When first responders are facing a public emergency, they need Situational Awareness (SA) information quickly. Whether it’s a wildfire, active shooter scenario or a natural disaster, they need to know what they’re walking into and where their resources are located. Sharing real-time SA information efficiently between command centers and operational troops is critical. They also need to communicate and collaborate in real-time — across teams and often across departments.
Doodle Labs has partnered with PAR Government, the architects of the game-changing TAK to develop a complete turn-key solution with the Wearable Mesh Rider Radio featuring Mesh Rider MANET technology. The Wearable Mesh Rider Radio, with a built-in WiFi hotspot, is a compact mesh radio supporting high throughput. The TAK client TeamConnect runs on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
“We were impressed with how easy it was to bring additional radios onto the network without any configuration needed. It worked extremely well, and the team was impressed”
In the week of June 6, we participated with PAR Government at the Rodeo event organized by Tough Stump Tech, a specialized military comms system integrator, at a remote ranch in Montana. This isolated location is completely off-grid. It was chosen because it challenged the deployment of communications equipment in rugged terrain. The main objective was to simulate a Public Safety team’s deployment beyond existing cell coverage and to determine the range that can be obtained with the Wearable Mesh Rider Radio while maintaining a minimum link capacity of 5 Mbps, capable of supporting HD video streaming and Situational Awareness data.
We deployed a robust 900 MHz wireless mobile ad hoc network (MANET). The External Mesh Rider Radio (RM-915) at the base station was mounted on a van, connected via Ethernet to the TAK server at the command center. This node created a canopy of coverage that communicated with operators on the Ground equipped with Wearable Mesh Rider Radios. Each Operator’s Samsung S22 EUD with TeamConnect was using the Wearable’s built-in wireless hotspot and the long-range Mesh Rider to communicate with the TAK server.
We verified our range of communications by establishing a 3.2km link, with 5Mbps throughput, with average latency < 10 msec. From this location we streamed high resolution 3 Mb images through the Wearable to the command center TAK Server.
Team Awareness Kit (TAK), is an advanced tool to provide a variety of useful SA functions for soldiers, law enforcement, Public Safety, and civilian use. SA functions include coordination tools: mapping, navigation, range, bearing, geospatial markup tools, site surveys; communication tools: text chat, image sharing, live video streaming; and many others. Today, there are more than 500,000 military and civilian government users.
Doodle Labs
Doodle Labs is a global leader in long-range broadband communication used by the Industrial Internet of Things. Our products have been deployed by Fortune 100 companies in the most demanding environments on earth. Doodle Labs’ design philosophy is focused on achieving best-in-class performance while requiring minimal integration effort, thereby allowing customers to go to market faster with better performing products at a lower overall cost. www.doodlelabs.com
PAR Government
PAR Government is a leader in providing computer-based system design, engineering and technical services to the Department of Defense and various federal agencies. An ISO 9001:2015 and 27001:2013 certified company, PAR Government is a wholly owned subsidiary of PAR Technology Corporation (PAR), a leading global provider of software, systems, and service solutions to the restaurant and retail industries. PAR Technology Corporation’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PAR.