WASHINGTON—The Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance told the FCC in an electronic filing that the full capabilities of the ATSC 3.0 standard can be realized once NextGen TV broadcast signals “are ubiquitous across the country” and offered recommendations for how the Emergency Alert System (EAS) can be improved.
Regarding 3.0, the alliance reminded the commission that visual enhancements are part of Advanced Emergency Information that can supplement, but not replace, EAS transmissions.
“Advanced Emergency Information (AEI) can take many forms – including symbols, maps, more detailed instructions, additional video files, additional audio information, and more,” the alliance said.
The ability to transmit these files and information to the public will make it possible for broadcasters “to enhance” their connections with the public safety community and “deliver new voluntary alerting tools and capabilities that will save lives and property during emergencies,” it said.
AWARN’s recommendations for how to improve EAS addresses a commission request for comment as part of a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in which the agency made tentative conclusions about operational and technical functions of EAS and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and sought input on improvements being considered.
The alliance addressed the security and authentication of government public-warning messages as well as improving the accuracy of alert geotargeting. With regard to the former, the alliance told the commission that these messages should be authenticated regardless of the delivery path used to distribute them to the public—a principle that “applies equally to CAP [Common Alerting Protocol] and legacy EAS.”
“A message that begins in the legacy EAS ecosystem may be relayed, translated, enriched, or made available through multiple downstream services, such as ATSC 3.0 Advanced Emergency Information (AEI). The authenticity of a public warning message should not be lost merely because it originated or traveled over an older signaling path,” the alliance said.
AWARN also told the FCC that rules are needed to close a gap where an EAS participant is required to reject a CAP message with an invalid signature but is permitted to accept an unsigned message. “A valid signature should be required regardless of CAP source,” it said.
This change would do more than protect the legacy EAS ecosystem, but also require a “compact relay-resilient authentication record” that would enable systems downstream to determine whether or not a message is genuine, it said.
AWARN advised the agency to account for the National Weather Service’s continued reliance on NOAA Weather Radio and the weather radar-originated SAME [Specific Area Message Encoding]/EAS pathway.
“NWS modernization schedules may not align with those of EAS manufacturers and broadcasters,” it said. “Until NWS can support the adopted authentication method, the commission could permit EAS participants to continue processing unsigned legacy messages bearing the WXR originator code when received through their designated NWR monitoring assignments.”
The alliance also advised the commission that national and civil EAS alerts should not indefinitely remain unauthenticated.
“AWARN believes there is immediate and critical value in securing National Emergency Messages (EAN), as well as alerts such as Evacuation Immediate, Radiological Hazard Warning, Civil Danger Warning, Hazardous Materials Warning, Shelter in Place Warning, and Law Enforcement Warning, etc.,” it said.
Regarding alert geotargeting, the filing described the use of EAS by broadcasters as a “’cannon ball’ approach” to delivering emergency messages, citing the reach of typical radio and TV broadcasters being up to 60 miles from the transmitter.
While EAS “is best used to reach a large area at one time,” broadcasters evolving to more advanced digital platforms will have the ability to target messages more precisely.
“ATSC 3.0-equipped receivers can offer two-way communications so that receivers know their location (based on local postal zip codes) and so that voluntary AEI messages can be appropriately shared based on location,” the filing said.
AWARN also addressed the use of symbols to speed awareness of emergency situations. It recommended the FCC “permit and encourage” the use of symbology but not require its use.
“A common symbology set used by FEMA, radio and TV broadcasters, and WEA operators would be ideal,” it said.
“Care should be taken to develop or approve a symbol set that is very easy to understand, regardless of the relative size of the symbol. As to whether the FCC should endorse the Visually Integrated Display Symbology (VIDS) or the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation symbol library, we would urge that decision rest on clarity and ease of use,” it said.
More information is available on the AWARN website.
