A Public Safety Network is a wireless communications network used by emergency services organizations, such as police, fire and emergency medical services, to prevent or respond to incidents that harm or endanger persons or property.

Many municipalities are turning to mobile computing and other networked applications to improve the efficiency of their workforce, including public safety personnel and first responders. Consequently, public safety workers are increasingly being equipped with wireless laptops, handheld computers, and mobile video cameras to improve their efficiency, visibility, and ability to instantly collaborate with central command, coworkers and other agencies. Video surveillance cameras and unattended sensors are becoming important tools to extend the eyes and ears of public safety agencies.

The need to access and share this vital new flow of data and images is driving investments in a new kind of network: broadband wireless mesh networks using Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and 4.9 GHz public safety radio frequencies. These networks are metropolitan or regional in scope, can maintain connections with highly mobile workers, deliver large amounts of low-cost bandwidth with extremely high reliability, and support real-time video, voice and data.

See also

• Wireless network
• Municipal broadband
• Switched mesh
• Mesh networking
• IEEE 802.11
• 802.16
• Wireless LAN
• Wi-Fi

While the term wireless network may technically be used to refer to any type of network that is wireless, the term is most commonly use to refer to a telecommunications network whose interconnections between nodes is implemented without the use of wires, such as a computer network (which is a... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... (Also known as ‘high performance’ mesh) A switched mesh is a wireless mesh network that uses multiple radios to communicate via dedicated mesh backhaul links to each neighboring node in the mesh. ... Mesh networking is a way to route data, voice and instructions between nodes. ... IEEE 802. ... IEEE 802. ... It has been suggested that wireless network interface cards be merged into this article or section. ... Official Wi-Fi logo Wi-Fi is a brand originally licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe the underlying technology of wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802. ...

External links

• White Paper: Wireless Mesh Networks for Public Safety Understanding how wireless mesh can be used for mission-critical voice, data and video applications in a Public Safety Network.