Alert Service (D4.4)

This deliverable, as part of the implementation reports to be submitted along with the different PHAROS modules’ prototypes, provides the implementation details of the module for the provision of the PHAROS alerting services. The document is a follow-up to deliverable D4.3 [1] and includes the implementation details about the alerting gateway (AG), the alerting channel access point (ACAP) implementation and the selected alerting channels. Additionally, it gives an update on the overall PHAROS system integration, which is ongoing at the time of submission of the deliverable (WP 6). Since the interconnection of the different elements providing the alerting services is part of the integration activities being currently performed (due in M28), the present report presents the results of the individual module tests of the alert services and the description of the integration tests to be carried out within WP 6. Additionally, the test results corresponding to the already performed integration tests (to be completed and documented in D6.1) are also included.

The main task contributing to this deliverable is Task 4.2 (GNSS-supported alert message delivery) whose main objectives are:

• Preparing the alert gateway created in the EU FP7 Alert4All project [2] to be integrated into the PHAROS platform, and with targeted alert dissemination channels: cell broadcast (CB) and GNSS services over EGNOS satellite through the MLU testbed hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA);
• Document the interface requirements between the alert gateway and both alert dissemination channels, implement the interface and integrate the alert gateway with a cell broadcast broker;
• Liaise with ESA concerning the interface to the MLU testbed;
• Develop an alert message application for existing receivers and identify CAPEX and OPEX.

During the execution of the Task, as already documented in [1], the MLU testbed was decommissioned by ESA and therefore, the cooperation to use the testbed in order to provide the alerting services over EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) has not been possible. Instead, the Consortium agreed to perform a theoretical analysis of the suitability of the service provision over EGNOS using the results obtained with the emulator developed within the context of the Alert4All project. Additionally, and as agreed during the PHAROS First Review Meeting, the study has been extended to analyse the use of the Galileo system for the provision of alerting services in a similar manner as the used for EGNOS. It must be remarked that, although it can be discussed that this theoretical study would have been more suitable to be included in D4.3 [1], together with the specification of the alerting sub-system, the timing of the events during the development of the Task did not allow for that. Therefore, it has been included in the present deliverable in order to present the study as a discussion on the suitability of the provided implementation for the provision of the corresponding pre-operational services over EGNOS and Galileo. In addition to this study, the PHAROS Consortium has established cooperation with the SBAS4Africa project, in order to be able to transmit alert messages using the Artemis satellite. Due to the different time frames of the two projects, this cooperation cannot be documented in the present deliverable and will be documented by the end of the project.

Regarding the identification of CAPEX and OPEX, like in WP 3 and WP 5, it is to be noticed that although the identification of CAPEX and OPEX of the alerting system and the provision of the service has been done in the context of Task 4.2, the outcome of this analysis is documented within the deliverables related to Task 2.2 (Service sustainability and business plan). The reason for that, as described in D4.3 is to keep all the aspects related to the PHAROS business in a unique set of documents (D2.2 [3], D2.3 [4] and the planned update of D2.3 by the end of the project).

With respect to the testing activities documented in the deliverable, it must be pointed out that, although the alerting system is a module in itself, it is formed by several entities distributed within the PHAROS network (distributed system approach). Therefore, there is a series of technical requirements which must be fulfilled by the alerting system as a whole, but that involves the interconnection of different sub-modules. In this regard, although the mentioned requirements have been identified within Task 4.2, the corresponding testing activities have been included within the system integration activities, to be performed until the completion of WP 6 (due in M28). At the time of submission of this deliverable, the implementation of the different elements of the alerting system is finished, although prone to modifications during the integration phase. Therefore, in order to provide a consistent approach to document the outcome of the different tests, the following criteria has been followed:

• Tests’ results related to the functionalities of the different elements in the alerting system are documented in this deliverable, as in all the other implementation reports.
• Tests’ results related to the interconnection of the different elements forming the alerting system are documented according to the already performed integration activities.
• For the tests included in the integration activities which have not yet been performed, the document provides the description of the tests to be done. The corresponding tests’ results will be included in a dedicated section within D6.1.