Critical infrastructures serve as the pillars for the nation's economy, security and health programmes and include assets, systems, and networks spanning a significant breadth of the its geographical area. In the event of a potential destruction to these infrastructures by either man-made or natural disasters, it is of paramount importance to implement an appropriate emergency management system (EMS) capable of handling or preventing such catastrophes. A key feature in an EMS is an effective and efficient critical communication platform that provides situational awareness and coordination. However, the current communication platforms for EMS are susceptible to being incapacitated or destroyed by the disaster or the network congestion that arise as a result of such disaster. Furthermore, current platforms are human-in-the-loop based, requiring substantial human resources and cost for surveillance, preparation and actuation in case of emergencies.
In the light of this, the aim of the project is to conduct advanced research into a new Distributed Autonomous and Resilient EMS; referred here as DARE. The DARE architecture will support all phases of the EMS and will be founded upon three main communication platforms that are Wireless Sensor networks (WSNs), Ad-hoc networks and Future cellular networks (5G and beyond).
As part of this research project, we will incorporate an autonomous i.e. self-governed, self-healing disaster/network failure detection mechanism to reduce the cost of control signalling traffic associated with the traditional disaster/network failure detection mechanisms which require frequent network probes and network alarms.
Investigators from the University of Surrey, University of Glasgow, Kingston University and the University of Malaya, Malaysia will work with leading communications and critical solutions provider like Ubitech Ltd, BT, Telefonica and Huawei to ensure that maximum impact arises from this program.
