Svxlink VOIP Implementation Using Raspberry

Pi in Education and Disaster Relief Situations

Kemal Hajdarevic, Samim Konjicija Abdulhamit Subasi

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and
University of Sarajevo, University of Sarajevo, Information Technologies, IBU,
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract—Radio amateurism is a hobby, which helped in community in cases of emergencies [1, 2, 3], or just to
pioneering many innovations that we are using today. have friends’ conversations [4].
Hobbyists, which use radio communication to communicate, Trend of new ham licensees has constant and steady
are called Hams. Radio communications has great history growth in United States as reported in QST [5] and ARRL
and Hams are part of it. Radio amateurism is a hobby which [6]. It can be predicted from previous experience of
plays great part in emergency and disaster relief situations technology usage that other parts of globe fill follow this
when conventional communications became unavailable.
trend. Reasons for this growth could be different reasons
Technology built around radio communication is suitable in
education to test study cases, and gain knowledge in wireless
such as restructuring, new frequency band plan [5], [6] but
and computer communications. Purpose of this paper is to available and cheap technology for sure play important
experiment with open source VOIP software (svxlink) using, role, what we used in our work presented in this paper.
cheap microcomputer hardware, one of available Linux
distributions, radio amateur frequencies, radio amateur
transceivers and antennas. Different technological issues
brought together in this paper such as wired and wireless
communication, VOIP over Internet with voice coming from
radio amateur equipment and vice versa. We also tested
integrated automatic position reporting system (APRS)
because svxlink has capability to dynamically update data
on APRS server what is capability with potential many
applications such as active and passive measuring activities
of VOIP users, users’ mobility, and other applicable APRS
functionalities as well. In this paper are published
experiences from real disaster situation during floods and
mudslides which hits Bosnia and Herzegovina in May 2014.

Keywords— VOIP; Raspberry Pi; Education; Disaster

Figure 1. Steady and constant growth of new ham licensees in the US [5],
I. INTRODUCTION [6]

Radio frequency was used for commercial purposes

and by radio amateurs (called hams) from dawn of radio A. A short history of recent radio amateur advances
communications and continued to be used by military
starting from First World War. After the first world war Radio frequencies became available to general public
radio communication continued to be part of commercial, in 1998 [7], and the first country which introduced ITU
military, government means of communication and even frequencies [8] for license-free use was Ireland [9], other
radio amateur communication until these days. To use European countries followed this practice. Since then radio
radio communication for private use, such as for testing communication has been more popularized in general
purposes, individual has to be licensed radio amateur public because cheap radio devices called Public Mobile
within national radio amateur associations. Each licensed Radio (PMR) [9] due to their availability. Radio
radio amateur must have assigned call sign number to communication is seen as good education platform [10]
participate in communication. Two first authors of this which has potential to educate students in different area of
paper have their unique call signs which are respectively communication and especially in heterogeneous
E71HK and E74KS. Radio amateur use radio frequencies environments where different wireless techniques are
with purpose which is in general gathering of amateur used. Most recently radio amateurs use WIFI [11]
radio operators “on the air” where hams use specific communication to form computer communication
frequencies to exchange ideas, test equipment, to support
networks with all features of packet radio with cheap community and country because they provide information
equipment. and technical support in cases of emergency when other
means of communications does not work. This is
Radio amateurs regularly perform exercise and especially important because disasters sometimes hit more
contests and results (how many connections are countries and regions disrespecting national borders.
established in specific time) are usually placed on single Critical infrastructure is important for:
location as repository. Ham computer network can be used
as infrastructure for results data collection, results analysis, “health, safety, security or economic well-being of
record keeping and for contest results reporting. citizens or the effective functioning of governments” stated
by [14].
B. Current technology applications and advances in
radio amateur communications
Today hams create radio amateur networks called
hamnet or radio amateur networks which are used to
transfer data or voice over microwave links.
The hamnet network is deployed currently in Germany,
Austria, Switzerland and Italy [12]. Hamnet is TCP / IP
based Intranet which provides data transfer between
regions and countries. In general hamnet which is high
performance packet radio successor uses 2.4 and 5 GHz
frequencies for communication. It is seen as backbone
which supports data transfer at high speeds over long
distances. It can be used [12] as a platform for research,
test activities and education. In Figure 2 is shown part of
hamnet map in Europe available at [13]. Figure 3. Infrastructure for APRS

