NCJ Number
207477
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 31 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2004 Pages: 118-119,122,125
Date Published
September 2004
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article describes the features of some high-speed wireless communication alternatives that may be viable options for eventual use by law enforcement agencies.
Abstract
WiMAX or IEEE 802.16 is a broadband metropolitan area networking (MAN) technology. Media attention on WiMAX has focused on the technology's mobile possibilities, although it is widely accepted that the first application for WiMAX will be as a fixed wireless solution. There are claims that WiMAX will provide fixed wireless broadband communications of 15 to 70 Mbps over about 10-30 miles under ideal conditions, or 1-2 miles for non-line-of-sight connections. The mobile phase of WiMAX will be based on the 802.16e standard, which is due to be ratified in 2005. Municipalities could develop a metro area network that would allow officers to access databases and other high bandwidth information. Costs will be significant, however. Ultra Wideband (UWB) is another technology that has received a lot of hype. Used primarily for military communications and radar-based applications, UWB is difficult to jam and can penetrate concrete walls. UWB differs from other wireless technologies in being strictly for short-range communications under 100 feet. Despite its short range, however, UWB has potential for use by law enforcement for communications, imaging, and sensing applications. A third type of new wireless broadband technology is mobile mesh networking, which is a type of network architecture more than a radio technology. The Internet, for example, is a meshed network, albeit in a wired environment. In a wireless mesh, fixed and mobile devices act as router-repeaters for every other device in the network, which enable a wireless signal to move through other radios to reach a base station, network access point, or distant end-user. For public safety use, mobile mesh networking is an ideal network architecture, because every emergency scenario is different.