Public Safety Communications Research

Over the next decade network providers will roll out an LTE based public safety network to replace the current system nationwide. Due to the stringent requirements of public safety communications there will be many challenges associated with the new system. LTE will be forced to add priority queuing for public safety data, a feature currently unused in LTE, and device to device(D2D) communications. Research in this area focuses on extending coverage through the use of LTE D2D capability introduced in 3GPP release 12, the use of response systems to disaster stricken areas like cell on wheels and drone technologies, and network performance under extreme disaster scenarios.