Special Session

PEACE - IP-Based Emergency Applications and Services for Next Generation Networks (PEACE)

collocated with MOBIMEDIA - 6th International Mobile Multimedia Communications Conference

The main objectives in this Special Session are to address novel research results in the areas of Emergency Services over all-IP infrastructure in order to enable a smooth transition to the next generation all-IP networks, in the areas of secure and reliable multimedia communications for emergency services in heterogeneous wireless networks, and also in emergency risk management and coordination systems thus enabling the delivery of emergency services to the ‘end-user’ in a coordinated and optimized way.

The "International Special Session on IP-Based Emergency Applications and Services for Next Generation Networks (PEACE)” provides a forum for engineers and scientists in academia, industry and government to present their latest research findings in computer and communication technologies with a particular attention to Emergency Management and Services. It is also important to mention that the main focused target of this Special Session will be the information exchange and cross-fertilization between academia, research centres and industry partners related to these tracks.

To achieve these goals, two major technological challenges need to be tackled. First, a general solution for secure multimedia communication in extreme emergency situations must be provided. Such secure multimedia communication in cases of natural disasters or catastrophes will often involve the establishment of an ad-hoc networking environment. This ad-hoc environment must devise mechanisms for fast and lightweight establishment of trust relations between ad-hoc members of an emergency team and ensuring the security of their communication. Finally, it is necessary to provide an architecture for supporting VoIP service and name translation in a reliable manner withstanding any failures and changes of the network.

Secondly, it is also necessary to take into consideration the provisioning of day-to-day emergency communications in next generation All-IP networks, due to the fact that it is not possible to reuse the current standards designed for PSTN networks. This involves also geolocation management of callers and identification solutions as well as providing reliable VoIP service infrastructure. It is also important the continuity of the Emergency Call and the routing of it towards the appropriate PSAP based on the location of the caller. Finally, regarding next generation All-IP networks that allow us to provide new functionalities to the Emergency Call, it is also necessary to provide interactions with other wireless services and further work in the area of highly reliable IP.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to

• Resource and Mobility Management in Cooperative and Heterogeneous Wireless Networks.
• P2P Multimedia for autonomic wireless infrastructures.
• Security mechanisms and schemes in cooperative networks.
• Cross-layer and Cross-System optimization strategies for Emergency wireless communications.
• User and Device location in next generation networks.
• Emergency Services over IMS.
• Emergency Management Infrastructure for next generation networks.
• Wireless Networks for Emergency support.
• Networked sensors for emergency management.
• Self-aware and self-adaptive network design and evaluation.
• Mobile sensors for disaster monitoring.
• Pervasive emergency management systems
• QoS in critical communications.
• Demo and field trials.