StrategicPlan
Location-based Services R&D Roadmap
Source:
http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/TechnicalNotes/NIST.TN.1883.pdf
Public safety fulfills its mission more efficiently and effectively.
To provide the R&D community supporting public safety with a concise list of R&D opportunities that would provide added value to the public safety community.
Values
Optimize responders' common operating picture and ensure the interoperability of location-aware applications.
Objective(s):
1.1.5: Wearables & Augmented Reality
Other Information:
Today's location-based software and applications have become increasingly sophisticated and precise over the last several years, performing a broad range of user tasks. Many of the investments used to drive increased performance and functionality have come from industry where companies are leveraging location-based marketing and outreach to target customers and collect improved business intelligence. While public safety's intended use for LBS software departs greatly from that of industry, the community can benefit greatly from accounting for and leveraging commercial development to optimize responders' common operating picture and ensure the interoperability of location-aware applications. Some of today's most widely used LBS application categories such as those relating to navigation, mapping, inventory/fleet/personnel tracking, and mobile encryption, for instance, would provide clear value to public safety if deployed correctly. To account for the range and complexity of this domain, PSCR asked the LBS working group to forecast the evolution of LBS software capabilities and gaps that need to be considered in light of the trends and drivers identified earlier. Specifically, the working group evaluated the progression of three components of LBS software systems and how these evolving technologies would impact public safety operations. They included: 1. Front End (User Interface, User Experience) 2. Back End (Data Access, Data Management) 3. Integrated Analytics As the LBS working group discussed the Software and Applications lane, several operational objectives surfaced as natural themes that captured the collective technology capabilities and enabled operational capabilities. For the purposes of this report, two operational objectives have been discussed in detail: 1. Optimized Common Operating Picture 2. Data Interoperability Across Platforms and Jurisdictions
Create an Optimized Common Operating Picture
Other Information:
One goal of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) is defining "essential principles for a common operating picture and interoperability of communications and information management." According to NIMS, a common operating picture "is established and maintained by the gathering, collating, synthesizing, and disseminating of incident information to all appropriate parties involved in an incident." "Achieving a common operating picture allows on-scene and off-scene personnel (e.g., those at the Incident Command Post, an Emergency Operations Center, or within a multiagency coordination group) to have the same information about the incident, including the availability and location of resources, personnel, and the status of requests for assistance." Enabled Operational Capabilities/Technology Capabilities The LBS working group identified three main operational capabilities that benefit from R&D focused on optimizing the common operating picture through LBS: 1. Better situational awareness based on more timely information 2. Better/more efficient resource allocation 3. Streamlining of operator workflow and bandwidth management based on pre-loaded LBS data such as terrain and static building maps. Public Safety R&D Opportunities Given the technology capabilities, gaps, and enabling actions and actors that are forecasted to impact the LBS domain over the next 20 years, the working group identified five potential R&D projects that would elevate the baseline common operating picture of public safety personnel. The R&D community supporting public safety should consider the following project ideas as it evaluates future investment opportunities:
Drive fundamental LBS technology research
Other Information:
A great deal of requirements gathering, application development, and testing within public safety environments is needed for indoor route planning; improved absolute location accuracy for x, y, and z coordinates; personnel group authentication and authorization schemas; and contextual activity recognition.
Explore potential collaborations with the "smart home" R&D community.
Other Information:
The public safety and smart home communities share many end goals of low-power intelligent systems in indoor environments.
Conduct continuous LBS market research.
Other Information:
A collaborator matrix summarizing available tools, including advantages, disadvantages, features, and benefits and to identify technology adoption and penetration for the public safety market is needed to conduct thorough LBS market research.
Reach out to high-profile technology companies to further develop indoor maps or educate the public safety community on how to create their own maps,
Other Information:
Several LBS software and content providers (e.g., Google Person Finder) have shown a willingness to work with the public safety and disaster response communities. No single repository exists for digital maps today, and development of indoor maps is currently a time consuming activity and one that public safety organizations may not have the bandwidth or authority to pursue. Therefore, any R&D to reduce the time and complexity to generate maps at-scale would be beneficial.
Pilot use case program for wearables featuring augmented reality.
