EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONLocal, Temporary 5G Network to Help Fight Forest Fires

Published 23 May 2022

When it comes to activities such as fighting forest fires, monitoring construction sites or providing multimedia services at sports and other mass events, a reliable, secure 5G campus network is often needed locally and temporarily to ensure maximum network coverage on the entire site.

When it comes to activities such as fighting forest fires, monitoring construction sites or providing multimedia services at sports and other mass events, a reliable, secure 5G campus network is often needed locally and temporarily to ensure maximum network coverage on the entire site. Thanks to the 5G+ Nomadic Node from the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems FOKUS, this kind of non-public, temporary network can be set up at short notice in order, for instance, to connect emergency forces with each other or control firefighting robots remotely. The entire hardware and software fits into a couple of mobile server rack containers. The operation of the adapted 5G mobile network with a satellite connection will be presented at the Hannover Messe 2022 from May 30 to June 2 at the joint Fraunhofer booth in Hall 5, Booth A06.

Forest fires do not only cause catastrophic damage in southern countries, Germany is also affected. One third of all forest fires in Germany occur in the federal state of Brandenburg. This state, with its extensive pine forests, low precipitation and light sandy soils, presents the highest forest fire risk in Germany. It suffers several hundred fires a year. When fighting fires, the police and fire department have to investigate, monitor, secure and record the situation in an area of several square kilometers in each case. This is where the ALADIN (Advanced Low Altitude Data Information System) project comes in, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV). Setting up a mobile 5G campus network is intended to facilitate needs-based 5G networking of emergency forces and resources. The aim is to obtain a real-time picture of the situation regarding the fire by using drones during operations in inaccessible areas, to control fire trucks and connect the emergency forces with each other. This is achieved with the help of the 5G+ Nomadic Node from the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems FOKUS.