The innovative software system enables to gather and communicate resource and environmental data for products and services in global value chains. The system has been developed in the consortium of the European research project myEcoCost and forms a basis of a new, highly automated environmental accounting system fur companies and consumers. The prototype of the system, linked to financial accounting of companies, was developed and tested in close collaboration with large and small companies. This brochure gives a brief introduction to the vision linked to myEcoCost: a network formed by collaborative environmental accounting nodes collecting environmental data at each step in a product's value chains. It shows why better life cycle data are needed and how myEcoCost addresses and solves this problem. Furthermore, it presents options for a future upscaling of highly automated environmenal accounting for prodcuts and services.

The limited data availability, transparency and harmonisation in environmental assessments of products are bottlenecks for improved environmental and sustainability governance. Despite the progressive developments of information and communication systems, reliable, accurate, up-to-date data for assessing the resource use of products and services is still lacking. Resource accounting systems often have limited scope on single companies, processes or products. This paper presents an approach for an automated bottom-up accounting system for measuring resource efficiency at product and service level. It is based on a global collaborative network of resource accounting nodes connected for the accounting of natural resources use for products and services. Using an Internet-based service-oriented architecture, relevant and timely data is passed from supplier to customer recursively through the whole value chain to produce an “ecoCost” for each product or service. This conceptual paper reflects first experiences from partners of the myEcoCost project funded by European Commission (www.myecocost.com).

This paper presents an effective and simple algorithm, called hybrid algorithm, suitable for passive localization in cellular networks. This novel method fulfils the stringent requirements of the system developed within the WISECOM project (co-funded by the European Commission) that aims to restore GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) or 3G (Third Generation) infrastructure thanks to the backhaul over satellite and to support logistics of rescue teams during emergency situations by tracking themselves as well as victims. Hybrid Algorithm is capable to provide reliable information to rescue workers regarding every person owing nothing else but an ordinary mobile phone. Moreover, it doesn't require any software or hardware change in the user's terminal and is fully consistent with GSM standards. Its implementation on a cell phone is even less involved and may represent an option for the provision of the Location Based Services by any GSM network provider.

This paper presents the detailed architecture of the WISECOM system, which can quickly re‐establish and provide telecommunication services after a disaster by integrating terrestrial mobile radio networks, such as GSM, WiFi, WiMAX and TETRA, with satellite technologies. The system aims to be a useful tool to be deployed in the early hours after a disaster event, for both the victims and the rescue services who will be able to communicate in a reliable and robust way, improving the coordination of the different teams and reducing the time needed to provide victims with the proper treatment. The paper presents in detail the different services provided by the system taking into account its two different versions, based on two different satellite technologies, Inmarsat BGAN and DVB‐RCS. Together with the presentation of the system capabilities, a business model is also proposed. Thereafter, the architecture of the general system and the demonstrators that have been developed are detailed, according to the two versions of the system. The work also presents the outcomes of the tests conducted with a prototype of the system, and of the final project demonstration, which was held in Germany in May 2008 with the involvement of real end‐users (fire brigades and civil protection authorities). Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper describes the communications infrastructure used in the e-Triage Project. The main objective of e-Triage is the effcient electronic on-site registration of victims in Mass Casualty Incidents (MCIs) to enable a fast distribution of the information to operation control centers and hospitals for a better handling of victims. To achieve this, e-Triage designs the end-device used to register the victims, the distributed database where the information of the victims is saved, and the communications infrastructure necessary to transmit the data. After a disaster event the terrestrial commercial networks are likely to be overloaded, damaged or not operative, if they ever existed. A dynamic network extension is envisaged for dedicated Professional Mobile Radio (PMR) systems, or a complete deployment is foreseen if e-Triage is used abroad where no infrastructure is. This paper focuses on the technologies used to transmit data and voice traffc within the disaster area and to the remote control centers and hospitals. These technologies are GSM/GPRS, TErrestrial Trunked RAdio (TETRA) and WLAN and are backhauled over satellite (BGAN or VSAT) or UMTS links. Some modifications of the protocols underneath have been implemented, which show better performance over slow and limited bandwidth links.

This paper describes the portable satellite backhauling solution for emergency communications used in the e-Triage Project. The main objective of e-Triage is the efficient electronic on-site registration of the victims in Mass Casualty Incidents (MCIs) to enable a fast distribution of the information to hospitals for a better handling of victims. To achieve this, e-Triage designs the end device used to register the victims, the database where the information of the victims is saved, and the communications infrastructure necessary to transmit the data, as after a disaster event the terrestrial networks are likely to be overloaded, damaged or not operative, if they ever existed. This paper focuses on the design aspects of a hand-luggage-size suitcase that offers GSM/GPRS and WLAN to rescue teams and victims in the disaster area and connects them over satellite to the disaster-safe area.

This paper presents the comparison of two IPv6 over IPv4 solutions for a laboratory demonstrator within NEWSKY, a project co-funded by the European Commission within its 6th Research Framework Programme (FP6). NEWSKY aims at developing a concept for a global, heterogeneous communication network for aeronautical communications. It assumes IPv6 hosts, but nowadays satellite networks still run over IPv4 links. Two solutions have been tested and investigated over a real satellite link for this project: L2TP tunneling and NAPT-PT modified. Both are implemented and compared in terms of overhead and complexity. Results show that NAPT-PT modified adds less overhead than tunneling, however, L2TP computation is easier and faster than NAPT-PT modified.

