Using Wireless Data With Video
Law enforcement agencies are looking to maximize their video surveillance technology, but the type of mobile broadband network they use ultimately will determine which video capabilities will be available to their forces.
In particular, law enforcement agencies these days are paying closer attention to video surveillance equipment because of the need to collaborate with other agencies at the local, state, and federal level on security efforts.
“Wireless video systems allow law enforcement to efficiently monitor and assess many areas at once, which leads to an incredible savings on resources,” says Bryan Mazur, manager and systems engineer with Dotworkz Systems, a provider of video surveillance systems in San Diego, Calif.
Most wireless systems make use of point-to-point or point-to-multipoint wireless backhaul, which offer high bandwidth, long range, and an affordable price, but have complex engineering and deployment, line of sight requirements, and connections for only fixed devices and users.
A few locations use cellular data (1XRTT and GPRS), but they are costlier due to their monthly fees and their slow uplinks from cameras to the cell tower has a negative impact on picture quality and frame rates. A newer option, so-called ad-hoc or mesh wireless systems, come in the form of wirelessly interconnected access points that provide the necessary data rates to video cameras and other devices in their vicinity, and a more reliable and flexible version offering wider coverage is designed to turn every node in a network into a wireless repeater.
Portable solutions also are available for wirelessly delivering feeds from helicopters, or extending the technology to traffic cameras.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Law Enforcement Technology (05/04) Vol. 31, No. 5, P. 68; Rotondo, Rick .
