Marcel Stieber, AI6MSARKnet Technical Deployment Manager

Assistant Emergency Coordinator

Cupertino Amateur Radio Emergency Service

ARKnetWireless Emergency Intranet

Presented at BayCon

Sunnyvale, CA – January 20th, 2018

Who is this guy?

Marcel Stieber, AI6MS

Licensed in 2008 as KI6QDJ

Hardware Systems Engineer

Cupertino ARES

Cal Poly Amateur Radio Club

All Out Events

Salinas Valley Repeater Group

Forum AbstractARKnet is a Wireless Emergency Intranet for the City of

Cupertino. This forum will provide a basic overview of

the ARKnet system including design considerations,

deployment logistics of the first sector and client sites,

and operational analysis of the system.

This is a bi-directional QSO…

So ask questions!

Forum Schematic

Background

What is ARKnet?

System Design Overview

Pilot Program

Sector Site Design/Deployment

Client Site Design/Deployment

Operational Testing

The ARKnet Future

ARKnet Project Background

City of Cupertino

~60,000 residents

11.257 square miles

Santa Clara County

“Heart of Silicon Valley”

Cupertino ARES

70+ members

W6TDM Repeater

What happens in an emergency?

1. Cupertino Citizen Corps volunteers will converge around ARKs, self-

organize, and deploy into the neighborhoods to assist the community.

2. Commercial communications systems may not be working.

3. The effectiveness of an emergency response relies on quality and timely

information.

4. EOC Staff and CCC field responders will use Amateur Radio as the

primary means exchanging information.

5. New technologies are available can help improve information sharing

between the field, the City, and other responders that would accelerate

decision-making and speed the recovery.

What happens in an emergency?

1. Cupertino Citizen Corps volunteers will converge around ARKs,

self-organize, and deploy into the neighborhoods to assist the

community.

2. Commercial communications systems may not be working.

3. The effectiveness of an emergency response relies on quality and

timely information.

4. EOC Staff and CCC field responders will use Amateur Radio as the

primary means exchanging information.

5. New technologies are available can help improve information

sharing between the field, the City, and other responders that would

accelerate decision-making and speed the recovery.

What is ARKnet?

What is ARKnet?

An emergency wireless network that connects critical City locations

together.

Used by the Cupertino Citizen Corp and other City staff during

emergencies or as the need arises.

Supports the City’s need for an accurate and timely formation of

the situation in the field during an emergency activation.

What can ARKnet do?

Phone Links

Voice transmissions of non-public information

Hazard and Situational Awareness

Real-Time Video Monitoring

File Sharing

Reference Documents

WebEOC

Message Passing

Instant Messaging

https://photos.smugmug.com/001-NEWS/2016-05-04-Canada-Wildfire/i-CZF6MWk/0/XL/canada-wildfire-050416-014-XL.jpg

System Design Overview

ARKnet Coverage Area

Network Topology

Point to Multi-point (P2MP)

Pros:

Single sector site

Easier routing

Lower latency

Cons:

Single sector site

Lack of route redundancy

Fixed links

Line-of-Site concerns

https://kqva.net/image/NanoBridge-PMTP.png

Networking Equipment

Chose to use MikroTik equipment

Large selection and variety

Integrated radios and routers

Pilot Program

Sector Site Design/Deployment

ARKnet

Coverage Area

Potential

Sector Sites

4.57 miles

ARKnet

Coverage Area

~40°

Site build methodology and design

COTS

Repeatable

Flexible

Part 15 vs Part 97

Off-Grid/Self-Powered

Sector site design

Sector Radio(s) and switch

MikroTik SXT-SA5 radio/router combo (90°BW)

Off-grid solar power solution

Client Site Design/Deployment

Client Site Equipment

Uplink Radio

MikroTik SXT-HG5 or QRT5 radio/router combo

Local AP (Wifi Access Point)

Picostation 2.4GHz

Local ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter)

Grandstream HT702/704

Local Camera

Phylink PW-335

Off-grid Solar Power Solution

Tracer 2215BN MPPT Controller

Renogy 250W 24V Panel

12V 100Ah SLA Batteries

Network Switch and POE Injectors

https://img.routerboard.com/mimg/794_l.jpg

Operational Testing

Client Site Signal Quality

SNR TX Signal RX Signal Radio

De Anza ARK 53dB -70dBm -69dBm SXT-HG5

EOC 57dB -60dBm -62dBm QRT5

Test Results from 10/8/2016

Client Site Throughput Testing

From To TX RX

EOC Lehigh Sector 24.6 Mbps 15.8 Mbps

De Anza ARK Lehigh Sector 10.2 Mbps 18.3 Mbps

EOCDe Anza

(via Lehigh)7.6 Mbps 4.5 Mbps

Test Results from 10/8/2016

The ARKnet Future

Next Steps

Earthquake Communications Drill – Dec 10, 2016

Expand and Optimize Applications

Activate Additional Sites

Interface with other Cities

Credits Special thanks:

Jim Oberhofer KN6PE and Kenneth Finnegan W6KWF Lehigh Permanente Cement Plant for their tremendous support for

this project and the City City of Cupertino Staff and Employees

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupertino,_California

Other Resources: http://www.scc-ares-races.org/mesh/index.html

http://www.cmu.edu/silicon-valley/dmi/research/projects/scewn/

http://www.broadband-hamnet.org/

https://airlink.ubnt.com/

http://www.mikrotik.com/

http://www.cupertinoares.org/

https://maps.google.com/

Other Presentations Amateur Radio Data Networking in Event/Incident

Communications (PDF - 4.9 MB) Presented to SPECS on

01/31/2015, by Michael Fox, N6MEF

Introduction to Mesh Networks for Amateur Radio by Tim

Howard, KE6TIM, 02-Mar-2015 (PDF - 2.1 MB)

Basic Outdoor WiFi Network Planning by Michael Fox, N6MEF,

16-May-2014 (PDF - 3.6 MB)

From: http://www.scc-ares-races.org/mesh/index.html

Questions - Comments - Discussion

Presentation will be available at:

www.QRZ.com/db/AI6MS