In recent years cheap and energy efficient

microcomputer devices such as Raspberry Pi
microcomputer became available which are suitable for
education purposes [15, 16, 17] which we used in our
project to establish VOIP node to intermediate between
Internet connection and VHF / UHF radio connection
using Echolink [18] system.
This type of infrastructure allows VOIP connection
over Internet as other Internet VOIP services with
difference that remote transceivers can reach transceiver
base station from up to tens of kilometers. The reason for
this are:
- radio amateurs can use higher power for their
devices compared to 0.5 watts for general public
users.
Network map of hamnet nodes in Europe (hamnetdb.net) - radio amateurs can use self designed and built
Hamnet allows interconnection between automatic antennas.
stations (D-Star relay - coupling VOIP transported hamnet
- weather stations, APRS stations, clubs and contests). C. Rationale for establishing Internet/radio node with
Hamnet can be used for configuration changes by remote svxlink VOIP software
control and monitoring (frequency change, start-up and
shutdown of equipment, antennas, monitoring of automatic We wanted to achieve more than one goal in this
stations, power failure ...). Other services can be used such project because we saw potential in VOIP communication
as access to webcams, connection to Software Defined using open source svxlink [19] (variant of Echolink [17]
Radio (SDR) stations, sensor readings, instant messaging, software built for linux distributions) software. This
and many other supported functions and activities. software allows radio communication even if radio
Sensors can be used to collect data which might be amateur does not have radio transceiver, to learn and
crucial for early warnings on flood, fire, mudslides, and educate other interested organizations and individuals, to
other potential nature disasters. These sensors can deliver test, research and to build infrastructure for other project
information via hamnet network for rising automatic and for potential disaster situations where radio
alarms allowing proactive actions by those potentially communication was used [20] and can be used, and to
affected and to rescuers. involve other education institutions in similar projects.
Well educated individuals in alternative communication
Services that Hams provide in critical situations in our can play crucial role in any post disaster situation.
opinion is and could part of critical infrastructure of any
 First goal was to access remote Ham radio station [21] - System-on-Chip (SoC): Broadcom BCM2835
because many Hams do not have large back yards where - Communication: 1 × Ethernet 10/100 Mbps, 2 × USB,
they could put their antennas, or they do not have space in Audio-Out,
their houses to physically locate Ham rigs and to operate - HDMI
from their homes. Radio frequency radiation from 2. Power: Micro-USB, ca. 300…700 mA
antennas might be risk to human health when located in 3. USB Sound Card.
close proximity and thus for is good option to connect 4. SD memory card minimum 2GB, and minimum class6,
remote radio station. supported SD cards can be found on this link [24].
Second goal was to use lessons learned, to build and 5. PMR or radio amateur transceiver.
document study case and to propagate practical and hands- - Baofeng UV-5RE, [25], or / and
on knowledge for education purposes first to student at - Yaesu FT 411- E [26]
University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina than to
other local and other country universities. For initial system setup it is good to have USB
Third goal was to built initial infrastructure with two Keyboard, monitor and HDMI / VGA convertor if needed
nodes with svxlink VOIP application located at two sites because Raspberry Pi has only HDMI connector and not a
in Sarajevo city valley. This two links would be able to VGA connector that most monitors are equipped with.
accept connections for Internet and propagate VOIP calls B. Software components
to connected transceivers and vice versa. This would open
possibility for test and research activities. With established Svxlink [19] is built for linux distributions available as
infrastructure, it is possible to measure usage and Raspbian Debian (Wheezy) distribution, available on web
