V-IP treatment

The practical application for video over IP within the security industry has been hotly debated over the past few years. Experience has shown that it may not be the answer to every security challenge and that traditional composite systems will invariably continue to provide the best solution for many smaller applications.

But for larger, multi-site applications, there can be little doubt that the IP route offers significant benefits over standard composite systems.

From expanding existing security systems without the expense of cabling, to creating sophisticated integrated building management solutions, the technology looks set to help transform the security function into a fully fledged management tool. It takes in everything from process control on a production line to remote monitoring of ATMs for an international bank.

In this article we examine the main benefits and outline typical applications where the IP option can be used to open up new opportunities.

‘Drop-in’ system installation
Traditional CCTV systems usually employ several miles of coaxial cabling to link cameras to the main recording device. As well as limiting the number of cameras and where they can be positioned, physically laying the cabling is also time-consuming and labour-intensive and can often prove disruptive to businesses located in the buildings.

IP enabled systems offer an inherent flexibility which allows customers to build on their core security system and modify it for future needs. Rather than running bundles of expensive coaxial cable through floors to a central point, analogue cameras can be bridged via an IP-based network video server onto an already existing IT network.

As such, video over IP is particularly suited to multi-level buildings and large campus site installations, such as town centres, hospitals and hotels.

As the technology effectively removes the previous limitations on cameras in such applications, it opens up new opportunities for installers to take CCTV into areas where cabling costs had previously proved prohibitive.

Example 1: public areas
Major tourist attractions such as the Tower of London, the Empire State Building or the Sydney Opera House are all acutely aware of their vulnerability to the modern threat of terrorism.

Control centres overseeing public buildings need to be alerted immediately to any new and unrecognised objects appearing on screen, particularly if they are static, such as a parked van, potentially full of explosives.

The common challenge with such applications is the sheer scale of the site, with Radio Frequency (RF) transmission proving unreliable over long distances. With an IP-enabled system, a wireless Ethernet link can be used to allow the different parts of the system to talk to one another. WiFi in weather proof boxing is much more resilient to the wind and rain which can put other cables temporarily out of use.

Where a van has parked up near a building for more than five minutes, for example, ‘no motion’ video detection can be used to send an alarm over XML to the control centre and to automatically instruct the relevant camera to record more pictures per second.

If a customer also wanted to know if a camera has been deliberately obscured or covered with black paint, for example, the IP-enabled digital recorder can be configured to automatically detect a camera being masked and escalate the incident as an alarm.

The software development kits available from some manufacturers can be used to provide a seamless integration between the picture transmission and the viewer. Java technology provides a user interface that is extremely easy to understand. IP-enabled systems allow a customer to converge their existing IT infrastructure with a wide range of building management functions including not only CCTV but also intruder alarms, access control and fire systems. Only those security systems which have achieved the new BS 8418 quality standard in the UK will qualify for ‘Level One’ police response to alarms. With end-users often billed for each alarm response, it is therefore in everyone’s interest to minimise the number of false alarms.

Example 2: warehousing
Let us take the example of a warehouse storing high value consumer goods. It already has an existing alarm and CCTV system but is looking to upgrade to a digital system.

A network video server, incorporated with the existing intruder alarm panel, and cameras, can be configured to act as an integrated alarm system. Automated management of nuisance detectors and jammed alarms helps to drive down the number of false alarm activations. With an industrial PIR, if the beam is broken, for example at the perimeter fence, it will automatically trigger an alarm to the central station. False triggers, such as stormy weather blowing a branch through the trigger point, are a perennial problem.

An IP-enabled server overcomes this problem through its innate ‘intelligence’ that builds up a picture of alarm patterns and uses this picture to analyse the significance of each alarm trigger. The ability to differentiate between common nuisance alarms and genuine alerts is a huge benefit.

For example, if the server receives five alarms in one minute, this is unusual. This nuisance alarm will be taken out of the sequence. An hour later, the server will check for further false alarms and if none have occurred, it will add the detector back into the sequence – and, critically, send a system exception message to the central station so the operators are fully aware of all activity.

Alarm inputs are tied to alarm zones – this enables entry/exit routes to be set up so that an end-user can gain entry to their building without sending an alarm to the central station.

Network video servers also provide value for money by increasing the flexibility of a system previously used only for security.

Using the software development kit provided with some systems, they allow developers to write applications which can generate video recordings that are linked to events, such as machine failure or process alarms. Deployment of manpower within a manufacturing plant can be improved by allowing managers to view live and recorded images from any networked PC. Production problems can be solved remotely, reducing down time and saving money.

