Development of IEEE 802.11 compliant antenna with WLAN mobile multimedia messaging application for emergency communication purposes

Abstract

In emergency or disaster situations, when communications were interrupted due to damaged local network infrastructures, coordination are affected. Moreover, the deployment of specialized technologies such as satellite and shortwave communication network were found impractical. The objective of the study was first, to construct an improvised antenna that will be tested on an area with no cellular network and test the router’s operating range using it, and second, to design and develop a mobile multimedia messaging application that utilizes WLAN to send data. Results of the testing shows that improvised antenna achieved operating range of 192 meters, the range achieved 215 meters in area with no cellular network, and the application was capable of sending multimedia messages over WLAN.