Friday fragments - comms news from around the web for 13 September 2013

A weekly round-up of critical communications and public safety radio news from around the internet for Friday, 13 September 2013.

LTE-Advanced. In recent months, a number of network operators around the world - including SK Telecom (Korea) and LG Uplus (Korea), AT&T (USA), NTT DoCoMo (Japan) and Telenor (Sweden) - have begun to introduce LTE-Advanced services. SK Telecom claims to provide download rates of 150 megabits per second, with carrier aggregation being the key. The next step will be enhanced inter-cell interference coordination, eICIC.

Fire protection, 1. Getting lost and trapped inside a burning building is an ever-present risk for firefighters. Every year, thousands are injured and a small number die, because they don't have a reliable way to navigate their way out. After much trial and error by many companies and research institutions, a couple of devices are looking promising: GlaNSer, which combines an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a GPS receiver, Doppler radars, a pressure sensor, and a radio link to other units and a fixed base station; and PPI, which combines an IMU and radio signals to three fixed base stations (mounted on fire trucks).

Fire protection, 2. Of interest to fire brigades and other emergency services, a recent US study of one of the most horrific wildfires in California's history argues that procedures for decreasing damage and property loss from 'wildland urban interface' fires are most effective “when they are based on accurate assessments of exposure risks" for both standalone structures and the overall community. The report goes on to describe how such assessments could improve building codes, standards and practices.

Loss of signal. A small twin-engined aircraft departed Honiara in the Solomon Islands bound for Essendon in Victoria, planning to communicate via HF during the long overwater portion of the flight. But the HF radio failed and the pilot had to relay position reports through other aircraft. Once within range of the Australian mainland, contact was established on VHF. After landing and refuelling in Townsville, the aircraft departed on its final leg to Essendon. But not long after departure, the VHF failed too - only carrier wave was being transmitted. The pilot elected to continue the flight (the aircraft was carrying too much fuel to make a quick return and landing at Townsville) and contact was re-established only when the aircraft was approaching Essendon. The cause of the failures was determined to be water intrusion through a small access door and consequent corrosion of isolator breakers/switches. And the moral of this story is: maintain your equipment and ensure it is protected from environmental effects