Example 3: process control
An electricity provider in the UK wants to monitor sub stations and potentially dangerous sites remotely using their high speed data network.

They also want to monitor coolant levels within transformers to avoid any risk of losing power supply to the national grid and, ultimately, associated penalties. An IP-enabled video server can be configured to issue early warnings to a central point, alerting an engineer to fix the problem. An additional camera can be added internally to monitor coolant levels combined with a sensor which is wired to an alarm input to the server. If it drops below a certain level, the system sends an automatic alarm to HQ.

In a similar application, a facilities manager is a keyholder to a chemical plant. He wants to be able to dial in and check around the site to check any alarms and key areas.

Although he only has a 56k home modem connection to the Internet, MPeg-4 is used to compress images to around 18 times smaller than a Jpeg. Different triggers, such as a carbon monoxide sensor in the ceiling, are linked into the network video server to automatically send coded alarm signals to a control centre and the facilities manager at home outside of work hours.

Example 4: retail stock shrinkage
Sophisticated software on an IP-enabled server can be developed to solve the problem of stock shrinkage in a retail environment. A supermarket manager can review till transactions against specific operations by associating video with key transactions such as VOID if staff pilfering is suspected.

Example 5: ATM monitoring
Associating images with transaction data can also help to resolve disputes at an ATM. By reviewing the image recorded at the ATM, overlaid with the text generated during the transaction, a bank can quickly verify exactly who withdrew what amount of cash. This will confirm whether a genuine mistake has been made, and can assist in cases of credit card fraud.

A major bank is looking to install CCTV to monitor its ATMs across very remote locations, where very low bandwidth analogue telephone lines are currently employed. They also want to record locally and to access pictures and data in real time and provide a panic alarm system. If a customer is attacked when withdrawing cash, they hit a help button which would automatically start a higher recording rate and enable the control centre to issue on-scene audio warnings.

Faced with such diversity in bandwidth throughout the country, a typical DVR would not be able to provide real time video across the available communications links. For this reason, MPeg-4 streaming was selected so that “fit for purpose” video could be viewed in real time.

The chosen solution also records high quality, full frame JPeg images locally, which provide the bank with evidential quality video should it be needed.

Example 6: large campus areas
If several sites are all on alarm at the same time across a large campus, it is obviously critical that operators can view from multiple units, and that they can locate the relevant cameras quickly.

Some systems offer a graphical user interface which illustrates the site map as a 2-D graphic rather than a database. Security staff do not need to know which code the camera has or where it is stored in the system, they simply drill down through graphics by clicking on a map of the UK, for example, then Manchester, then Swinton, then the location and then finally the relevant camera.

In this final example, a large airport with an existing analogue security system is due to launch a new terminal. The cost of extending its current system via copper co-axial cable would be cost-prohibitive. Most cable ducts are already full and part of the runway would have to be dug up to lay the new cabling. They want to add security onto the network to help justify the investment.

There are three control rooms: two on-site and one 15 miles down the road located for disaster recovery. The first control room is PC-based only. The second uses a composite monitor-based system with 48 monitors on a video wall. The final control room has both PCs and monitor access to the system. A video server is added at easily accessible points near the cameras, meaning that only 20m coaxial cable is needed in each case.

To avoid a potential tug of war between multiple users, the video server is configured to behave as if it were an analogue matrix, controlling access rights to cameras, monitors, telemetry and PCs all from one central database. A back up database is stored off site in the back up control room. If one central station fails, images are automatically re-routed to the back-up.

A decoder is used to allow digital video from the networked video servers to be displayed on traditional monitors, as well as remotely on a PC and wirelessly on a handheld PDA. Wireless technology allows mobile security guards to access pictures on their PDAs. Control room operators can send images of an incident to the guards’ PDA, so he can check who he is looking for.

Conclusion
While video over IP is not the panacea it was once hailed to be, it carries clear advantages over composite video technology, mainly with respect to cabling, system expansion and remote viewing. With ongoing issues over bandwidth and system reliability, however, the latest hybrid products – using IP networks to transmit images but housed in familiar CCTV hardware – look set to be the way forward, effectively giving customers and installers the best of both worlds.

These use a network as an image transport mechanism to relay images from the recording device to the viewing station, but record evidential quality images locally to the hard disk. Even if the network fails, hybrid systems won’t stop recording so the end-user need never miss any critical footage.

Either as a cost-effective way of adding cameras in to existing composite systems or to provide a highly bespoke solution for a large application, IP-enabled CCTV looks sets to establish itself as the technology of choice.