1. Datacast Usage by the Massachusetts Emergency
Management Agency for July 4th
Event
WGBH Boston, SAIC, SpectraRep, Inc.
Introduction
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA)
tested WGBH datacast reception aboard their response trailer
(Figure 1) throughout the duration of their deployment to the Pops
Goes the Fourth” July 4th
celebration on the Esplanade in Boston on
July 3rd
, 2014 (due to inclement weather forecast for the 4th
).
Public Broadcasting affiliated DTV station WGBH Boston provided
the transmission of AES-256-encrypted video packets on their
1,220’ tower (about 1,500’ ASL) at ~720 kW from Needham,
Massachusetts (Figure 2). The test was instrumented and
monitored by staff from Science Applications International
Corporation (SAIC) and the technology provider SpectraRep, LLC,
under contract to WGBH Boston. The objectives of the test were
to (i) demonstrate sustained reception of encrypted DTV reception
of MEMA video in the urban Boston environment and (ii) test the
reception of data files during video transmission.
Test Configuration
Datacast Transmission. SpectraRep and SAIC installed datacast
equipment at the WGBH Boston studio on March 11, 2014. The
installed equipment, pictured in Figure 3 and diagrammed in Figure
4, enables a VPN-authorized datacast content provider to inject
video, audio, and/or data for encrypted targetable transmission
from the station’s Needham transmitter. A single video feed was
datacast, a Massachusetts weather map from the MEMA facility in
Framingham, Massachusetts.
Data files were injected to WGBH for datacst via the Internet from
the SpectraRep IncidentOne software by SAIC project staff from
four different locations (Figure 5) as follows:
1. Esplanade from inside the MEMA Emergency Operations
center (EOC) trailer (Figure 6) via air card connection to the
Internet
2. Immediately outside the MEMA trailer (Figure 7) and along the Charles River about 50 yards
from the MEMA trailer (Figure 8)
Figure 1. MEMA Trailer.
Figure 2. WGBH DTV tower.
Figure 3. WGBH datacast.
Figure 4. Datacast diagram.
Esplanade, July 3rd
2014.
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2. 3. Just outside the event Unified Command Center (UCC) near the Esplanade1
via air card
4. A private residence in Newton, Massachusetts, via WLAN Internet connection (Figure 9).
A connectivity diagram for datacast injection from these four
points is depicted in Figure 10. The theoretical (Longeley Rice)
WGBH coverage contour for a 30’ high dipole-gain antenna is
shown in the upper left of the figure.
Datacast Reception. Datacast reception during the July 3rd
celebration on the Esplanade was performed in all of the inject-
point locations as well as on a laptop in the MEMA EOC trailer
throughout the event (Figure 11).
1
See http://bigstory.ap.org/article/boston-ups-july-4th-security-revelers-resolute.
Figure 5. Datacast video and data-file injection points for July 3rd
“Pops Goes the Fourth” on the Esplanade.
Figure 6. MEMA trailer inject. Figure 7. Outside trailer.
Figure 8. Along Charles River.
Figure 9. Newton inject point.
Newton
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3. Figure 10. Datacast connectivity diagram for July 3rd
“Pops Goes the Fourth” on the Esplanade.
Esplanade UCC
MEMA weather map
received over encrypted
DTV within UCC
WGBH Boston
DTV transmission injection
point via firewalled router
on Internet and
username/password-
protected Web server
Newton
Datacast test
injection and
reception
Newton injection
Microwave
Esplanade
Outside MEMA
trailer Esplanade
Inside MEMA trailer
WGBH TV
Tower
Needham,
Massachusetts Wireless or wireline
Internet access to
WGBH datacst server
MEMA video (weather map)
feed to WGBH datacast server
Theoretical
WGBH DTV
coverage
contour
Theoretical
WGBY DTV
coverage
contour
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4. DTV Datacast Reception Equipment. Three simultaneous receive
systems were operated in eastern Massachusetts in order to test
and monitor WGBH datacast on the following antennas:
• Winegard Batwave2
(see Figure 11) – used on the Esplanade
and from Newton
• Commercial DTV antenna mounted on the MEMA trailer with
other communication antennas(Figure 12)
The Hauppauge Win TV 8503
DTV receiver (Figure 13) was
connected via USB port to the laptop at each receiver location. The
SpectraRep IPDforPC software applications were operating on each
laptop to enable datacast packet reception. The MEMA trailer
laptop monitored weather map video from the bunker (Figure 14).
Data Recording. Manual and essentially continuous monitoring of
the MEMA weather map video inject demonstrated its continuous
availability. In addition, several notifications with attached data
files combinations were injected to test error modes identified by
Mr. John Letscher of Northbridge in his testing. File transfers in
various configurations (i.e., single small files, single large files, and
multiple small and large files) launched as test notifications –
where each notification produced a test-message crawl on the
bottom of the screen.
Test Objectives and Plan. The objectives of the test were to:
• Demonstrate continuous MEMA DTV datacast reception in
the MEMA trailer, providing verification of its capabilities
to the present MEMA staff
• Identify potential software “bugs” identified by John
Letscher of Northbridge from his experience transmitting
various files and file types for SpectraRep “fixes” to be
prioritized and performed.
