Reviving communication in post disaster scenario using ZIGBEE/GSM Heterogeneous Network

The occurrence of a catastrophic natural disaster disrupts all communication system, and it takes a lot of time to recover from that scenario. A temporary ad-hoc communication system is required for post-disaster emergency rescue operations. In developing countries, where very small population of people possesses smart expensive gadgets, a cost effective network solution is required in this regard. This paper provides the design of a Cell Phone Extension, which is used to extend the low-end cell-phones using ZIGBEE or WiFi connectivity. We also propose three alternative architectures of a heterogeneous ad-hoc personal area network, viz. combining ZIGBEE nodes and ZIGBEE/GSM dual radio nodes; smart-phones only and a combination of smart-phones and laptops. The proposed personal area networks help in delivering text messages opportunistically to the desired recipient in absence of cellular network. Out of the three alternatives we have considered the first architecture, where the nodes can be air dropped from air-crafts on affected areas, and thus get deployed. All the experiments are performed on test-bed, and the performance of our scheme has been evaluated by taking results in outdoor environment and it has been compared with that of simulation results. The results show the viability of the solution, in terms of delay and success rate of message delivery, in reviving communication while communication infrastructure is partially damaged.