Research on Personal Area Network (PAN) Interference and Compatibility Issues for Public Safety Personal Protective Equipment Georgetown, South Carolina Fire Department Vigilant Guard Exercise 2015 DHS Research on PAN Networks RF Interference Final Report Document Number: 130200-RPT01 Contract Number: DHS-ST-14-065-FR01 5 August 2015 1 Research Staff Scott Ross, Senior Program Manager Robbie Guest, Senior Electrical Engineer Ed Irwin, Principal Biomedical Engineer Dan Murray, Technical Advisor Peter Bryant, Division Manager, Avionics Systems Behnam Kamali, Ph.D., P.E., Mercer University Professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering Kristin Streilein, Biomedical Engineer Tracy Tillman, Senior Systems Engineer Patrick Hobbs, Technical Communications and Media Technician Deidra Boswell, Biomedical Engineer Tim Maloney, VP for Operations, Guardian Centers Vann Burkart, Program Manager, Guardian Centers Moin Rahman, Principal Scientist, High Velocity Human Factors (HVHF) Sciences DHS S&T Project Lead William Stout, Program Manager, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate First Responders Group i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Mercer Engineering Research Center (MERC), a non-profit operating unit of Mercer University, performed this analysis for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) First Responders Group (FRG) Science and Technology Directorate. MERC was supported in this research by Guardian Centers of Perry, Georgia, Mercer University School of Engineering, and High Velocity Human Factor (HVHF) Sciences. The MERC team extends its deep appreciation to the members of the first responder communities for their cooperation, information, and feedback; their contributions are the foundation of this report. We would like to especially thank the Georgetown South Carolina Fire Department (GTFD) and Emergency Management Agency (EMA) for allowing us to participate in Vigilant Guard 2015. We would also like to thank the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Public Safety personnel for allowing us to participate in their major airport training event. Further, we would like to thank the Georgia National Guard and all of the Middle Georgia county and city first responders who supported us during training events at Guardian Centers. Finally, the MERC team offers its gratitude to all public safety personnel, whose dedication and commitment ensure the safety of our families, our communities and our nation. This report is a tribute to their service. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... xi INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................ 3 Communication Technology Issues .......................................................................................... 6 Types of Interference ................................................................................................................ 7 Description of Public Safety Spectral Allocation ................................................................... 10 VHF Low Band (25-50 MHz)........................................................................................... 10 VHF High Band (138-144 MHz / 148-174 MHz) ............................................................ 10 UHF Band (450-460 MHz) ............................................................................................... 11 UHF T-Band (470-512 MHz) ........................................................................................... 11 700 MHz Band .................................................................................................................. 12 Nationwide Broadband Network for Public Safety and the “FirstNet” ............................ 13 Narrow Band Channels for Public Safety Community ..................................................... 14 800MHz Band ................................................................................................................... 14 4.9 GHz C-Band Public Safety Spectrum ......................................................................... 16 ISM Bands ........................................................................................................................ 16 APCO-25........................................................................................................................... 18 Satellite Networks ............................................................................................................. 19 Advancing Towards LTE-Based Technologies: FirstNet ................................................. 20 Human Factors Issues ............................................................................................................. 21 Usability and Training Issues............................................................................................ 21 Sociotechnical Issues ........................................................................................................ 25 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 30 Planned Exercise versus Real-world Scenarios ...................................................................... 30 Measuring Information Transmission and Loss in Human Communications ........................ 31 Research Questions and Definition of Variables .................................................................... 33 Experimental Design ............................................................................................................... 36 Radio Frequency Instrumentation Design ........................................................................ 36 iii System Component Descriptions ...................................................................................... 38 Testing Protocols .................................................................................................................... 51 RF Testing Protocol .......................................................................................................... 51 Human Factors Testing Protocol ...................................................................................... 57 Site Selection, Exercise Details and Site-specific Instrumentation Setup ........................ 59 RESEARCH RESULTS ............................................................................................................... 61 RF Analytical Framework....................................................................................................... 61 Wireless Device Typology ................................................................................................ 66 HF Analytical Framework ...................................................................................................... 66 The National Incident Management System Incident Complexity Scale ......................... 71 Expertise Categorization ................................................................................................... 71 Georgia National Guard Search and Extraction Exercise (GC-14) ........................................ 72 GC-14 RF Analysis ................................................................................................................. 77 GC-14 HF Analysis........................................................................................................... 83 Vigilant Guard 2015 (VG-15) ................................................................................................. 86 Scenario 1: South Carolina Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team Operation ....................... 87 Scenario 2: Georgetown Fire Department Tornado Response ........................................ 89 Tornado Response Scenario Analysis ............................................................................... 90 Scenario 3: Georgetown Airport C2 and Medevac Operations ....................................... 97 Georgetown Airport Analysis ........................................................................................... 99 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Mock Disaster Exercise .......................... 100 Airport Mock Disaster RF Analysis ............................................................................... 103 Guardian Centers Subway Explosion Response Exercise (GC-15) ...................................... 104 GC-15 Analysis ............................................................................................................... 105 Research Question Results .............................................................................................. 111 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................. 119 Technology Issues ................................................................................................................. 119 Human Issues ........................................................................................................................ 121 Implications for Future Technologies ..................................................................................