Establishing Operational Rules for Law Enforcement and First Responder Tactical Teams Utilizing Ad Hoc Wireless Networks

Drakontas will establish the Atlantic County Wireless Tactical Testbed (ACWTT) to demonstrate new interoperability technologies in a real world, operating environment. The ACWTT will focus on emerging wireless technologies, associated with Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANET). Mobile ad hoc wireless networking ' defined as the ability to route information directly to other computing peers without utilizing a central routing table or network hierarchy ' offers flexibility in diverse operating environments, potentially creating a wireless broadband network 'out of the box' in emergency situations where there is no network coverage. Additionally, in areas where network coverage exists, the possibility of segmenting an ad hoc broadband wireless network from other networks offers potential security and network management benefits for tactical teams wishing to cloak their presence from other police, fire and security operations. This proposal will fund the first known real world, tactical team test of software applications architected for MANET deployment. Tactical teams from Atlantic County will utilize a suite of applications specifically designed for MANET deployment by Drakontas LLC. First responder teams will conduct a simulated tactical operation in a local High School environment, similar to the 1999 tragedy that occurred in Littleton, Colorado at Columbine High School. Teams equipped with MANET equipment and software provided by Drakontas LLC will compete with other tactical teams utilizing traditional communications technology to determine the relative effectiveness of MANET enabled tactical team operations. This project leverages more than $5 million in funding from the Department of Defense under U.S. Army's Communications - Electronics Command (CECOM) granted to Drexel University to create a laboratory testbed to evaluate MANET technologies to be deployed in Future Force Warrior. The ACWTT will integrate the capabilities of Drexel University's Secure Wireless Agent Testbed to establish comprehensive evaluation criteria for proof-of-concept deployments that use open systems based interoperability for MANET tactical communications. ca/ncf