Extending TETRA with wireless sensor networks

The Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) system is an open standard developed by ETSI and designed to support mobile radio communications in a number of market segments, among which public safety is by far the largest one. In this paper, we present the activities to the 'TETRis - TETRA Innovative Open Source Services' project to integrate wireless sensor networks technology with TETRA, in order to support real-time feedback in two application contexts relevant in public safety scenarios: structural health monitoring and air quality monitoring. The WSN deployed in our testbed is based on the MagoNode platform, a new mote featuring an RF front-end capable to enhance the radio performance. The results of the experimental activity confirm that WSNs can be effectively used to support the management of critical situations in the considered scenarios and that the MagoNode platform well meet the requirements provided by experts on structural health monitoring.