APTS member station Thirteen/WNET (New York, NY) is developing a program to test and analyze end-to-end communication with first responders over the station's digital broadcast spectrum. The Broadband Emergency Alert would incorporate smart sensor networks to collect local data, integrate, disseminate and display video, other sensor data, and multi-source national intelligence data related to special operations for urban environments, perimeter defense, homeland defense, emergency response systems, emergency broadcast systems, and mobile command and control. Covering 50-75 mile urban area, the system would also receive return requests for information in the same broadcast channel ("in band return path"). The in band return path capability has been tested in laboratory settings.
