Introduction to three papers on radio-propagation studies related to public-safety communications

The three papers in this special section focus on radio-propagation studies as they apply to public safety communications. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is involved in a several-year effort to understand and address the wireless communication problems that first responders. Addresses the following: experiments performed before, during, and after the implosion of three large building structures; key elements that pose challenges to public-safety radio communications into and out of large buildings; and experiments performed in the streets in downtown Denver, CO, for frequencies between 700 MHz and 4.9 GHz. The experimental data discussed here represent a large public-domain dataset. The experimental dataset presented here and in the various references will aid in improving channel descriptions for large public buildings, and will be useful for assessing current and future wireless technology in emergency scenarios.