frequency of svxlink application usage by users. Other test site [27]. To be able to use svxlink software and access
and research activities are possible such as different global relay directory each call sign used with svxlink
antenna design and usage of different frequencies. must be registered at Echolink web site [18].
Fourth goal was to contribute in future research by C. Budget estimation
offering research students real playground for hands on As stated above budget for hardware is less than 150
and test activities instead of using simulators. Euros and software is open source solution, and hardware
Fifth goal was to promote idea of using and providing is only expense of this project. Price of RPi is less 40
infrastructure such as hamnet and svxlink VOIP as open Euros, price of USB sound card is 4 Euros, price of
source and free to use technologies in emergency HDMI / VGA converter is 20 Euros, price of SD memory
situations such as one (floods and landslides) happening in card is 8 Euros, Baofeng transceiver 50 Euros, and
Bosnia and Herzegovina during preparation of this paper. connectors, cables, soldering expenses are less than 10
Euros.
D. Design of experiment issues and scenario description
III. INTERNET, RADIO, PHYSICAL CONNECTIONS
As a practical part of this paper our aim was to carry
out performance measurements of number connections Prerequisites for establishment svxlink node is to have
changing input radio frequencies. According to the theory Internet connection for which access device such as
design of experiment (DOE) [22] we deliberately change firewall or router has to be configured as it is specified
variables such as: frequencies of transceivers, hardware below.
components (transceivers), antennas, configuration options
for communication between transceiver and node with A. Internet connection
installed svxlink. Svxlink requires that router or firewall allow inbound
and outbound UDP to ports 5198 and 5199, and outbound
II. REQUIRED SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE TCP to port 5200.
COMPONENTS
Internet
For this project different hardware and software
Router /
components are needed. While software is open source Firewall
hardware is needed but for which budget is less than 150
RPi
Euros, if Internet Internet connection exit with appropriate
access device.
Connection
A. Hardware components between RPi
In order to setup fully functional svxlink node there is and Radio Radio
need for six hardware components plus cables, connectors tranceiver are transceiver
explained in
stated below: Figure 5. and
Figure 6.
1. Microcomputer, Raspberry Pi B with following Figure 4. Physical connection of devices
hardware specifications [23]:
- Processor (CPU): ARM1176JZF-S (700 MHz) Router has to be configured to "forward" UDP ports
- Memory (RAM): 512 MB 5198 and 5199 to the Raspberry Pi on which svxlink is
- Graphic processor (GPU): Broadcom VideoCore IV running [27].
B. Audio physical connections
Speaker and Tranasceiver
Above mentioned hardware has to be physically Microphone
connected so that Raspberry Pi (RPi) is connected to
router or firewall directly through UTP cable or via WIFI
to switch or other communication device. Internet
connection has to be configured as it is defined in section
above – Internet connection.
RPi and radio transceiver have to be connected
through audio cables, appropriate connectors, and using
electronic components.
Kenwood, Wouxun, Baofeng [29] transceivers have
same headset pin outs, and in Figure 5. is shown our
connection scheme setting for mentioned types of devices.
In Figure 6. is shown scheme for Yaesu or Baofeng
transceivers (jumper selection) for which sources [30, 31]
were used as reference points. Idea for testing below Figure 6. Physical connection of headset pinouts with USB / serial
described two options is to prove feasibility of using first cable
and cheaper option for which only two condensers, cables
and connectors were used. IV. BRIEF SETUP AND OPERATION INSTRUCTIONS
In order to operate svxlink node with Rasbian
C. Audio connection using VOX transceiver operating system it is important to install, configure and
functionality run it as defined in manual web pages referenced below.

