Implementing wireless Adhoc networks for disaster relief communication

Catastrophic disasters cause failure of conventional communication systems where they can be collapsed completely or partially. In such situations disaster relief operations are deployed immediately in order to save human lives. Communication and exchange of Information are extremely vital for disaster response in order to gather information and make important decisions. Hence raises the requirement for rapidly deployable, robust to failures, easily maintainable and service provider independent communication systems. But the feasible technology options are very limited. Use of portable wireless Ad-hoc networks for establishing communication with the aid of existing infrastructure in a post disaster situation in order to coordinate field activities of rescue crews can solve many problems exist. In this paper we have proposed a wireless Ad-hoc network architecture that can be used to establish emergency communication. Core of the network is created using Wi-Fi nodes adopting the Ad-hoc paradigm. Portable wirelesses nodes can be installed in the disaster area where they inter communicate while rescuers and survivors can connect to these nodes using Wi-Fi devices. System is specifically aimed for communication using smart phones as they are common and Wi-Fi capable. At least one of the nodes in an area has a long distance transceiver unit in order to establish communication between the rescue operation and a faraway data center. A prototype system is constructed to evaluate the function of the network and its performance through several disaster applications such as Voice over IP (Internet Protocol), broadcasting messages, peer to peer texting and file transferring.