PROJECT: SMiRTIC

SMiRTIC is a high-performance system for the temporary extension of communication capabilities (GSM, TETRA, WIFI, VHF/UHF analog/digital radio) in areas without network or with reduced coverage, using mobile ground platforms with air support composed of fixed-wing and tethered drones. This island of IT&C services (which today can be set up anywhere in the world) is linked by satellite to the head office and thus data transfer (video, voice, telemetry) can be ensured via a broadband link (STARLINK).

COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONALITIES:

Containerized mobile system using tethered drones as antennas/relay.

The SMiRTIC system consists of a dynamic mosaic of hardware and software modules which consists of 8 hardware elements and several software modules:

• 20FT ISO shipping container with 5 mobile drawers for customizable hardware modules. Provides extreme density of equipment that can be removed for maintenance or customization.
• The high concentration of equipment in a compact space ensures a low TCO and is designed for exceptional use.
• The design allows mechanical removal of modules for intervention or hardware reconfiguration. The system includes a base station and one or more extensions.

Rapid intervention system

• Rapid intervention system composed of a high mobility fixed-wing UAV (UAV) launch/recovery vehicle has the primary role of extending the coverage area by using the capabilities of a mobile ground relay, alternatively it can also lift a tethered drone (powered by wire from the vehicle) up to a height of 50 m which can operate for long time as a virtual radio relay tower or video observation.
• AUAV self-tracking antenna is mainly used for remote drone communication in the 2.4Ghz band, and without the drone in flight, the system can act as a relay to extend radio coverage in an area with no or weak signal.
• The versatility of this solution is one of the prerequisites of the coverage elasticity attribute by allowing remote modification of the areas covered by the system and automatic verification by the coordinating IA of the quality of the radio links and prioritization of the use of limited local technical resources.

Benefits

• It supports the resilience of national communication systems in disaster areas and enables efficient management of available local resources.
• Provides advanced business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) services.
• It allows the use of local communication resources (CB radios, walkie talkie talkies, amateur radios) and their interconnection with the local command to optimize the use of resources already in the field.
• Local processing in the ARM server cluster of video data received from drones, real-time localization of personnel in the field, intensive calculations for modeling the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere or water, optimization of transport logistics in the disaster area.
• Provides satellite communication with government agencies and enables remote coordination of field operations.