This paper presents the development of a laboratory demonstrator within NEWSKY, a project co-funded by the European Commission within its 6th Research Framework Programme (FP6). Host and network mobility are some of the essential network functionalities required for efficient operation of a network-centric aeronautical communication system. This paper deals with the feasibility demonstration of Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6) and Network Mobility (NEMO) protocols to suitable provide mobility support for the future Air Traffic Management (ATM) network.

SatNEx aims to overcome the fragmentation in Europe's satellite communications research by bringing together Europe's leading academic institutions and research organisations in a cohesive and durable way. This paper gives an overview over the first two phases of the SatNEx Network of Excellence project, as well as an outlook to the extension, SatNEx-III, planned for the years 2009 - 2012.

This paper presents the statistics of antenna view angle from aircrafts to Inmarsat GEO satellites. In addition a parametric model is proposed to estimate the impact of aircraft attitude change (roll, pitch, and yaw) to the satellite antenna view angles. Without delving into the details of geometrical attitude modeling, it is shown that an accurate argument can be constructed on the impact of aircraft movements and banking maneuvers to the satellite view angle. The results are presented as statistics over global scheduled flights in one day period. The statistic results are discussed at the end of the paper, where their impacts to the overall system design are analyzed.

This paper presents the development of a compact, ruggedized satellite terminal, to be used for communications in emergency situation. The terminal provides GSM coverage in disaster area, where existing communication infrastructure is destroyed or overloaded. It uses GSM backhauling over satellite to transport GSM signalling and data traffic to the core GSM network infrastructure in the disaster-safe area. Additionally, basic data services such as HTTP web browsing and email are also provided via WiFi access.

This paper presents the development of a compact, ruggedized satellite terminal, to be used for communications in emergency situation. The terminal provides GSM coverage in disaster area, where existing communication infrastructure is destroyed or overloaded. It uses GSM backhauling over satellite to transport GSM signalling and data traffic to the core GSM network infrastructure in the disaster-safe area. Additionally, basic data services such as HTTP Web browsing and email are also provided via WiFi access. Issues related to the terminal design and the tests that have been undertaken are presented in the paper.

In this paper, the main concepts of the Wireless Infrastructure over Satellite for Emergency COMmunications project (WISECOM) are presented. These concepts rely upon the idea of a light and rapidly deployable system that can be autonomously used in remote areas where telecommunication networks have broken down to provide access to emergency telecommunication services using a large set of wide-spread telecommunication technologies such as GSM, UMTS, WiFi, WiMAX, and TETRA and a satellite back-hauling link. In the paper, a detailed description of the whole WISECOM system is provided, with emphasis on the WISECOM Access Terminal, the unit deployed on the disaster area and interfacing the selected satellite system to different wireless local access technologies. Then, three relevant and realistic examples of configuration of the WISECOM system (GSM, UMTS and TETRA over satellite) are detailed.

This paper presents the overall architecture of the WISECOM system, which can quickly re-establish and provide telecommunication services after a disaster. The architecture is explained and it is described together with a role model, which adapts to the system. The work tries to map the existing complex interactions taking place nowadays in an emergency situation to a sensible architecture, which can accommodate all needed actors and roles, and which can exploit, at the same time, the newest wireless technologies.

The explosion of mobile services and the availability of wireless coverage in airports and aircrafts during flight alike will make possible to introduce to business and leisure travelers, airline and airport personnel several new services. Service creation platforms for these environments will have to work with the continuous context change that people experience in the different phases of the travel experience, from a travel preparation at home or in the office, to pre travel, travel and post travel phases. In this paper the scenarios, use cases, business actors, charging aware system architecture and possible business models are analyzed.

Eurocontrol and FAA have jointly produced a roadmap document for future development of Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems, which is called the Communications Operating Concepts and Requirements (COCR) for Future Radio Systems (FRS) [1]. The document (COCR) is written as a general guideline, without taking into account any technological implementation. In this work we are interested in estimating the capacity requirements for a satellite system for ATM. The bit rate requirement per spot beam is determined using the same approach as in the COCR, with some parameters adjusted to fit in a satellite system scenario. Furthermore, the criticality of one particular service message, the A-EXEC, is verified by comparing the required bit rate when it is excluded from the computation. A condition when this criticality applies is also determined.

Deployment of GSM and UMTS networks over satellite are attractive for several markets. Satellites can provide transport interconnection in areas with difficult or expensive long-distance infrastructure due to the wide coverage zones in order to replace terrestrial land lines. Furthermore, mobile networks on trains, aeroplanes, ships etc., demand for satellite interconnection. Modern GSM and UMTS base stations for remote site typically support IP transport mechanisms. This does not only apply to pico-cells, there are also trends to use IP as transport for large base stations as the convergence of personal mobile telephony and IP multimedia communication is anticipated in the new 3GPP (3rd generation partnership programme) releases. To compete with other transport media (terrestrial wireless, land-lines) efficiency of the satellite link is crucial. This paper discusses several possibilities to for efficient transport of GSM and UMTS over satellite. It starts form considerations of the voice traffic encapsulated in IP/UDP/RTP header and possibilities to reduce the overhead arising from the transport headers. Several protocol compression techniques such as header compression and packet multiplexing are discussed. The applicability depends also on the available ground infrastructure of the satellite provider. Finally, networking optimization of the GSM or UMTS architectures in the different 3GPP releases are discussed. Advanced architectures having core network functionalities such as the radio control (BSC, RNC) or even transport switches and media gateways at the remote site, bear inherent functional advantages.