Arlington is an urban county of about 26 square miles located directly across the Potomac River from Washington DC. While it is the smallest geographical county in the United States, Arlington County faces unique challenges because it hosts Reagan National Airport and is home to the Pentagon, several universities and 30 or more high profile federal agencies. As such, it could be a target for terrorist incidents, as well as being a venue for hundreds of special events and public gatherings each year. Since 9/11, the County has sought out ways to increase immediate emergency response capabilities, since then deploying three mobile command vehicles -- one fire, one police and the other known as the Emergency Technology Support Unit (ETSU) -- designed to support emergency workers as well as first responders' technology needs, wherever an incident or event occurs.
"We can't control where emergencies happen, and we wanted to develop a quicker response to deploying connections back into county resources," said David Jordan, chief information security officer, Dept. of Technology Services, Arlington County Government. "So we equipped our mobile command vehicles with Proxim MP.11 subscriber stations and directional antennas. Once a vehicle is in position, we are able to wirelessly connect to a Proxim base station located in the county command center, providing emergency personnel with access to critical information and resources, and ensuring timely and reliable communication and information exchange."
According to the company, the Proxim Tsunami MP.11 is a field-proven point-to-multipoint product line including ruggedized base stations, indoor and outdoor subscriber units and accessories. It has enabled municipalities and service providers to bridge the digital divide, increase productivity, cut network costs and create new business opportunities -- all through advanced broadband wireless networking. Operating in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, this OFDM product offers WiMAX Quality of Service (QoS) for voice, video and data applications; roaming with seamless handoffs at speeds up to 200 km/hour for mobility and consumer-in-motion applications; "listen before talk" using CSMA/CA; dynamic frequency selection (DFS), which has already received EN 301-893 v1.3.1 certification; state-of-the-art security including AES encryption; and extended range.
"The County of Arlington is known throughout the United States as one of the premier users and early adopters of technology," said Geoff Smith, vice president of worldwide marketing, Proxim Wireless. "Their application of wireless technology using our Tsunami MP.11 product family is yet another example of their innovative approach to solving problems using the best the technology industry has to offer. We are honored to be their partner in deploying wireless solutions that help accelerate emergency response times and safeguard people and property."
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