Why did emergency communications become so popular all of a sudden?

Source: Fresh Date Classroom

Author: Xiao Zaojun

Not long ago, relevant national departments released the basic situation of natural disasters across the country in 2023. According to data, various natural disasters caused a total of 95.444 million people to varying degrees throughout the year, with 691 people dead and missing due to disasters, and direct economic losses as high as 345.45 billion yuan.

The "2024 Climate and Natural Disasters Insight Report" shows that in 2023, there will be a total of 398 major natural disasters with losses exceeding US$1 billion globally, causing a cumulative economic loss of US$380 billion, 22% higher than the average for this century. . In 2023, a total of 95,000 people lost their lives due to natural disasters, which was the highest number since 2010.

Faced with such shocking data, I believe everyone, like me, feels heavy.

Natural disasters are normal occurrences of nature. With our current power as humans, it is unrealistic to prevent these phenomena from happening.

Since it cannot be prevented, timely early warning and rapid response after a disaster are the most effective ways to reduce losses to people and property.

There is no doubt that communication technology plays a vital role in this process.

In today's article, I will talk to you in detail about the evolution of human emergency communication technology.

Humanity's struggle against natural disasters has begun as early as ancient times. At that time, human society was loosely organized and the level of productivity was not high. Therefore, early warning and rescue messages could only be transmitted through basic shouts or gestures.

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, with the advancement of technology, communication methods such as beacon fire, smoke, drumming, and kites gradually appeared. These methods are based on sound and light effects, have long communication distances, can effectively transmit natural disaster information, and can also provide timely warnings when foreign enemies invade.

The allusion of beacon fire drama among princes also comes from this

At the end of the Tang Dynasty and the beginning of the Song Dynasty, people invented rockets that used gunpowder as power and used them as a means of reporting in emergencies, which was also an innovation.

Later, with the development and popularization of writing and printing, and the continuous improvement of the postal system, we began to build an early "communication network" with extensive coverage, which not only served the operation and management of the government, but also served ordinary people. communication.

The government will also have some higher-priority dedicated postal systems, such as the Eight Hundred Miles Express, etc., which are used to deliver emergency information or military reports.

Postal station in ancient books

In modern times, the emergence of wired telegraphs and telephones has led to a leap-forward upgrade in human communication technology. The immediacy of their information delivery is unprecedented. Moreover, with the continuous construction of infrastructure, the ability to reach news continues to improve.

New communication networks based on telegraphs and telephones gradually replaced old networks such as post offices and became tools to connect the world. It speeds up the transmission of information, allowing people to respond more efficiently and reduce losses and injuries when emergencies such as disasters occur.

An even greater communication revolution comes from the birth of wireless communication technology.

At the end of the 19th century, wireless telegraphy was officially invented, bringing mankind into the era of wireless communication.

Marconi and his invention of the wireless telegraph

Based on wireless communication technology, human emergency rescue capabilities have been significantly improved. The first application scenario after the birth of wireless telegraphy was maritime communications.

At that time, there were frequent shipwrecks, and wireless telegraphy saved many lives. On the famous Titanic, it was because of the distress signal sent by wireless telegraphy that more than 700 people survived and greater losses were avoided.

Wireless communication does not rely on ground transmission lines and has natural advantages in responding to disasters. It has quickly become a key development direction of human emergency communication technology.

In the 1930s, when the world's earliest wireless intercom technology appeared, it was used by police, fire and other departments. Later, there were walkie-talkies from World War II.

Walkie-talkie

In the 1960s and 1970s, with the rapid social and economic development, urban population density and mobility continued to increase. Under such circumstances, the human and economic losses caused by natural disasters and public emergencies are becoming increasingly unbearable.

After experiencing several major emergencies, developed economies have begun to establish modern emergency management systems to improve their emergency response capabilities, including natural disasters, from multiple perspectives such as systems, processes, funds, and technology.

During that period, science and technology developed rapidly, and technologies such as microwave communications, satellite communications, and wireless intercom communications rose rapidly, providing humans with more efficient and flexible means of emergency communications.

Take walkie-talkie communication, the most popular communication method at that time, as an example. Walkie-talkies in the modern sense appeared in the 1960s and were born in the United States. Later, due to its portability and practicality, it gradually became popular in various countries and became a popular wireless communication technology.

walkie talkie

In the 1970s and 1980s, based on early walkie-talkies, analog trunking technology and digital trunking technology were developed, and technical standards such as iDEN and TETRA were formed. Emergency communications wireless private networks in many countries are built based on these technologies. These technologies have played an important role in some natural disasters and important events.