Other Information:
Wearables are a nascent technology on the horizon, and nobody knows if they will become widely successful and part of everyday life (e.g., smartphones) or become a niche technology (e.g., 3-D movies). Instead of directly investing in wearable technologies, PSCR should identify how current capabilities and gaps perform in unique response scenarios. For example, responders might not possess the capability to inspect a notification or message on their mobile device without interrupting their primary function. A heads-up display may assist the user without impacting their task. After identifying these capabilities and gaps, PSCR could test the deployment and user interface design of wearables featuring augmented reality with different organizations. This would be an extension of PSCR's historical role of testing communications technology. Since augmented reality is inherently sensitive to the data and context of an environment, a strict engineering and lab test would not be sufficient.
Promote Data Interoperability Across Jurisdictions and Platforms
Other Information:
Referring back to the NIMS definition of interoperability as "the ability of systems, personnel, and equipment to provide and receive functionality, data, information, and/or services to and from other systems, personnel, and equipment between both public and private agencies, departments, and other organizations, in a manner enabling them to operate effectively together." In the context of software and applications, the 2014 National Public Safety Telecommunications Council’s report, Defining Public Safety Grade Systems and Facilities, outlines a best practice that states: "Applications and user meta data SHALL adhere to relevant open industry standards that provide for interoperability at the protocol level. NPSBN shall publish an open standards-based API for its applications." Data interoperability and its impact on public safety operational capabilities was a large topic of discussion and focus for the LBS working group as well. Enabled Operational Capabilities/Technology Capabilities -- The LBS working group identified three main operational capabilities that benefit from R&D focused on data interoperability across platforms and jurisdictions through LBS: 1. Improved situational awareness through seamless location data exchange across heterogeneous systems and devices 2. Ability to coalesce multi-jurisdictional data producers and make data accessible to all user platforms 3. Better functionality, reliability, and analytical capability between legacy and next-generation systems Public Safety R&D Opportunities -- Given the technology capabilities, gaps, and enabling actions and actors that are forecasted to impact the LBS domain over the next 20 years, the working group identified four potential R&D projects that would improve LBS software interoperability for public safety personnel. The R&D community supporting public safety should consider the following project ideas as it evaluates future investment opportunities:
Drive fundamental technology research.
Other Information:
Innovations in public safety interoperability depend on several basic and applied research needs. These include integrated prototyping to scope LBS data and quality of service data standards, quantifying requirements for middleware designed to transition legacy public safety systems to IP/LTE architecture, tracking the progress of commercial investments in location API performance capabilities, and investigating battery and bandwidth consumption for LBS software across multiple market sectors.
Partner with Incident Command System sponsors, developers, and end users to explore the deployment of LBS standards at the federal level.
Other Information:
Federal LBS data standards have not yet been defined, but doing so is time critical, as standards need to precede technology adoption to avoid a heterogeneous solution space.
Encourage the development and integration of open LBS technologies.
Other Information:
Today's high-profile LBS providers, such as Google Earth and Esri (ArcGIS), are closed and proprietary in different ways and use the legacy standard ArcGIS. Open LBS systems would give public safety organizations the flexibility to experiment with innovative platforms and share source code across jurisdictional lines without the risk of large investments. While open-source LBS would require minimal cost of ownership from public safety, organizations may not have the bandwidth, budget, or expertise to develop the software in-house. Therefore, the community would benefit from outside R&D efforts focused on developing and testing these systems in lab settings.
Develop strong LBS data standards.
Other Information:
A strong certification process should be developed for location-based data technologies and interfaces that operate on the FirstNet network to avoid the interoperability challenges that LMR and P25 have experienced. Standards development, adoption, and certification all have significant lead time, so public safety R&D needs to act as soon as possible to introduce LBS standards to the field.
Garner location information from the entire breadth of modern computing devices.
