The author delivers in this edition, the first approach of a complete report about the convenience of IP video surveillance in some of the main cities of the world.
By Oliver Vellacott *
The growing threat of crime and terrorism, as well as the need to ensure public safety and control traffic offences, has led to an increase in the demand for high-quality surveillance. The supervision of video surveillance must be flexible, expandable and adaptable to the changes that may occur in the future, in addition to being able to be easily expanded to adapt to the environment of urban centers, always in continuous evolution.
Digital IP video networks provide a unique set of tools for today's surveillance applications. This is particularly true in the demanding security environments of urban centers, where IP video offers a security solution that would not be technologically or economically possible with traditional analog surveillance systems. The many functions and benefits that IP video offers for the surveillance of urban centers can be clearly seen in the following real case studies.
Distributed architecture: City of Calgary, Canada
IP video technology is the centerpiece of the city of Calgary, Canada's innovative distributed data storage and surveillance system. The data flows of the different operations of the city are integrated into a centralized Oracle database.
This powerful tool allows authorities to analyze an amazing variety of data. For example, a map of each area of the city can be displayed with crime statistics, including the number of crimes, the type of incidents recorded, and the associated videos that have been imported from the IP video system.
When Owen Key, head of security of the city and in charge of corporate security, joined 5 years ago, he found a surveillance system almost impossible to manage. As he explains, the solution went through a networked system. "The city had numerous video 'islands' from different and inaccessible analog systems. Since most of the metropolitan area is managed centrally, we soon understood that a distributed network environment was the only answer. The excellent IP video compression technology has allowed us to materialize this project and has become one of the key factors in achieving the system we have today."
Calgary is the largest city in the province of Alberta and, unlike other cities, the municipality manages all aspects of the city, with more than 700 locations spread over 5,000 square kilometers. Some 550 PTZ and fixed cameras have been connected to the network, many of them from the original analogue systems.
The IP video system currently oversees 30 different departments across the city, including parks and recreation areas, traffic centers, water utilities, fire, emergency, roadside assistance and parking control. The city has also prepared three mobile security vehicles equipped with laptops to access live or recorded video from any camera over the 3G mobile phone network.
In addition to the main Command Center, the city has video booths located in different departments that currently have more than 150 different users. The decentralized architecture of the IP system allows video management stations to be distributed throughout the network.
Network video recorders (NVRs) are also distributed at the ends of the network, close to the cameras, in order to reduce the bandwidth used. Dual streaming, used in multiple cameras, allows you to stream 15fps video over the WAN and 30fps video at full frame rate for local recording. All videos are kept archived for 14 days.
Wireless Remote Surveillance: Chihuahua State, Mexico
The state of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico, has implemented a video surveillance system for large areas based on IP video technology.
With an approximate extension of 250,000 square kilometers, Chihuahua is the largest state in Mexico. Its capital and largest city bears the same name, Chihuahua, but the state has other important cities, such as Delicias, Cuauhtemoc, Parral, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Camargo, Creel, Meoqui and Jiménez. The genuinely distributed nature of the system allows an operator located in the capital to access video from a PTZ camera, located in any other city in the region, and control it if necessary.
More than 270 cameras have been installed throughout the region. For the installation of the systems of each city, wireless networks have been used, which are connected to the capital through fixed network links. The excellent compression technology provided by the IP video system makes it possible to transmit quality video over standard IP networks, over a very long distance, with low bandwidth consumption.
This makes it easy to install wireless networks and keep latency to a minimum, so operators can control one city's PTZ cameras from any other with complete accuracy. It is very important for the different agencies and authorities to have access to recorded and live video from those cameras relevant to the operation they are carrying out, regardless of their location. This is only possible with a distributed and decentralized system.
Another key advantage for the authorities of the state of Chihuahua was the implementation of multicast network technology. The powerful IP function allows different operators to simultaneously view and record video from the same camera, with the same bandwidth requirements as if it were a single operator. This feature, combined with advanced compression technology, ensures that the available bandwidth is fully utilized, which is especially important for the deployment of wireless networks and in those areas with a less developed communication infrastructure.
Integration: Cyberjaya City, Malaysia
Cyberjaya has become the first Malaysian municipality to implement a system that allows local police to remotely monitor the location of an incident, immediately upon receipt of an emergency call. This is possible thanks to the connection of the IP video solution with the Malaysian Emergency Response Service (MERS), 999, which is part of the recently contracted integrated video surveillance system.
The police's ability to assess a situation immediately and respond quickly deters offenders and allows authorities to provide adequate assistance to victims after an incident. The ability to visualize the scene of an emergency also allows the police force to identify false calls. This improves efficiency and ensures that resources are used in real emergencies.
30 vandal-proof PTZ IP dome cameras were installed in various highly populated and high-traffic areas of the city. Speakers were also included in many of the cameras to allow control room operators to issue warning or help messages using an integrated intercom system.
Operators in the central room use video management stations to view images from cameras and analyze recordings. When an emergency call is received, its location is displayed on the main geographic information system (GIS) map. The operator then displays the images from the nearest camera and remotely controls the PTZ movement to observe the incident.
Summary
The main feature of all these case studies is the breadth of the areas where the systems have been implemented. In these situations, cost-effective and reliable surveillance can only be achieved through the use of a distributed IP video solution. Case studies demonstrate that it is possible to integrate IP video into other security systems, and that they can coexist with older systems to provide a simple migration path for the future, which is an important benefit for those end users who are considering installing an IP video solution.
*Oliver Vellacott, CEO of IndigoVision, founded this company in 1994. Previously, he had held the position of product manager in the field of smart cameras. Oliver studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music before graduating in Software Engineering from Imperial College London and subsequently received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh.
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