No RF, no WPS.
If all the base stations are knocked out in a region, and there is no
"over" coverage from towers out of the affected region then there are no
channels to which priority access can be allotted.
A potential remedy (at least for conventional cell phones) would be to
scatter back-up cell sites on high-vantage-point locations. Each would
need to be equipped with multiple narrow sectors using high gain
antennas. These lofty sites would form a secondary canopy over the
region (hence the "over/under" naming). Assuming the secondary sites
are hardened, provided with back-up power and trunked with physical
diversity (perhaps one links using 70/80Ghz), they should provide some
additional protection in situations like this. This would provide some
service when primary towers in an entire sub-area are all knocked out.
Who knows, in day to day routine usage they might even fill-in a few
coverage holes that have been lingering in some systems. From the
reports of "zero bars" on cell phones, we can presume no "over" canopy
is in operation in that region.
There are other radio systems, but their scope is limited. Cellular
provides wider availability. Granny can use her Jitterbug to call for
help. Similarly, many business burglar/fire alarm systems use cellular
to transmit alarms to the central station. With terrestrial and radio
alarm reporting knocked out, many businesses will be sitting ducks.
But why waste the money on system improvements. Best to conserve the
funds to pay bonuses to the corporate executives.
No matter how egregious the error or omission, they always walk away
with big checks, and the rest of us waddle away looking for Preparation-H.
Charles Wyble wrote:
Jared Mauch wrote:
On Apr 9, 2009, at 3:58 PM, Robert M. Enger wrote:
That AT&T has stopped provisioning protection fiber for automatic
restoral is mind boggling.
That our crack (or on crack) govt contracting/emergency-preparedness
staff didn't demand protected facilities for 911 is another mind
boggling issue.
This costs $$$ and usually isn't a problem as there are other
ways to communicate. The law-enforcement folks qualify for GETS so
get priority on wired/PSTN. They can also get radio priority w/ WPS.
I didn't know about WPS.
http://policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=839&issue_id=32006
Interesting stuff.
