Supporting EmergencyResponse by Retasking Network Infrastructures

1
Supporting Emergency-Response by Retasking
Network Infrastructures
Presented by Michael LeMay Carl A. Gunter
2
Outline

• Introduction
• Emergencies and Hazards to Networks
• Networking Requirements During Emergencies
• Traditional Emergency-Response
• Network Topology and Application Trends
• Emergency-Response with Retaskable Networks
• Discussion

3
Introduction

• Networks face various hazards during emergencies,
  and may cease to function as a result
• Additional networking requirements may also arise
  during emergencies
• Network availability during emergencies could be
  improved by allowing users to route
  communications over robust network
  infrastructures that managed to survive

4
Emergencies and Hazards to Networks

• Katrina Only significant operational network in
  downtown was wireless mesh for surveillance
  cameras
• Hazards Flooding, high winds
• 9/11 Disrupted many networks routed through WTC
• Hazards Terrorist bombing
• Kobe earthquake ERNs could have helped prevent
  misdirection of recovery resources

5
Special Network Requirements During Emergencies

• Distress signaling from victims to rescuers
• Messaging (text, voice, or perhaps video) between
  and among victims and rescuers
• Command and control for rescuers

6
Traditional Emergency Response

• Dedicated ERNs Often government-funded
• Limited in scope according to budget
• Ad-hoc mobile nodes deployed on an as-needed
  basis
• May not penetrate to central parts of hazardous
  disaster zones
• Manual retasking of existing networks (e.g.
  Katrina surveillance camera mesh)
• Only utilizes a small portion of infrastructure
  elements, may not support necessary ERN
  application-level protocols

7
Network Topology and Application Trends

• Self-healing mesh networks being used in
  increasingly-practical applications
• Advanced electric meters
• Building and home automation systems
• Parking garage monitoring
• Surveillance cameras
• Municipal wireless
• May not be necessary for their original intended
  purpose when disaster occurs, so could support
  recovery efforts instead

8
Emergency-Response with Retaskable Networks

• Proposal Retask robust networks that survive a
  disaster to be used for emergency-response
  applications
• Three primary challenges
• Emergency detection mechanisms and policies
• Platform support
• Topological readiness planning and assessment

9
Emergency Detection Mechanisms and Policies

• Mechanisms
• Emergency declarations from central authorities
• Sensor inputs (e.g. power outage detection on
  meters)
• Human inputs (e.g. panic button on programmable
  communicating thermostat PCT)
• Reasonable policy
• Digitally-signed indications from central
  authorities trusted absolutely
• Sensor and human inputs weighted and compared to
  a threshold value

10
Hardware Platform Support

• Network compatibility All communicating devices
  must use compatible network protocols, or
  appropriate gateways/bridges must be available
• Not yet widely available for all interesting
  protocols
• Network availability A sufficient subset of
  network devices and linkages must be operational
  to support ERN services
• Device availability Devices must be adequately
  protected against prevalent hazards in the
  deployment zone, and equipped with sufficient
  power reserves

11
Platform Support Examples
GSM Gateway
ZigBee Meters
Wired networks
GSM Mobile Phone
ZigBee Gateway
Rescuer Communicator w/ ZigBee Interface
ZigBee Programmable Communicating Thermostat with
ERN Enhancements
12
Software Platform Support

• Software support must be provided for all desired
  ERN services
• Potential approaches
• Software extensibility Make network elements
  reconfigurable, so they can load any software
  components required for ERN services dynamically
• Protocol standardization Standardize simple
  protocols for ERN services that will have
  longevity due to their simplicity

13
Proposed Software Platform Support

• IP tunneling over all network types
• Challenging due to the packet size limitations of
  802.15.4 and other popular networks
• Routing is complicated due to redundant paths
• Simple text, voice, and video messaging services
  for victims and rescuers
• Emergency alert broadcast service
• Useful for warnings of tornadoes, fires,
  biohazards, etc.

14
Security Challenges

• ERN functionality of retaskable networks must not
  negatively affect the network during normal
  operating conditions
• Malicious users must not be able to trick network
  into falsely believing an emergency has occurred,
  to steal service
• Network should provide best QoS to those who are
  at the highest risk in the emergency and those
  best equipped to assist them

15
ERN Topology Planning

• ERNs must provide reliable connectivity in the
  presence of hazards prevalent in the area under
  consideration
• A comprehensive ERN planning methodology must be
  developed, that accounts for dedicated,
  re-taskable, and ad-hoc infrastructure elements
• The resulting network must support the bandwidth
  demands of its expected users, and potentially
  have redundancy

16
ERN Topology Planning

• Challenge Varying capabilities of different
  types of networks (bandwidth, etc.), and
  unpredictable mobile nodes
• Current topology optimization algorithms can
  potentially be adapted to ERN planning problems
• We investigate the non-uniform buy-at-bulk
  approximation algorithm proposed by C. Chekuri,
  et. al. and adapt it to ERN planning

17
Adaptation of ERN Planning Algorithm

• Rather than optimizing strictly for financial
  cost of resulting network, use artificial cost
  that prefers network links that are
• Robust against the particular hazards prevalent
  in the area under consideration
• Financially inexpensive particularly favorable
  for existing, retaskable infrastructure
• Low latency
• Provisional links that might be installed are
  included.

18
Example Topology

• Every node requires 50kbps bw. to every other
  node except the central ZigBee routers and A
• Every node requires 100kbps bw. to gateway A

250kbps
100Mbps
11Mbps
19
Future Research

• Application-level protocols suitable for
  emergency-response
• Security and QoS protocols for ERNs
• Routing on dynamic networks with redundancy

20
Concluding Remarks

• Robust networks are being deployed in practical
  applications
• By retasking such networks after a disaster,
  emergency-response can be aided
• There are significant problems to be overcome in
• Emergency detection
• Hardware platform support for emergency-response
• Software platform support for emergency-response

21
Questions?

• Michael LeMay mdlemay2_at_cs.uiuc.edu
• Carl A. Gunter cgunter_at_cs.uiuc.edu
• Parent project page http//seclab.uiuc.edu/attest
  ed-meter