Development of Autonomous Anti-Disaster Base Station by Combination of Satellite and Wireless Networks

When a large-scale disaster occurs, it is crucial to secure means of communication. However, as the damage to the communication networks might be aggravated as the magnitude of the disaster becomes larger, it would likely cause a state where all communications are disrupted. In addition, as the amount of damage to the power plant and transmission line becomes more significant, it could disrupt the supply of electricity over an extended period of time. The purpose of this research is to develop an autonomous anti-disaster base station that houses a power supply system, which uses both solar panels and batteries as the source of power, and has satellite Internet and wireless LAN environment so as to contribute to the securing of Internet communication immediately following a great earthquake. We developed a prototype system of the autonomous anti-disaster base station that features two types of satellite Internet connection equipment. The prototype system was put through a demonstration experiment during an anti-disaster drill held at a university. During the anti-disaster drill, the students of the university that evacuated to a sports field used their own smart devices to connect to the wireless LAN access point of the prototype system and registered their safety information into the safety confirmation system of the university through the satellite Internet. The access log of the safety confirmation system allowed us to verify that access was successfully made to the safety confirmation system through the prototype system. In addition, we conducted a questionnaire survey of the university students following the drill and were able to verify the usefulness of the system.