Objective(s):
2.2: Indoor Positioning & Situational Awareness
2.1.1: Standardization & Deployables
2.1.3: In-Building Positioning
Other Information:
The public safety community has the opportunity to garner location information from the entire breadth of modern computing devices, such as employee badges, wearables, mobile handhelds, vehicles, public transit systems, tablets, desktops, and server infrastructure. These devices, if protected by proper authorization and authentication, have the potential to track objects and personnel, improve situational awareness, and display timely environmental conditions that would greatly enhance emergency response and management. Some of industry’s most significant R&D efforts are aimed at improving the speed, power efficiency, and availability of devices that can communicate seamlessly on disparate networks. Devices equipped with radio frequency identification (RFID), IoT, and Near Field Communications (NFC) capabilities that are widely introduced to the commercial sector must then undergo a process to meet public-safety-grade specifications before they can be considered for deployment on the NPSBN and potentially contribute to more accurate and reliable LBS for public safety. To account for the range and complexity of this domain, PSCR asked the LBS working group to forecast the evolution of LBS device capabilities and gaps that need to be considered in light of the trends and drivers identified earlier. Specifically, the working group evaluated the progression of four components of LBS devices and how these evolving technologies would impact public safety operations. They included: 1. Global Positioning System (GPS)/Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) 2. Cellular 3. Terrestrial Beacon 4. Short Range (e.g., WiFi, BTLE, RFID, NFC, IoT) As the LBS working group discussed the devices lane, several operational objectives surfaced as natural themes that captured the collective technology capabilities and enabled operational capabilities. For the purposes of this report, two operational objectives have been discussed in detail: 1. Device Convergence Supports Greater Mobility 2. Diversified Approaches Improve Indoor Accuracy Positioning and Situational Awareness
Support Greater Mobility through Device Convergence
Other Information:
The convergence of the device and network technologies supporting today’s consumer telecommunications industry have enabled users to migrate multiple methods of communications—most notably voice, video, and data—into common interfaces on a single, handheld device. Many public safety organizations have yet to leverage the full scope of modern convergent services, which include Voice over IP (VoIP), handheld digital video broadcasting, and IoT. With targeted R&D investment, the public safety community could take advantage of convergent solutions in operational settings to support greater information mobility and increase the accuracy of positioning systems. Enabled Operational Capabilities/Technology Capabilities The LBS working group identified three main operational advantages that could be realized by R&D leveraging the convergence of device technology: 1. Converged Content Enhancing Situational Awareness 2. Faster/More Accurate Responses 3. Greater Device and Network Mobility... Public Safety R&D Opportunities Given the evolution of device technologies over the next 20 years, the LBS working group identified two potential R&D efforts that would deliver enhanced LBS to the public safety community based on device convergence supporting greater mobility:
Conduct Integrated Device Testing
Other Information:
The public safety R&D community should conduct case studies of early adopters leveraging integrated device technology and apply these use cases to scenarios between regions. For example, an R&D lab could pilot an integrated test bed for how RFID tags, heterogeneous networks (HetNets), and IoT devices will access and process LBS data across the NPSBN. There is a need to demonstrate that integrated devices provide a clear benefit to responders and emergency managers so that state and local organizations will justify additional hardware investment.
Conduct Ongoing Market Research.
Other Information:
Industry appears to be tackling many of the barriers that currently limit the use of integrated devices with public safety. Specific areas of device innovation that are particularly relevant to the public safety community include improvements in battery efficiency, interoperability between devices on disparate networks, and the ruggedization of consumer electronics.
Improve indoor accuracy positioning and situational awareness.
Other Information:
The LBS working group’s 20-year device technology forecast identified several approaches to improving indoor positioning accuracy. Currently, Incident Command Centers and dispatch systems rely on GPS systems to locate officers and other deployed resources. While existing GPS/GNSS infrastructure provides high precision in most outdoor environments, it fails to meet public safety requirements for indoor location accuracy. However, public safety’s ability to obtain highly accurate LBS in dense urban environments will likely not be addressed by GPS alone. Emerging technologies, such as terrestrial beacon systems and NFC, are better suited for indoor positioning and are expected to gain traction over the next 10 years. Thus, we are encouraged that industry, academia, and government organizations are developing a broad range of technologies to modernize and supplement the ubiquitous GPS architecture already in place. Enabled Operational Capabilities/Technology Capabilities The LBS working group identified three main operational advantages that could be realized by R&D pursuing diversified approaches to improved indoor positioning accuracy: 1. Better Situational Awareness 2. Faster/More Accurate Responses 3. Greater Mobility ... Public Safety R&D Opportunities Given the technology capabilities, gaps and barriers, and enabling actions and actors that are forecasted to impact the LBS domain over the next 20 years, the LBS working group identified four potential R&D efforts that would deliver enhanced indoor LBS to the public safety community. Public safety R&D organizations should consider the following project ideas as they prioritize upcoming investment opportunities:
Create an LBS technology development and integration test bed to evaluate LBS standardization and the role of deployables in addressing coverage gaps.
Other Information:
This test bed would include measuring Quality of Service schema effectiveness, and security authentication and authorization schema, specifying standardized capabilities for public safety deployables, and integrating disparate LBS data producers into the system with load and performance testing.