In the late 1990s, our country also researched and introduced these technologies, and gradually formed its own wireless private network technology standard route (such as PDT, etc.).

After entering the 21st century, human emergency communication technology has made great progress.

Satellite communications, trunking communications, etc. have gradually become mainstream emergency communications methods, providing necessary guarantees and support for emergency rescue, command and dispatch, and other work in major natural disasters, important public events, and large-scale gatherings.

In 2008, the “5·12” earthquake occurred in Wenchuan, causing huge losses of life and property. The emergency communication management system and technology played a big role in this earthquake, but it also exposed many problems.

The country has paid higher attention to these issues and promoted system improvement and technological upgrading.

Before 2008, emergency communication support was mainly based on the support of sudden capacity needs in urban hot spots. Emergency communication support means mainly include emergency communication base station vehicles, cluster communications, and a small amount of satellite communications.

After the Wenchuan earthquake, satellite communications performed well in the disaster relief process and gradually received attention. Governments at all levels and operators have begun to actively introduce satellite phones, satellite emergency communications vehicles, VSAT fixed stations and other equipment to increase the proportion of satellite communications in the emergency communications technology system.

Satellite Communications

In addition to satellites, with the continuous evolution of mobile communication technology (3G/4G), the communication industry has also begun to study how to play the role and value of this type of technology in emergency communication scenarios.

Today, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, the frequency of natural disasters around the world has increased, and major public safety incidents also occur from time to time.

In order to minimize disaster losses and protect people's lives and property to the maximum extent, humans have begun to re-examine the development route of emergency communication technology, explore more technological innovations, and let technology empower disaster alarm and post-disaster information reconstruction.

Disasters or emergencies have two distinctive characteristics - uncertainty and complexity.

Uncertainty is reflected in time and place.

We don't know when or where it will happen. Therefore, when responding, we need sufficient mobility and flexibility, and emergency communication equipment can be quickly transported and deployed quickly.

Complexity is reflected in the on-site environment and needs.

Disasters can occur in mountains, deserts, rainforests, or even at sea. Current emergency communication needs include not only the rescue needs of disaster victims, but also the coordination needs of disaster relief personnel, as well as management and dispatch needs. In addition to voice, there are also communication needs for video images.

Therefore, emergency communication means need to have strong stability and anti-interference capabilities, need to be able to provide diversified services, and also need to have stronger performance and larger capacity.

In recent years, the industry's innovations in emergency communication methods have mainly focused on these specific needs.

Under the specifications of the ITU, countries around the world have successively formulated a complete "air, space and ground trinity" emergency communication management system, as well as operating standards and specifications.

Many advanced ICT technologies, including positioning and navigation (GNSS), Internet, Internet of Things, mobile communications, satellite communications, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, VR/AR, etc., have been introduced into the field of emergency communications, and the public has built a " "Air, sky and ground" integrated emergency communication technology system.

Next, we might as well look at some cases of ZTE, the industry's leading ICT service provider, to see how these advanced technologies play a key role in disaster relief work.

● Nomadic base station

Mobile communication base stations are currently the communication means most used and relied upon by the public. However, when natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods occur, the power supply and transmission resources of traditional base stations are easily damaged, causing the base station to retire (exit service), causing people in the area to lose mobile phone signals.

When traditional base stations fail to work, it is necessary to use miniaturized and lightweight base stations to quickly restore services.

At 12:52 noon on September 5, 2022, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake occurred in Luding County, Garze Prefecture, Sichuan. The earthquake caused damage to many communication facilities in Shimian County, Ya'an City, and a large number of users lost contact.

After learning the news, ZTE and China Mobile Sichuan Company urgently deployed 5G nomadic base stations and transported them to the asbestos earthquake area for protection. This is the first time that 5G nomadic base stations have been actually used in emergency rescue scenarios.

Nomadic base station

As a miniaturized base station, 5G nomadic base stations are extremely mobile and support flexible deployment methods.

It can support various backhaul methods such as Relay, Internet, and satellite. It adopts the form of a small outdoor cabinet and integrates AC, environmental system (fan, heat dissipation, etc.), routing, battery and other equipment. It also supports liftable antenna masts, pushers, etc. Car etc. It is small in size and can be transported by light trucks, and can be quickly set up and opened in disaster areas.

Nomadic base station

In addition to providing high-quality network coverage to people on site, 5G nomadic base stations also have edge computing capabilities.

Just insert a single board into the BBU slot of the existing network, and the base station can build a local computing power private network to help rescue workers and command centers share rescue images, videos, voice and other information, and local offload video services The latency is reduced by 80% and supports 20Gbps processing capacity, which greatly improves the speed of frontline rescue command.

