AML leads to swift recovery of stranded kayakers

Advanced Mobile Location pinpoints stranded kayakers' location after a Triple Zero call.

Advanced Mobile Location (AML) technology has been used to save stranded kayakers from rough waters at Seacliff in South Australia, pinpointing the pair’s location after a Triple Zero call on New Year’s Eve.

AML speeds up emergency response times for people in need of urgent help, and it proved crucial when two people became caught in strong winds on the kayak approximately 3.2 kilometres offshore and unable to paddle back to safety.

A man on the kayak called Triple Zero, automatically activating AML, which honed in on the remote location with lifesaving accuracy.

“Saving lives is the number one priority for our police and emergency services. This technology further enhances the capability of SAPOL to respond to emergency situations quickly and precisely,” said Police Minister Vincent Tarzia.

“SAPOL Water Operations officers had clear-cut information to work from, allowing them to locate the kayakers quickly and return them home without injury.”

SAPOL is one of the first 13 agencies in Australia to adopt automated AML.

With AML, smartphones use GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile network information to automatically send an SMS text message to Triple Zero with the phone’s estimated location. This SMS is sent in the background; the caller is not required to perform an action.

AML-enabled smartphones recognise when an emergency call is made to Triple Zero. If the smartphone’s location services are switched off at the time the call was initiated, AML will temporarily activate the location service for the duration of the emergency call. When the emergency call has finished, AML will be deactivated.

Across Australia each day, an average of 27,000 emergency calls are made to Triple Zero for police, fire and ambulance assistance. More than 75% of calls come from mobile phones.

“AML is capable of providing a caller’s location within a 5-metre radius outdoors and a 25-metre radius indoors,” Minister Tarzia said.

“If callers have been in a serious crash, or are in shock after an incident, sometimes they cannot identify their surroundings. AML is a game changer that ensures help will be on the way as fast as possible."

AML capability has been automatically activated on Android mobile devices running Android operating system 4.1 and higher with Google Play Services installed.

Apple iPhone users will need to update their operating system to use iOS 14.3 to enable the AML capability within their device. iOS 14.3 is available on the iPhone 6s and above.

Telstra is responsible for the operation of Triple Zero and has been working with Apple and Google to test the technology for iPhone and Android devices, as well as mobile carriers and emergency service organisations across the country.

SAPOL Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said AML is incorporated into the South Australia Computer Aided Despatch (SACAD) system and will provide accurate mobile phone location data.

“In other countries across Europe and also the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, we’ve seen a number of lives saved and positive operational outcomes as a result of AML,” Assistant Commissioner Parrott said.

“About 78% of Triple Zero calls come from mobile phones so AML has the potential to save lives by enabling police and other emergency services to respond more efficiently.”

Triple Zero callers are still required to supply their address or location to the emergency operators as a first priority. AML does not replace this need.

Other South Australian emergency services are expected to adopt AML at the end of fire danger season.

DC power supplies

The ICT Platinum Series from Helios Power Solutions provides a DC power solution suitable for fixed-wireless broadband, LMR and radio access networks that require reliable, Ethernet-enabled, high-efficiency, space-saving DC power supplies for network communications equipment.

With advanced battery management, the ICT Platinum Series features auto/manual discharge test; battery equalise charging and adjustable battery charge current; discharge testing; state of charge; estimated run-time remaining; battery backup and LVD with adjustable disconnect and reconnect; and voltage set points that provide site power management advantages.

The units are available for 12, 24 or 48 V systems, and two power levels of 800 or 1600 W in a 1RU rack mount chassis with 90 to 93% efficiency.

TCP/IP Ethernet is standard on every model and provides complete and easy-to-use remote monitoring and control of the power supply using a built-in web server. Enhanced security and preventative reliability features including SNMPv1/2/3, TLS 1.2, fan fail detect alarms and extra-high-margin components designed for long life and enhanced durability.

Helios Power Solutions

www.heliosps.com.au

Accredited testing and global product approvals since 1992

Bayswater

Mobile dispatch solution

Zetron’s Acom Mobility Solutions provides the flexibility to enable core functions to be completed remotely, without costly technology overhauls or retraining or cornering the user in a ‘one size fits all’ remote working scenario. It enables the capabilities of Zetron dispatch systems to be taken on the go, where and when needed, to ensure service continuity at all times.

Mobility Solutions enables operators to accommodate considerations such as geo-diversity to easily mobilise dispatch positions to other rooms, facilities or even the private residences of team members on a temporary, permanent or ‘wait and see’ basis.

