They are not the first.. the article is misleading... Manfredi, Albert E wrote: > http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/news/2006.03.08-04-n-rochester.shtm > l > > Rochester Responders Tuning in Datacasts > Pubcaster WXXI, Triveni build emergency info system > > by Sanjay Talwani > > ROCHESTER, N.Y.: One night about two years ago, Lt. Dan Bender > of the Rochester (N.Y.) Fire Department, was watching HBO > on-demand, and got an idea. > > What if the city and county's emergency and public health and > safety squads had a similar kind of on-demand menu of training > programs, weather updates, daily schedules and, when needed, > information on an emergency in progress? And what if 100 > offices and agencies in Rochester and Monroe County, N.Y., > could access all this continually updated content using that > most familiar of man's tools, the remote control? > > Since his on-demand epiphany, Bender has been awarded a hefty > federal grant, acquired a Triveni Digital SkyScraper > datacasting system, and a couple of extra megabits-per-second > on the public airwaves of WXXI-DT, the local PBS DTV station. > He's also managed to sell the program, the Emergency Training > and Information Network (ETIN), to his local emergency response > crews-including about 39 fire departments in the largely rural > county. And the system is so easy to use, he said, that it's > "fireman-proof." > > Bender's project at WXXI is another example of public > television stations that are using new digital broadcast > technologies for public safety and emergency response, even as > Congress considers legislation to revise the data of analog > shut-off reassign frequencies to public safety needs. > > Broadcasters say the Rochester project shows the broadcast > infrastructure itself can be a backbone of widely varied, > advanced, rich-media public services of the future. > > At presstime, the WXXI project was on the verge of launching, > linking police and fire departments, hospitals, and more with > a continuous daily stream of safety and training content, plus > special emergency functions, controlled by remotes and viewed > on 32-inch LCD screens. > > "What it came down to is, 'how do we consolidate all this > content and deliver it over a single pipe, so to speak, to a > dedicated location like a firehouse, like a police station, > like a hospital, without creating too much overhead at the > recipient site?'" said Ralph Bachofen, director of product > management for Triveni Digital in Princeton Junction, N.J. > > Initially, Bender brought his idea to the local cable operator, > Time Warner Cable, who showed little interest, he said. But > then he met with folks at WXXI, and found a more receptive > audience. He then found a Department of Homeland Security > grant-a "Special Projects Grant" in a part of DHS called the > Metropolitan Medical Response Program-whose aims closely > matched what Bender wanted to do. Of the 170 cities that were > eligible to apply for the grant, 50 applied and Rochester was > awarded the top grant, $641,480, in late 2004. > > The project uses the SkyScraper DataFab component to ingest > content from various sources as program operators for ETIN's > six different channels (police, fire, hospital, etc.) drag > and drop files into appropriate folders. The SkyScraper > DataHub component allocates appropriate bandwidth for the > content and integrates it into the DTV data stream. > > Around the region, a DataReceiver card in a single computer > at each location captures the data and can store it for use > in that location's local intranet and for display on one of > the LCD screens. > > It may be the bleeding edge of public safety datacasting > technology, but Bender kept in mind that his firefighters > weren't all that crazy about computers and sometimes handle > their equipment a little roughly. But everyone can manage a > remote control, and the TV is on nonstop in many firehouses. > > Bachofen agreed. "You don't have to do anything on the client > side, which is really important because some of the folks on > the client side might not be technical people," he said. "It > has to be simple on the client side." > > THREE MODES > > It doesn't get much simpler than the most basic of the three > modes in Rochester's ETIN. The "automatic" mode essentially > sends non-critical information-training videos, safety > reminders, and timely updates such as weather reports and > staffing notes to the client for display in a continuous loop. > The idea is that firefighters will see some of the short clips > -on effective CPR, or a particular rescue technique-enough > times that they will absorb the knowledge. This mode also > includes an information crawl at the bottom of the screen. As > Bender puts it, it's pretty much like watching television, > and it could include some fun features, like trivia and > quizzes, to help keep viewers interested. > > The second mode is an on-demand world, where a local station > can pull down timely information-instructions on how to deal > with a particular event, for example, or a needed training > course. Since firefighters tend to be leaving the station > frequently without notice, the on-demand model works well for > them. > > The third, emergency mode, would override the other modes on > all receivers so everyone is literally on the same page. And > responders heading to the scene of the emergency would have > the appropriate maps or other crucial data. > > Bender beat the pavement to win local support. "One of the > big sells was to tie in all the agencies together, have this > interoperability," he said. "We had to go out and we took the > show on the road. We went to chiefs, their monthly meetings, > and we showed them what we had: 'We're going to purchase this > for you, we're going to install it for you, it's basically a > plug-and-play.'" > > For WXXI's initial ETIN launch, Bender will begin with about > 20 sites (mostly Rochester Fire Department locations), iron > out bugs, and expand to the other 80 or so sites across a > 75-mile radius. Other agencies, including the state police > and neighboring Livingston County, have expressed interest in > joining up as well. > > The cost, said Bachofen, runs roughly $2,000 to $3,000 per > receiver, depending on features, and the SkyScraper backbone > runs around $12,000 to $15,000. > > Looking ahead, Bender is interested in using WiMax technology > for backchannel communication. In addition to being able to > have two-way communications, Bender wonders, wouldn't it be > great to be able to shoot a scene on video and stream it > right back to the hub for retransmission to other emergency > responders? > > The project is far from the first program to use public TV's > resources for public safety needs. > > WNET in New York has demonstrated, along with the Fire > Department of New York, a system of "Smart Nets," including > two-way WiMax mobile communications, over the station's > Educational Broadband Service (EBS) frequencies around 2.5 > GHz, formerly known as the Instructional Television Fixed > Service Band. Unlike DTV datacasting, which generally blasts > out 8-VSB signals one-way, broadcasters are allowed to > modulate their EBS signal in different ways, such as WiMax's > mobile two-way 802.16e flavor. > > The WNET focus is on front-line responders like police and > fire units. "They, for their communications needs, require, > number one, mobility and, number two, two-way communications," > said Stephen Carroll-Cahnmann, director of Digital Convergence > for WNET. > > He said the demonstration and research project, now in its > "end game" has been enormously successful in showing the > viability of WiMax technology over EBS to serve public safety > needs. > > "Our argument has been, there's these frequencies in the hands > of public stations who are dying to sit down with public > safety," he said. "There's some new technology, and public > stations are at the forefront of pushing through this model." > > Los Angeles public station KLCS is datacasting to 25 high > schools and eight middle schools, reaching about 40 percent of > the of the high schools in the city. These schools have access > to high-bit-rate streaming channels (1 Mbps each) over the air > with near-video-on-demand on every computer in each school, > according to Alan Popkin, director of TV engineering and > technical operations at KCLS. > > And datacasts could increase rapidly in the future. Triveni > Digital says SkyScraper technology is already deployed in > public stations reaching half of all viewers in the country. > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: > > - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at > FreeLists.org > > - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word > unsubscribe in the subject line. > > > -- ---- William B. 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