● Drone base station

In recent years, the rapid development of drone technology is obvious to all. Based on its characteristics of low-altitude, low-speed flight and ability to hover, the communications industry has also introduced it and applied it to emergency communications in disaster areas.

The industry mainly uses multi-axis and multi-rotor drones to hang base stations to provide wireless signal coverage in the area. Limited by the drone's ability to stay in the air and signal return, tethered drones were mainly used in the early days, and there was always a "tail" underneath.

In August 2023, some mountainous towns in Mentougou, Beijing, were affected by heavy rainfall, causing severe disasters and disrupting roads and networks.

In order to support emergency repairs and disaster relief and quickly open up the "lifeline" of communications, ZTE responded to the emergency dispatch of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and quickly launched drones equipped with high-altitude base stations of three major operators. Under the coordination and deployment of the Beijing Municipal Communications Administration Bureau, ZTE The town and the surrounding areas of Tanzhesi Town will provide emergency communication support.

The shape of this drone is significantly different from traditional drone base stations. It is equipped with a large-load long-endurance unmanned helicopter-borne emergency communication system, which has the characteristics of multiple access methods, multi-mission capabilities, wide environmental adaptability, large capacity, wide coverage, and long endurance.

The drone can fly stably in specified areas according to relevant requirements, achieve 6 hours of continuous 5G signal coverage in an area of ​​nearly 80 square kilometers, and provide voice, text messaging and Internet services to about 2,400 users at the same time.

At the Mentougou flood disaster site in Beijing, ZTE's drone emergency communication system effectively met the local flood control and relief command communication needs and made great contributions to restoring public communications.

In November last year, in the "2023 Plateau "Three Breaks" Scenario UAV Rescue Practical Verification" held at the Shangri-La Lake Test Site at an altitude of 3,626 meters in Muli Tibetan Autonomous County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, ZTE's system performed excellently , Complete the actual verification and reporting demonstration tasks of scheduled subjects.

● PWS public warning system

The technical means we mentioned earlier are mainly used for post-disaster reconstruction of communication systems. In fact, disaster early warning plays a greater role in reducing disaster losses.

Here, we will mention the PWS system that has been very popular in recent years, which is the Public Warning System.

The PWS system can send warning messages such as Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS) and Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS).

When the user's mobile phone receives an alarm message, the message will automatically pop up and a specific alarm tone will be played. Based on the alarm, users can avoid danger and save themselves in time.

During the recent earthquakes in China, many users have received relevant message reminders, and the PWS system has received widespread attention and praise.

ZTE's PWS system is based on an innovative business platform. It provides a comprehensive solution for the telecom network application layer and supports access to multiple telecom network protocols, such as INAP, MAP, WIN, CAP, Diameter, SMPP, CBC-BSC, Iu-BC, SBc, N50 and other interfaces.

As a global equipment manufacturer, ZTE has a deep understanding of the public warning needs of governments and operators. They have launched a new generation of PWS system, which can help governments and operators implement rapid deployment of emergency warning systems and provide high-performance and reliable public warning services.

The above cases are the epitome of ZTE's emergency communications empowerment through advanced ICT technology.

Over the years, ZTE has responded quickly to many major domestic and foreign disasters such as the 2023 Linxia earthquake in Gansu, the 2023 Typhoon "Dusuri", the 2022 Ya'an earthquake, the 2021 Henan floods, the 2018 Indonesian earthquake, and the 2016 Ecuador earthquake. Actively organizing manpower and spare parts resources to rush to the rescue, it has made great contributions to the smooth implementation of network connection and disaster relief work, and has been widely recognized.

Their emergency communications solutions are based on practical experience and combined with their own technological innovation. They are highly practical and can truly meet front-line needs.

Galileo said: "The real purpose of science and technology is to alleviate the suffering of human existence."

From the flames of war, to telegraphs and telegraphs, to satellites and 5G, there is no doubt that the development and evolution of communication technology has faithfully adhered to this purpose. Increasingly advanced communication technology not only promotes the progress of society and civilization, but also greatly improves people's living environment and quality. The lives it has saved are countless.

In the future development of mankind, suffering will continue to exist. However, I believe that with the continuous innovation and efforts of technology companies like ZTE, technology will become more powerful and suffering will become less and less. We will eventually achieve harmonious coexistence with nature and build an everlasting and lasting civilization.

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This article is reprinted from "Xianzao Classroom" by Global Internet of Things Observation. The content is the independent opinion of the author and does not represent the position of Global Internet of Things Observation. It is for communication and learning purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@gsi24.com .