A novel communication system for firefighters using audio/video conferencing/sub-conferencing in standalone MANETs

As of today's current communication system, all Fire Fighters (FFs) use the simplex Radio Frequency (RF) system (walkie-talkie) to communicate with each other. Serious problems and injuries can occur because of the current communications system; so far, very little attention has been dedicated to solve these problems. Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANETs) are infrastructure-less and self-organized wireless networks. MANETs are suitable for the hosting of a wide range of applications in emergency situations, such as natural or human-induced disasters, and military and commercial settings. This paper focuses on building a new communication system for FFs and provides them with new functions on the fire ground, e.g. conferencing audio and video. The limitations of the current communication system are determined, and the requirements are derived. A cluster-based signaling architecture supporting Audio/Video Conferencing/Sub-conferencing has been proposed. The proposed architecture implementation using SIP is also presented along with the performance evaluation.