Cross-Agency Communication Bridging for Incident Scene Coordination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Challenges arise when multiple public safety agencies with different communication systems need to coordinate during an incident, making it difficult to establish effective cross-agency communication.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that pairs converged communication devices with in-vehicle computers, determines communication commonalities, and establishes cross-agency communication using a public safety server or vehicular ad-hoc network to manage incident scenes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple agencies operate on different communication systems, then each agency maintains its own communication infrastructure and operational procedures, but coordination of activities during incidents becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a communication bridge as an intermediary device that connects disparate communication systems from different agencies. The bridge translates and routes messages between incompatible systems, enabling coordination without requiring agencies to abandon their own communication infrastructures. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining system reliability while improving coordination ease through the mediating bridge.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication bridge is designed with multi-functionality to handle various communication protocols and formats from different agencies simultaneously. It can translate between multiple communication systems and provide universal access points, allowing a single device to serve multiple agency communication needs. This universal approach enables coordination across agencies while preserving each agency's communication reliability.
2Reliability
If manual determination of device capabilities is required, then communication compatibility can be verified, but the process becomes time-consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically detecting and storing device capabilities before communication is needed. When a device joins the communication network, the bridge proactively queries its capabilities, determines compatibility with other devices, and pre-configures communication paths. This eliminates the need for time-consuming manual capability determination during incident response while ensuring reliable communication compatibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication bridge implements self-service by automatically determining device capabilities and configuring communication routes without human intervention. The system autonomously queries devices for their capabilities, analyzes compatibility requirements, and establishes appropriate communication channels. This self-configuration process maintains communication compatibility while dramatically reducing setup time compared to manual methods.
3Device complexity
If cross-agency communication is established without automated capability determination, then system complexity is reduced, but manual processes increase operational burden
Solution Approach 1:
The communication bridge serves as an intermediary that absorbs system complexity while presenting a simple interface to users. All automated capability determination, compatibility checking, and route configuration occurs within the bridge, shielding end users from these complex processes. This maintains low operational burden while enabling sophisticated cross-agency communication through the mediating bridge's automated functions.
Data Source
AI summary
A communication system and method are provided for establishing cross-agency communications for managing an incident scene. Converged devices are paired to in-vehicle computers of public safety (PS) vehicles, each PS vehicle having a different agency role. Device capabilities are compared to determine communication commonalities amongst the paired devices of vehicles of different agency roles. One or more frequency channels common to the devices associated with the deployed vehicles of different agency roles are determined. Communication is established amongst devices associated with vehicles of different agency roles using the determined common channel.