. PSAPs traditionally have ranged in size from two telecommunicator positions that provide call-taking and dispatching services for all emergency response entities in the jurisdiction to as many as 200 positions, each of which specializes in a specific discipline (police, fire or EMS). Obviously the individual makeup of each PSAP is dependent on the call volumes, governance, funding, technology, coverage areas, and other unique aspects of the service area. Another interesting aspect of PSAP operations concerns the ability to become disaster-proof in the delivery of emergency response services to the public, i.e., to ensure continuity of operations in the event that a natural or human-induced event has compromised the facility s systems, or rendered the facility inoperable or inaccessible. Among the strategies that many PSAPs are employing to ensure redundancy and resiliency are diverse power connections from separate commercial power grids and high-speed communications channels from disparate service providers. In addition, backup power supplies are being provided by generators in many facilities, with uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) seamlessly bridging the transition from commercial to backup power.

2 Another element of redundancy and resiliency centers on the concept of geo-diversity, which enables PSAP operations to be housed in two or more physical locations. Geo-diversity provides PSAPs with a method to ensure continuity of operations in the aftermath of a natural or manmade disaster. With proper geo-diversity and planning, emergency services should be uninterrupted for citizens in a given PSAP s operational footprint if a single location were to be lost to disaster. The gold standard for PSAP availability is percent. This means that the maximum amount of unexpected downtime cannot exceed a few minutes per year; this performance level is classified by the Uptime Institute as Tier 4, and by the Building Industry Consulting Service International (BICSI) as F-4. Across the United States, thousands of PSAPs are at some stage in preparation or implementation of Emergency Services Internet Protocol (IP) Networks, or ESInets, not only to improve their level of service to the citizenry, but also to enhance their resiliency and redundancy. ESInets are thought to be the critical first step toward Next Generation (NG9-1-1). These networks are broadband-enabled supporting the transmission of video, images and other bandwidth-intensive data files that would choke narrowband systems. ESInets enable the sharing of emergency data between PSAPs, expanding the possibilities of collaborative emergency response across the nation. What is an ESInet? The reliability and speeds of telecommunication networks continue to increase; at the same time, the cost of network deployment continues to decrease. This is creating opportunities to establish larger geographical coverage areas while maintaining a public safety grade of service, as defined by The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC). As in the corporate world, the public safety industry is moving toward the use of IP technology as a method to digitize and transmit information. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) has defined ESInets as the end state for end-to-end, IP-based networks that support public safety operations. 1 An ESInet is a standards-based network of networks that is designed with a high level of redundancy and resiliency to ensure that the network can continue to operate (i.e., deliver calls) even if some of the circuits or end points are no longer functioning. Why ESInets are needed The technology that is used in a PSAP is rather expensive compared with the equipment used in a corporate communications network. This premium is due primarily to the high degree of redundancy and expected public-safety level of performance that the equipment must provide. In a small two-position PSAP, the population served by the facility may not be able to financially support the procurement and maintenance of this sophisticated equipment; nevertheless, the community deserves the same level of emergency response as a large city. Partnering with other PSAPs on a regional or even statewide basis will bring advanced emergency response capabilities to communities that otherwise would be unattainable. An ESInet makes such collaborations possible. 1

3 Let s examine how this might work on a practical level. At a two-position PSAP, a 50 percent workforce reduction would occur if one of the telecommunicators was unable to report, which could have a significant impact on the PSAP s ability to provide emergency response services. However, if a geo-diverse ESInet was in place, the overflow call volume could be seamlessly transferred in real time to one or more centers whose telecommunicators have been trained to handle calls from another location. In fact, a PSAP s entire operations could be transferred via an ESInet to another center when necessitated by localized disasters or long-term network/power outages. In addition, ESInets make possible the virtual consolidation of PSAPs, whereby multiple centers are combined via network connectivity and shared resources to service a broader area. There are numerous benefits to such an approach. One is greater consistency in terms of how emergency calls are handled throughout the region. Another is that smaller communities will receive the same level of service that larger communities with greater resources receive. ESInet options Connectivity between PSAPs that share information over an ESInet generally is achieved by leveraging either a meshed network topology or multiple network rings, both of which provide more than one path to connect to other sites should a link go down. Topologies: Point-to-point Ring Meshed Meanwhile, communication over an ESInet has been moving toward a common encapsulation protocol known as multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). MPLS is a scalable, protocol-independent transport technology that directs data between network nodes based on an assigned label, rather than a network address. This is a unique protocol that does not fall accurately into either the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Layer 2 or Layer 3 model, but rather in between. With no packet inspection or address look-ups in routing tables, MPLS is a faster transmission protocol. Unlike traditional OSI Layer 2 data link protocols, MPLS operates with multiple paths of a ring active at the same time. This eliminates network reconfiguration times and shares the traffic load with all available ESInet paths. The physical connection that transports the data can be almost any media: electrical, light, or radio wave, or a mix of technologies on the same ESInet. This flexibility gives the network designer the ability to tailor the solution to best fit the application. The most common physical connections are leased-line private circuits, microwave links, or fiber-optic cables.

