Syracuse, NY - During the 9/11 disaster, police, firefighters and others at times couldn’t talk with each other because they were on different radio frequencies and there was so much radio traffic.

What if responders could have communicated with each other no matter what devices they had handy — radios, cellphones, or laptops?

Researchers at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies — in partnership with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, Rochester Institute of Technology and other universities— have developed a technology that lets people communicate with each other using whatever device or operating system they have.

Once they download the SU-developed software from Wireless Grids Corp., which spun out of SU, they can access this new temporary network, or grid. The Edgeware, the name of the software developed by SU, was invented by Lee McKnight, SU's Kauffman Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

McKnight, who’s been working on this for eight years, said we live in a world of devices and this is a way to merge them all. “This new capability is essentially a personal cyberinfrastructure, a personal cloud of your machines, your devices, your content,” he said.

The technology creates a virtual wireless grid among responders and anyone else identified as part of the grid. Any digital device with an IP address, or is reachable from a device with an IP address, can be linked through the software, said Edward Nanno, executive director of the Wireless Grids Lab, who works with McKnight.

Also, the grid doesn't require a server. For example, the signal from a cellphone calling another cellphone has to go through a tower. This technology uses existing radio bandwidth, or radio signals to operate.



Here's how it works:



You load the software application onto your devices — phones, laptops, computers, radios — and everyone with the software who is identified as part of that virtual grid can talk to each other and share information in any form.



The grid includes three components, including the software. The second is a device called a cognitive radio, developed at Virginia Tech, which can pick up any radio frequency, understand the information it carries, and transmit it in understandable form to anyone else on the grid, regardless of what device they are using — computer, laptop, phone.



The third piece is an imaging system developed by RIT that can take high-definition photos, for example from a plane, which is particularly useful in a disaster.

If there’s an earthquake in Haiti, a plane could send photos of the damage and deploy the radios to rescue workers; the software can be downloaded onto any device so everyone who needs to can communicate with each other, Nanno said. The system goes beyond the Internet by bypassing the use of a server and will ultimately transform the way people communicate, Nanno said.

"It's revolutionary technology that is going to totally change the way people communicate," he said. "The beauty of this it that it works with any operating system or any device, whether it's an Android phone or an Apple PC. "



Since 2002, the project has received almost $3 million in grants from the National Science Foundation's Partnerships for Innovation program, and another $864,000 in grants for 2009-12, Nanno said.



Enormously useful during a major disaster, it also has smaller-scale applications as well, researchers say. For example:

-- The Syracuse Police Department and Madison County Sheriff's office are expected to test the grid in 2012. The project will be supported by two $120,000 grants from the NSF, and additional support — approximately $60,000 — from the state Department of Homeland Security. They will set up mock disaster scenarios and test SU's software and Virginia Tech's radios in their cars as they communicate over the grid with firefighters, HazMat teams, other emergency personnel and community members.

-- The South Side Communication Center in Syracuse is testing the system as a neighborhood notification system, so pastors and others can be linked with law enforcement and neighbors.

-- The Oneida Indian Nation may test the system as a way of using their language more by setting up a grid where they can talk to each other.



-- Herbalife, a national company selling nutrition and weight-loss products, is testing the system as a private network where they can all talk to each other wherever they are on any device they happen to be using. The company will have 200,000 people around the world testing the system. This is the largest test so far.



-- Students, faculty and staff at SU will test the system — with an application called WeJay also from Wireless Grids Corp. — as a way to create "social radio" stations to share music, officials said.

-- Dorms at SU will be used to test the system as a way to allow students to create their own internal network for sharing information and communicating.

Sara Nerlove, director of the NSF's Partnerships in Innovation program, said the technology is "a major breakthrough" with limitless potential. As different groups test it, their feedback adds to its development and potential applications, she said.



"To be able to communicate like this without having to use a central server is spectacular," she said. "It can have use in education, emergency response and much more; you just have to use your imagination."



Although most of those testing the system are small local-area networks, the system could be expanded to have limitless users down the road, said Janet Marsden, a doctoral doctorate student working with Nanno and McKnight.



Because the technology uses existing bandwidth, talking between cellphones could be free for test users. By the time a commercial version is unveiled, it shouldn't be too costly because it's energy-efficient , Marsden said



SU, along with a number of technology firms and local agencies and groups, are all part of The Wireless Grids Innovation Testbed, or WiGit. WiGit is testing various applications of the software with grants from the NSF's Partnerships for Innovation.

The wireless grid application will be rolled out at a technology exhibition in Harlem, TEDxHarlem, next spring.



"The applications for this are virtually limitless, and that's why it's so valuable," Nanno said.



Elizabeth Doran can be reached at edoran@syracuse.com or 315-470-3012.