Los Gatos, Calif. – September 6, 2012 – Firetide, Inc., the leading provider of wireless infrastructure mesh networks, today announced the release of its second generation Firetide Mobility Controller 2000 (FMC 2000). The new release enables public transportation and public safety agencies to deploy a full-service wireless infrastructure for live video surveillance, Wi-Fi, and data applications on virtually any vehicle including trains, subways, buses, and first responder and security vehicles traveling up to 90 mph. The FMC 2000 is available immediately through Firetide’s network of partners, integrators and resellers.
The FMC 2000 mobility controller is an intelligent software-based platform that adds full mobility and roaming features to Firetide HotPort wireless infrastructure mesh networks. The new version controls up 1,024 mobile nodes mounted on moving vehicles that communicate with stationary mesh nodes stationed along the vehicle routes on buildings, utility poles, or subway walls. The entire system enables full control and seamless vehicle roaming across up to 256 different mesh networks spanning virtually any distance.
“There is an ever-growing need for public transportation and public safety organizations to equip their vehicles with reliable, high-bandwidth wireless connectivity for passengers and employees traveling at high speeds,” said Rohit Mehra, director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure at IDC. “Firetide, with its expertise in wireless mesh solutions, has now evolved into providing a complete infrastructure for voice, video, data, and smartphone services on these vehicles, which will go a long way towards fulfilling the promise of complete mobility.”
“Firetide’s next-generation mobility controller enables an entirely new class of applications and functionality not possible on stationary networks,” said Bo Larsson, chief executive officer of Firetide. "Firetide’s development team has delivered a solution that enables rapid deployment of a wireless networking infrastructure that actually travels with the vehicles providing continuous connectivity for passenger and operator safety, employee mobility, liability protection, mobile business operations, and enhanced passenger services.”
Public Transportation vehicles such as buses, subways, and trains can offer enhanced services to passengers and operators that go beyond conventional Wi-Fi connectivity. Example applications for Firetide’s mobility infrastructure include:
• 2-Way Video enables train and subway operators to view live video feeds onboard the train itself, and also view live video of the tracks ahead of them; and the stations they are scheduled to arrive at. The ability to view live video enables train operators to see hazards and people on the tracks ahead or to determine if the upcoming passenger loading platform is clear and that the train ahead of them has actually left the station. Video helps operators and station staff to quickly identify safety and security issues to avoid potential disasters and make critical life-saving decisions.
• Video Offload capability enables vehicles to wirelessly offload video captured by on-board cameras to a storage server located inside the station.
• Emergency Medical Services (EMS) vehicles equipped with a wireless network infrastructure can send critical information about a patient in transit, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and live video enabling the emergency room to be better prepared to treat the patient upon arrival.
• Police and Public Safety vehicles can view video feeds from video cameras around town providing virtual eyes to monitor more locations, reduce response time and enable police officers to be better prepared in responding when a problem occurs.
• Digital Signage can be employed to provide information on travel schedules and routes, display advertising, broadcast public service announcements, and more.
• Data Collection with RFID and optical scanners for gathering and transmitting information such as ticketing data, vehicle locations, and route conditions.
Immediate Availability:
The FMC 2000 is available immediately through Firetide’s network of partners, integrators and resellers. For more information please contact Firetide Sales at (408)-399-7771 or via email at [email protected].