The MEMA Test Plan consisted of monitoring a MEMA bunker-
injected weather map for video monitoring as was used during the
USCG afloat-at–speed test and demonstration4
as well as the cycle
time from notification launch to reception, then verification that all
launched files were received.
2
http://www.winegard.com/batwave/.
3
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr850.html.
4
SAIC and SpectraRep, Inc., Datacast Reception Underway on a U.S. Coast Guard 45’ RBM, WGBH Boston Datacast
Project, July 2014.
Figure 11. Winegard Batwave.
Figure 12. Trailer DTV antenna.
Figure 13. Hauppauge 850.
Figure 14. MEMA trailer laptop.
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5. Summary Analysis
Test history. The SAIC project staff visited the MEMA trailer on the Esplanade on Wednesday July 2nd
to
acquire access badges for July 3rd
, verify operation of the trailer datacast video from the MEMA bunker,
and plan tests for Thursday July 3rd
(which became the event day due to expected storms on July 4th
).
Wednesday July 2nd
. The SAIC project staff for the event visited the MEMA trailer on the Esplanade,
verified operation of the installed DTV receive system and MEMA weather map video reception, and
then injected and received notifications with attachments. In addition, we received badges for event
access “behind the fence” on the following day, July 3rd
, which became the target date for the “Pops
Goes the Fourth” festivities.
Thursday July 3rd
. The SAIC project staff visited the MEMA trailer on the Esplanade, again verified
operation of the installed DTV receive system and MEMA weather map video reception, and then
injected and received notifications with attachments both adjacent to – and nearby – the MEMA trailer
EOC on the Esplanade.
Test results and impact. The SAIC team entered multiple notifications with various attached files during
the afternoon before onset of the “Pops Goes the Fourth” event. The test video reception and file
transfers were performed throughout the event.
Video reception. The MEMA weather map video was received throughout the event, independent of
the crowd size on the Esplanade, that is, DTV reception was independent the number of cellular users
on the Esplanade. The continuous reception of video during this event demonstrated one of the key
values of datacasting, independence from the cellular network.
Notifications and data file reception. The SpectraRep datacast inject software, IncidentOne, originally
limited the size and type of files that could be distributed. For security reasons, file types were limited
to prevent malware and unknown file types from creating problems for recipients. This limitation was
kept in place and the file size limitations imposed by default in order to prevent large-file downloads
from bogging down the system.
The SAIC file transfer results led SpectraRep to identify a “bug” where the file carousel priority was set
too low relative to video datacast streams. When multiple video streams were being sent, which was
one of the test conditions; it caused file delivery to be significantly slowed.
Datacast software updates. To fix the file type issue we added all of the known file types that were
identified during testing, as well as several other common types. In the next version of our software
(2.0), we will remove file type restrictions completely and rely on malware prevention tools to block any
suspicious files. This is the way the Internet and other public safety communications systems work, so
should not pose a raised threat level.
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6. To fix the file size limitation issue, the default maximum size of 28.6 MB was increased to 100.0 MB.
SpectraRep can raise this upper bound to a higher value, but we do want users to employ an agreed
CONOPS before injecting large (e.g., exceeding 100 MB) files over datacast system or at least to divide
these files into smaller (i.e., 100-MB) segments so that other users can also be sending data without
congestion. In addition, files are now a higher priority, while will assure rapid delivery even when
multiple videos are active. Video encoding rates will be automatically adjusted during the time files are
being sent so that everything is delivered properly.
Findings and Recommendations
Continuous encrypted stream video received on the Esplanade. It was apparent to the test crew, and
those who viewed the datacast in the MEMA trailer EOC, that the weather map video was continuously
available independent of the public presence and resulting cellular congestion. This result was also
observed during the Washington DC 4th
of July events during the past several years. Of course, any DTV
receiver using the IPDtoPC and IncidentOne software in eastern Massachusetts that was targeted to
receive WGBH datacast transmissions by the sender (e.g., MEMA) would also have been able to see this
content. Because the TV delivery network is natively multicast, there would be no limit on the number
of receivers that could be monitoring this live video feed. Software “bugs” were identified and have
been fixed.
Recommendations. The following recommendations continued preparations are apparent form this
test and demonstration.
• Although MEMA is fully operational with datacasting inject and reception at the bunker in
Framingham and in in their EOC trailers, they require additional training and a Concept of
Operations (CONOPS) drafted and adopted for actual datacast use during an emergency.
• A dedicated and labeled HDMI or VGA port on the MEMA Crestron switch so when the operator
desires to datacst video, he or she will know to switch the video to that port. Currently, this
interface interface is shared with one of the smartboards, which can lead to unexpected
datacasting of whiteboard contents.
• Coordinate a test of MSP helicopter video to verify end-to-end operaiton
• Bring BAPERN audio to the IO Box rack (Figure 15) with the
SpectraRep IO unit so BAPERN audio can be datacast using
encrypted WGBH datacast.
• Coordination with other current datacast stakeholders to use
and receive injected video, data files, and audio *e.g.,
BAPERN), including Brookline, Cambridge, Gloucester, etc., so
they can communicate with each other and MEMA during an
emergency.
Acknowledgements
The test crew wishes to thank the MEMA staff, including those at the
MEMA trailer during July 2nd
and 3rd
. we also thank Blair Sutherland of
the State Police for acquiring the badges we needed to gain Esplanade access on July 3rd
.
Figure 15. MEMA IO unit.
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