Establishing an alternative communication network in disaster situations using smart devices

This study aims to set up an alternative communication network which enables rescue crew to communicate with each other and disaster victims in case of a cellular network breakdown or overload in a natural disaster such as earthquake or storm. The communication network is created via establishing mesh network by using Wi-fi interface of smart devices. Commonly used smart phones with Android operating systems are preferred as smart devices. A “push to talk” appliction is developed on Android. Open source software MANET Manager framework is used for creating mesh network. A series of tests on Android devices and computers are applied by creating mesh network with a software using OLSR (Optimized Link State Routing) routing protocol. As a result of the tests, communication among devices is succeeded.