Page 24 - DCAP311_DCAP607_WIRELESS_NETWORKS

Wireless Networks

Notes 12. The widespread acceptance of WLANs depends on industry standardization to ensure
product compatibility and ................................. among the various manufacturers.
13. The major motivation and benefit from Wireless LANs is increased .................................
14. A strong advantage of the ................................. is that it makes the addition of new
connections easy.

15. A ................................. system utilizes special wireless routers that forward data contained
within packets to the destination



Case Study Beaverton, Oregon Builds Interoperable Public Safety
Wireless Network

s many man-made and natural disasters, from September 11 to Hurricane
Katrina, have proven, the key to saving lives in the wake of a tragedy is effective
Acommunications. And the key to effective communications, among the many
departments and jurisdictions involved in an emergency, is interoperability. Lack of
communications interoperability has been blamed for unnecessary delays and resultant
increased loss of life, frustrating the recovery efforts of first responders and other public
safety personnel. In 2005, Washington County and the city of Beaverton, Oregon worked
together to find a solution that would be used by both to develop an interoperable
wireless network for public safety agencies within the city and throughout the county.
Representatives from Beaverton’s Police, Information Systems Division, and Purchasing
departments participated in the review of the Request for Proposal responses. The county
had received a State Homeland Security
Program (SHSP) grant that included resources to establish a wireless networking capability
to provide field-based public safety personnel access to critical network-based information
resources. Beaverton’s SHSP grant could also be used to fund their portion of the network.
Working closely with the county to ensure that their mutual needs were met would go a
long way in ensuring the ongoing viability of Beaverton’s wireless public safety network.

The Challenge
Covering an area of approximately 19 square miles, and with a population of over 84,000,
Beaverton ranks as Oregon’s 6th largest city. With 100 city parks and 25 miles of bike trails,
the city offers an exceptional quality of life. But the concerns of its police department are
common to cities throughout the US.

The department wanted to improve the productivity of their officers and maximize their
time spent on the beat rather than in the office. As the department’s first line of defense
in preventing and combating crime they also wanted to ensure that officers had access
to timely information and resources needed to ensure effective response. This would
necessitate communications capabilities beyond the basic voice services associated with
traditional land mobile radio (LMR) systems.
The Solution
The Beaverton Police Department is one of Oregon’s first public safety agencies to create
and use a mobile broadband wireless network. Taking a leadership position can be risky,
but, for Beaverton, it has paid off.

Contd...

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