news@accuvax.nwu.edu (USENET News System) (05/28/90)
I have noticed some discussion here recently about mobile data technology (terminals in police cars - is it for real?) and can assure telecom readers that indeed this technology is here - the company I work for, Mobile Data International (MDI), designs and manufactures complete mobile data communications systems. In addition to the police cars mentioned already, you can find terminals in your favorite taxicab, fire trucks, ambulances and EMT vehicles, and utility vehicles such as gas companies, electric, cablevision, and even automobile association vehicles. Federal Express trucks all have them (the secret of their success?) and other applications are just now being invented. This is not that new, just check out the October, 1982 issue of National Geographic for a photo of the Vancouver Police Department's MDT. A recent rerun of "Hill Street Blues" showed what these terminals can do. The police can use their terminals to check licence plates before they approach a vehicle they have stopped. In some cases this has saved the lives of the officers when they approach a suspected murderer etc... >From: henry@garp.mit.edu (Henry Mensch) X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 390, Message 6 of 7 (Henry discloses a letter from Boston Gas Company) >We will then be able to read your meter accurately by radio >signal from a computer equipped van as we drive down your street. I must admit don't know anything about the meter-reading stuff, but Boston Gas will also have MDTs (Mobile Data Terminals) in their vehicles, which communicate with the gas company dispatchers. These terminals do not communicate with the gas meters, but I would expect there would be some sort of additional system in the truck to do so. The terminals are used to dispatch trucks for repair work, and the technicians can query the company mainframe for additional details. >From: claris!netcom!ergo@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Isaac Rabinovitch) X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 389, Message 1 of 10 >claris!netcom!onymouse@ames.arc.nasa.gov (John Debert) writes: >(about computer terminals in police cars) >>I have heard the transmissions to and from these units and estimate >>the rate at about 1200baud. It shouldn't be too hard for someone with >>perhaps a TNC to connect their scanner to a terminal and read the >>traffic. >True. But it ought to be possible to encrypt transmissions, if they >haven't already done so. I don't know if it's actually possible to >provide an unbreakable encryption method (this was claimed at one >time; I haven't followed the issue closely but I understand there are >doubts) but at least it can put evesdropping out of the reach of the >less resourceful villains. I'm afraid that even without an encryption method, due to the error correction algorithms, etc ... it would be next to impossible for a villain to listen to such data traffic. And if he could, why does he need to steal to make a living?? >From: gnu@toad.com (John Gilmore) X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 384, Message 1 of 11 >whole idea is to sell more yak-wuile-you-drive to yups, they don't >have any idea where the real portable digital markets are at. Real >workstations will be palm-sized and portable in 1993 or so, long >before the telcos are ready to network them *cheaply* in an office or >neighborhood while having them able to remain online on the net (at a >price) while traveling all over the country. What hacker, >stockbroker, student, reporter, ... would be without one? Anybody got >an angle by which we can bypass the telcos and do it right while they >blunder? If I'm not mistaken, there are nationwide data networks available right now. They are *NOT* run by the telcos, to my knowledge. In my opinion, cellular phones are for talking on. I can't understand why anyone would want to connect a fax machine to one. It is like encoding a tv signal and transmitting it on a voice-grade phone line, isn't it? If the coax (or fibre) exists, use it! Then, later, stick a phone on the extra bandwidth... (just my humble opinion :-) DISCLAIMER: I do not speak for Motorola Inc. or MDI. The opinions related in this message are all mine, and the fact that I am a proud employee of MDI may color my commentary, but that is my fault, not my employer's. Roger Theriault mdivax1!theriaul@van-bc.wimsey.bc.ca {uw-beaver,uunet}!van-bc!mdivax1!theriaul
Rob Gutierrez <gutierre@calvin.arc.nasa.gov> (05/31/90)
mdivax1!theriaul@van-bc.wimsey.bc.ca writes: > I have noticed some discussion here recently about mobile data > technology (terminals in police cars - is it for real?) and can assure > telecom readers that indeed this technology is here - the company I > work for, Mobile Data International (MDI), designs and manufactures > complete mobile data communications systems. > This is not that new, just check out the October, 1982 issue of > National Geographic for a photo of the Vancouver Police Department's > MDT..... I have seen, and have been aware of MDT's being used by police departments since 1973! Not too many people seem to remember the first big installation of MDT's was at the Oakland (California) Police Dept in 1973. It used GTE "Datacom's", which were huge terminals, and used a real CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) to display four lines of twenty-five characters. A roomate of mine was able to procure the "Users Manual" to operate and also look up codes for the messages displayed on the CRT. These were used also with a CAD (Computer Aided Dispatching) system, which GTE was pushing as an "all-in-one solution to the rising crime rate", and Oakland was very much appropriate for that quote. The system was funded by a government grant to see how MDT's would work in the real world. The terminals were not initially well received because the police officers thought this was an excuse for the City of Oakland to reduce staffing in the cars from two-man to one-man, and then have that one man actually look away from the "suspect" while doing the queries on the MDT. (First Commanment in Police Academy: Thou Shalt NEVER Looketh Away From Thy Suspect, EVER!). The grant money eventually ran out about three or four years later, and the MDT's were eventually scrapped (they did keep the remaining ones working as long as possible, cannabalizing the others to do so). The police officers did accept the terminals when they discovered it was actually faster than waiting in line for subject and auto queries on the radio. (Yes, you were given a number on the query channel (Ch. 3) during busy times, like Friday/Saturday nights! Sometimes waiting behind up to six to eight other officers!). They were sorely missed when the query radio channel crowded up again. Robert Gutierrez Office of Space Science and Applications, NASA Science Internet Project - Network Operations Center. Moffett Feild, California. [Moderator's Note: The Chicago PD was using these terminals on a limited basis in the middle '70's, and they have not really increased their usage now, fifteen years later. Still, only a few cars are equipped. Calling on the radio for information frequently results in a long delay here, and worse yet are the times when the dispatcher responds saying the system is down, and to try again in twenty minutes. PT]