Zetron Australasia Pty Ltd

www.zetron.com

Line-interactive UPS

The Vertiv Edge is a line-interactive UPS, designed for small spaces commonly found at the edge. Available in mini-tower, rack/tower and rack-mount design configurations, it ranges from 500 to 3000 VA. For distributed IT at a lower cost, it provides highly efficient power protection with a power factor of 0.9. It can be used with the Vertiv VE rack — an easily deployable data centre enclosure system that integrates hardware and power management solutions.

It offers efficiency with its 75% perforated door design, allowing optimal airflow for efficient heat management.

Vertiv Co

www.vertivco.com

Spectrum

Post-COVID mission-critical comms — a European perspective

Having started our engagement with 3GPP back in 2012 — during Release 12 — with the creation of TCCA’s Broadband Group, it would be fair to say that the progress made by the European public safety communications community towards fully functional and deployable next-generation solutions has not been as rapid or as smooth as we would have liked.

Although significant progress has been made in the UK with the ESN, Finland with VIRVE 2.0 and France with RRF, only a few countries had even reached the pilot phase by the end of 2020 and there are still no fully operational networks on a significant scale.

As the wider world begins its move to 5G technology, the European public safety community is still depending on those narrowband stalwarts, TETRA and TETRAPOL, for its mission-critical communications needs. 2020 will forever be remembered as the year when our increasingly interconnected and interdependent modern world was struck a devastating blow by a truly global pandemic. Europe has been particularly badly hit over the past 12 months and there is still some way to go before we will get the all clear and be able to focus on rebuilding fractured societies and economies.

For major recovery programs to be truly successful, care and attention — and a considerable number of euros — will need to be dedicated by governments and public safety agencies in order to complete the full 3GPPbased digital transformation journey that we began almost a decade ago.

The travel and social distancing restrictions put in place across Europe and around the world during 2020 (and continuing into 2021) have slowed down progress within 3GPP on the latest Release 17 — although fortunately Release 16 was concluded during 2020, including important LTE-P25/TETRA interworking procedures. During 2020, Finland’s Erillisverkot also chose its suppliers for VIRVE 2.0 and the French Ministry of Interior launched the tender process for its ambitious RRF program.

There is still not enough prime spectrum for mission-critical services, forcing public safety agencies to partner with mobile operators to deliver more advanced services. But this is perhaps not such a negative development, as it means that both public and private players need to work closely together to make sure shared RAN networks are robust enough to deal with emergency situations. There is also a strong trend towards separate, dedicated, public safety core networks.

As numerous nationwide initiatives move forward, the European Commission and PSC Europe continue working with public safety agencies from 11 nations and three multidisciplinary consortia led by Airbus, Leonardo and Frequentis to deliver the BroadWay program, promising cross-border operable mobility based on 3GPP communications standards. PSC Europe has also just started a closely related BroadGNSS program, looking at incorporating Galileo-based satellite services into the public safety communications mix.

LTE/5G technology also continues to evolve further as more vertical industries — Industry 4.0, automotive, railways, utilities, etc — bring their requirements to 3GPP through a growing number of partner associations (such as 5G-ACIA, 5GAA, UIC/ERA, EUTC), building on the initial mission-critical work carried out by the public safety community within 3GPP SA6.

Work on non-public networks, satellite, common API frameworks, sidelink/D2D, multicast, time-sensitive networking, and the full range of mMTC and URLLC capabilities of full 5G systems will undoubtedly bring major future benefits to the public safety community over the next 5–10 years.

We are right in the middle of a major, global paradigm shift moving us away from the wasteful, destructive, resource-intensive economies of the recent past towards more service-based, human-centric, climate-friendly ones. 5G era technologies — including AI/ML; SDN/virtualisation/cloud-native architectures; multi-access edge computing; open RAN, transport and core; end-to-end network slicing; multi-domain orchestration and closed-loop automation — will transform the telecommunications sector, providing powerful new tools for first responders, who must no longer be forced to play catch-up with the commercial sector regarding advanced technology.

Just as Europe’s exit from COVID can only be secured by guaranteeing vaccines for the whole world, so European public safety agencies must work closely with their global counterparts to make sure there is one common global standard for next-generation critical communications. Such collaborative attitudes will provide the basic framework and underlying conditions for societies to build back better, smarter and safer in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.

Peter Clemons is Director of communications sector advisory firm Quixoticity, and a highly regarded industry veteran who has presented many times at Comms Connect in Australia.