Drive fundamental market research.
Other Information:
Researchers need to publish market research summaries and monitor industry advances relating to GPS modernization, OTDOA deployment, indoor positioning standards, and terrestrial beacon commercialization.
Pilot an in-building positioning program.
Other Information:
New structures are being built with increasingly resilient materials, which greatly inhibit indoor cell reception. One option to overcome the communication issues that arise due to new construction would be to design buildings to support local indoor positioning sensors that are integrated with external GPS, GNSS, and LTE networks.
Conduct short-range and terrestrial beacon use case testing.
Other Information:
R&D organizations should test the ways in which different short-range positioning technologies track, store, and transmit location information; identify which options are best suited for public safety use and research how these devices integrate with wider area networks.
Define networks.
Objective(s):
3.1.1: Standardization Test Bed
Other Information:
As the LBS working group set out to discuss the evolution of networks over the ensuing 20 years and beyond, it became clear that further definition of the networks lane was necessary. The networks lane was subdivided into the following sub-lanes with high-level descriptions of each sub-lane given for the purposes of LBS working group discussions and this LBS R&D Roadmap report: 1. Wide-area Network refers to more than 100 miles 2. Regional-area Network refers to 50 to 100 miles 3. Incident-area Network refers to less than 50 miles 4. Venue-based Network refers to 0.5 to 3 miles 5. Personal Network refers to on-body/wearable technologies within 0.5 miles ... As the LBS working group discussed the networks lane, several operational objectives surfaced as natural themes that captured the collective technology capabilities and enabled operational capabilities. For the purposes of this report, two operational objectives have been discussed in detail: 1. Increased Coverage 2. Interoperability of Heterogeneous Networks Enables Efficient Delivery of LBS
Increase Coverage
Other Information:
The public safety systems that transmit mission-critical and non-mission-critical voice and data face unique coverage challenges. According to the 2014 NPSTC Defining Public Safety Grade Systems and Facilities report, public safety systems "must cover all areas that generate requests for service." This is a challenge commercial carriers do not face, requiring public safety to develop novel approaches and solutions to deliver coverage to the greatest geographical extent feasible. The NPSTC report also states "areas such as a large high rise or other critical facility may need coverage even if it requires extra cost to provide that coverage." ... Public Safety R&D Opportunities -- Given the technology capabilities, gaps and barriers, and enabling actions and actors that are forecasted to impact the LBS domain over the next 20 years, the LBS working group identified three potential R&D efforts that would deliver enhanced LBS to the public safety community based on improved coverage. Public safety R&D organizations should consider the following project ideas as they prioritize upcoming investment opportunities:
Create an LBS technology development and integration test bed to evaluate LBS standardization.
Other Information:
This test bed would include measuring Quality of Service schema effectiveness, and security authentication and authorization schemas, specifying standardized capabilities for public safety deployable technology, and integrating disparate LBS data producers into the system with load and performance testing.
Develop public-safety-specific algorithms.
Other Information:
These algorithms should take into account public safety operational needs and requirements and cost structure constraints.
Identify and document public safety LBS requirements for Quality of Service.
Enable Efficient Delivery of LBS through Interoperable Heterogeneous Networks.
Other Information:
Public safety users depend on the reliability and redundancy of communications networks throughout their daily operations. The eventual build-out of the NPSBN will provide a macro network that will allow for a specific level of service and provide interoperability across jurisdictions. In addition to this macro network, additional heterogeneous networks (wide area, regional, incident, venue-based, and personal networks) will provide seamless interoperability between various multi-coverage protocols, enabling more robust capabilities, including the efficient delivery of LBS... Public Safety R&D Opportunities Given the technology capabilities, gaps and barriers, and enabling actions and actors that are forecasted to impact the LBS domain over the next 20 years, the LBS working group identified the following potential R&D effort that would deliver enhanced LBS to the public safety community based on network improvements. Public safety R&D organizations should consider the following project ideas as they prioritize upcoming investment opportunities:
Create an integrated, future-focused LBS network test bed.
Other Information:
An integrated LBS network test bed could test applications to ensure operations function independent of network technology. This test bed would include measuring Quality of Service schema effectiveness, and security authentication and authorization schemas, specifying standardized capabilities for public safety deployable technology, and integrating disparate LBS data producers into the system with load and performance testing.