For this option, transceiver has to be configured to use A. Setup instructions

VOX option which is functionality to initiate transmission Installation image of operating system on RPi is
once it is recognised that sound (voice) is coming to described on web site [32]. For initial Raspbian Debian
microphone what simulates push to talk (PTT) button. (Wheezy) implementation on RPi it is advisable to use
For this particular implementation voice is coming from Win32 Disk Imager [33] to install Raspbian Debian
USB sound card what has to be recognized as request for (Wheezy) operating system into SD card from PC which
transmission. For this particular implementation only two has SD card drive.
condenser of 5 μF where used and appropriate audio
After operating system image is transferred to RPi it is
connectors and conductors.
possible to start and log on to RPi using keyboard and
monitor. At the first log on to RPi it is possible to
configure system settings which can be later started
manually by issuing command sudo raspiconfig.
To prepare Raspbian Debian (Wheezy) distribution n
for svxlink installation and to install svxlink, commands
has to be executed explained on this web page [32]. Sound
files have to be downloaded [34] and installed which are
needed for svxlink to operate as a server. For svxlink to
work properly configuration files has to be edited and
updated using provided instructions [35] to local
(coordinates, operational frequency) and personal
information such call sign, password received from
Echolink [18] web page, etc.
Figure 5. Physical connection of headset pin outs
B. Operation instructions
D. Audio connection using USB/serial cable After successful installation svxlink can be started by
executing command svxlink, or it can be configured to be
started after each reboot by configuring /etc/rc.local file
For this option, transceiver has to be used with USB
with following lines:
conversion cable into serial cable which is used to capture
voice and simulate PTT button via CNY17 photocoupler # Svxlink startting
with appropriate audio transformers, connectors and sleep 10
conductors which is built based on [30, 31] options for svxlink --daemon
Yaesu and Baofeng transceivers. sleep 5
Implementation is performed so that manual jumpers echo „Svxlink is started…“
(JP) exists which can be used to choose different
transceiver option (Yaesu or Baofeng) selection.
 V. APRS SYSTEM AS A REAL TIME SVXLINK It is possible to monitor traffic load in Erlangs for
VOIP ACTIVITY DASHBOARD different period of time such as daily, weekly, monthly,
As already explained to be able to use svxlink software and annually as it is shown in Figure 9. for E71ETF
it has to be registered by licensed radio amateur free of svxlink node [36] which is connected via radio frequency
charge. In the svxlink configuration file each time when transmission is initiated to repeater.
(ModuleEchoLink.conf) it is possible to enable APRS
update information regarding of changes on svxlink node
state (received / transmitted packets, load, and possible
other statistics and information) which are updated on
web site www.aprs.fi in real time as it is shown in Figure
6.
This APRS online view can be used as a dashboard for
monitoring activities for specific node or group of nodes
and to monitor their telemetry readings. When svxlink is
configured for work with APRS it automatically sends
changes and updates of new established connection to
APRS site.
When node is note used by users (in the idle state)
assigned letter is capital E to indicate Echolink node as it
is shown in Figure 7. a), and when somebody is
connected, letter E is replaced with number. Number
shows number of users currently connected, and value Figure 9. APRS telemetry for E71ETF svxlink node [35]
increments with new users connected as it is shown in
Figure 7. b) where one user is connected to EL-E71HK It is possible to monitor number of received,
svxlink node. During flood and mudslide disaster which transmitted, or dropped packets in specified time window
stroke part of Bosnia and Herzegovina and other daily, weekly, monthly, and annually as it is shown in
neighbouring countries Croatia and Serbia in May 2014 Figure 10. for E71ETF svxlink node [36].
there were no information on APRS web site on available Shown statistics are only preliminary results which will
RMZO (which is local abbreviation for Radio Network be collected continuously and will be updated on APRS
for Emergencies) repeaters in Bosnia and Herzegovina. web site because this node was just started.

a) b)
Figure 7. APRS shows two Svxlink nodes in Sarajevo valley

Even though there were available Echolink nodes such

as E79WBL-R located in Banja Luka shown in Figure 8.
with which connection was established from EL-E71HK.
Node E79WBL-R in Echolink directory had notification
that it works in emergency situation but there were no
information on APRS web site what would be useful to
see.
Figure 10. APRS telemetry for E71ETF svxlink node [35]

VI. CONCLUSIONS
From the preliminary results we may conclude that
goal is reached because cheap infrastructure for education
purposes is built. We tested two audio connection settings
and we may conclude that cheaper configuration without
photo coupler and USB/serial cable can be used because
audio quality was the same and there were no problems in
connection establishment and termination. Number of
radio amateurs were connected to already established
Figure 8. APRS information for EL-E71HK svxlink (Echolink) nodes and initial awareness in local
community is reached by involving new radio amateur actionsengagees&format=pdf&option=com_content&Itemid=413,
[Accessed on 24.09.2013]
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT GreenEduComp: Low cost green computing system for education in
We would like to thank Dzevad Durgutovic for Rural India: A scheme for sustainable development through
education, Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC),
inspiring article in ARABIH journal [37]. We would also 2013 IEEE, 2013 , Page(s): 102 – 107
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