SBIR-STTR Award

Real-time tracking of the position of first responders in indoor environments without Global Positioning System (GPS) coverage or other predeployed infrastructure is a challenging task. In this SBIR Phase I effort, Tiami LLC proposes the use of public digital TV (DTV) stations as positioning beacons for three-dimensional indoor tracking in GPS-denied environments. DTV stations provide near-ubiquitous coverage across the United States since a single high-power DTV station has a range of 35-40 miles. Leveraging DTV transmissions for location tracking removes the requirement for the emergency management community to invest in new transmitters, significantly reducing upgrade and ownership costs. Our preliminary analysis shows that DTV signals have up to 1000 times (30 dB) better coverage and outdoor-to-indoor penetration compared to FirstNet cellular radio transmissions. We will develop a wearable, battery-powered DTV positioning receiver that exploits the DTV ATSC 3.0 broadcast waveform from multiple stations to infer its position.

An area significantly lacking in first responder situational awareness is accurate responder location within various types of building structures above ground and underground such as tunnels and basements where GPS coverage is unavailable. GPS alternatives that rely on pre-deployed infrastructure such as indoor WiFi or mobile wireless networks or require the deployment of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) are not robust or universally applicable and are yet to be adopted on a wide scale.