Graph-based Modeling and Simulation of Emergency Services Communication Systems

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel graph-based simulation framework for Emergency Services Communication Systems, addressing their complexity and resilience, with applications in cybersecurity and emergency response modeling.

Contribution

It introduces a robust, adaptable simulation framework with mathematical models for ESCS, focusing on non-stationary call arrivals and system breakdown dynamics.

Findings

Framework successfully simulates ESCS behavior

Model captures call burstiness and incident correlation

Application demonstrated on Seattle Police Department data

Abstract

Emergency Services Communication Systems (ESCS) are evolving into Internet Protocol based communication networks, promising enhancements to their function, availability, and resilience. This increase in complexity and cyber-attack surface demands better understanding of these systems' breakdown dynamics under extreme circumstances. Existing ESCS research largely overlooks simulation and the little work that exists focuses primarily on cybersecurity threats and neglects critical factors such as non-stationarity of call arrivals. This paper introduces a robust, adaptable graph-based simulation framework and essential mathematical models for ESCS simulation. The framework uses a representation of ESCSes where each vertex is a communicating finite-state machine that exchanges messages along edges and whose behavior is governed by a discrete event queuing model. Call arrival burstiness and its connection to emergency incidents is modeled through a cluster point process. Model applicability is demonstrated through simulations of the Seattle Police Department ESCS. Ongoing work is developing GPU implementation and exploring use in cybersecurity tabletop exercises.