4 Leased-line private circuits, which are very common in traditional corporate networks are rented from a telecommunications provider and used to connect two nodes on the ESInet at a specific bandwidth. These circuits can be leased in a variety of sizes, from a single T1 (1.54 megabits per second [Mbps]) to multiple T1s bound together to increase bandwidth. The monthly local loop costs for locations in and around major cities will range between $300 and $500, while the costs in more remote locations may be two to three times higher. Bonded T1 loop charges are typically a multiple of the single T1 costs, with some discount for an underlying number of T1s. Meanwhile, DS3 monthly local loop costs range from $2,000 to $6,000 per month. (A DS3 has 28 times the bandwidth capacity of a T1 circuit, at 45 Mbps.) Here again locations in major cities and their surrounding suburbs will see average local loop costs that are lower than in rural areas, in the $2,000 to $2,500 per month range. Ethernet also is becoming an attractive option for local loop access to MPLS networks (speeds range between 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps). Ethernet local loops typically are priced individually due to greater distance sensitivity, but may range from $3,000 to $10,000 per month per gigabit of bandwidth. Microwave links have a high cost to design and establish, but have a lower monthly recurring cost for the life of the equipment. There are requirements regarding line of sight, height from the ground, FCC licensing and transmission speed. Speed is dependent on distance and the type of electronics deployed, with capital costs for electronics as high as $250,000 per circuit; typically, speeds range from 3 Mbps to 1 Gbps. It may be necessary to construct a tower to establish a microwave link; tower construction is estimated at $100,000 for a 100-foot structure. Such capital costs can be eliminated by leasing space on an existing tower that is supporting other radio applications, e.g., commercial tower companies often rent space through an attachment agreement. However, any entity leasing tower space will incur a recurring monthly fee. Fiber-optic cable provides a pathway that offers advanced electronics that deliver very high bandwidth and thus very high transmission speeds over greater distances compared with the other transmission platforms but this is a very expensive option. Construction costs for fiber-optic cabling can range from $30,000 to $80,000 per mile depending on the environment. In addition to the fiber cable itself, much of the construction cost is based on permitting and pathway construction. If the fiber cable installation is a very long run, not only are the optics (laser transmitters) more expensive, one or more repeaters may be needed between nodes. These repeaters usually are housed in a building or shelter to achieve physical protection and to obtain power, cooling, grounding, etc. Fiber-optic cable also can be leased from various providers; in this case, a company has built a fiber cabling plant from which spare fiber strands can be leased to operate an ESInet. There are two types of fiber: dark and lit. Dark fiber is just the fiber alone; you are expected to provide your own network electronics with the appropriate optical ports which is what you would need to provide if you constructed your own fiber cabling plant. The capital cost for electronics to connect dark fiber can be as high as $250,000 per circuit.

5 Lit fiber is actually a data circuit, usually with a data transmission speed of 1 Gbps or 10Gbps. Like a leased line, lit fiber is handed off at each end point as an Ethernet connection. You do not need longdistance optics and are not responsible for the magic that happens between nodes. The capital cost for electronics to connect lit fiber can be as high as $210,000 per circuit. The lack of responsibility for the intermediate components of the fiber network may be of concern to a PSAP, which needs a public safety grade of service from the network. Whenever possible you should always contract with a service level agreement (SLA) that will give you assurances that the circuit is monitored for troubles, and when there is trouble it will be repaired in a timely manner. Description Bandwidth Cost Leased Line Moderate Moderate Microwave Low to Moderate High Dark Fiber Moderate to High High CONCLUSION An ESInet provides the foundation for Next Generation (NG9-1-1) services, which will exponentially enhance the emergency services provided by PSAPs. Such networks enable the transmission of very large data files, such as video, the sharing of data between PSAPs, and the transfer of operations to other centers when circumstances warrant. However, network design is quite involved and requires a team with a diverse set of skills, from network and radio engineers, to procurement and contracting specialists, to construction and project managers. Building an ESInet does not have to be done all at once, but it should be accomplished with an eye toward the future. The electronics should be purchased with adequate capacity, in terms of slots and processor power, to allow for incremental growth as the facility expands its applications. Also good advanced planning of the equipment room or data center (grounding, cooling, power, security, etc.) that will house the equipment will provide a longer life of uninterrupted service. As consolidations, migrations, and system upgrades are being considered, ESInets become a costeffective, long-term tool to serve the PSAP s mission. Jeff Lupinacci, RCDD/DCDC, is a project manager/technology specialist with Mission Critical Partners, Inc. (MCP), a public safety communications consulting firm headquartered in Port Matilda, Pa. He can be ed at jefflupinacci@mcp911.com.