E-Connect: Connecting People Through Apps in Post Disaster Situation

Abstract

Most of the communication facility gets uprooted in the area affected by the disaster. In such a scenario communicating with people in the area affected by disaster is a challenging task. Existing technology can be used to establish communication within a certain range without connectivity to any network or access point one such technology is Wi-Fi direct, which can enable D2D user communication, single-group communication, or multi-group communication with each other device without any access point or without any internet access point. It is reported that approximately 81.7% of people currently use Android phones. To establish communication, in post-disaster an Android application has been developed that allows users to connect with one, a batch of users, or a selected batch of users without the use of an access point. In the absence of a fixed access point, this program establishes a connection using the Wi-Fi P2P connectivity concept via Wi-Fi-Direct. The user must turn on his Wi-Fi before opening the app, and after that, the app will look for devices that are currently active within a 200-foot radius. Without the necessity for a pre-existing network, a chat can be held with those users once a link has been made. Some specific linked users serve as a hotspot or soft access point throughout this process, and the other connected devices first function as clients looking for new clients before transitioning to the server. The purpose of this Android application is to assist disaster management activities by enabling users to report critical information during the critical period of a disaster, such as the number of affected individuals, information regarding affected zones (such as the location of trapped individuals, food and medicine requirements, etc.), and so on. By using this software, impacted individuals can be helped promptly and effectively, ensuring a quick reaction to the crisis. For supporting single-group or multi-group communication between each Wi-Fi direct supported device a gateway layer and routing layer are proposed. The selection of random group owners through Wi-Fi direct and message prioritization among the nodes is also discussed.