DIPOL Weekly Review - TV and SAT TV, CCTV, WLAN

It's time for femtocells!

Will femtocells revolutionize mobile networks? Time will tell, but the largest cellular equipment manufacturers have recently launched femtocells on the market.
Thanks to femtocells it will be easier to introduce such services as television and video/audio on demand. This is due to the fact that femtocells directly connect to the Internet, so these services will not be charged by the cellular operator. Such a solution significantly lowers the overall costs of the services.
An interesting possibility is provided by the service called "Home Monitor" that allows to monitor homes. It will be achieved by connecting IP cameras to the device being the gateway for the femtocell. The images from the cameras will be available for every logged user of properly configured mobile phone supporting 3G technology.
Software applications will extend possibilities of cooperation between cellular phones and femtocells. The first such application for mobile phones with Android operating system has been created by Ubiquisys. This application changes the look of the interface if the phone is within the range of a femtocell. The display shows icons of multimedia services. Such services are much cheaper due to the femtocell.

Femtocells are access points operating in mobile telephony standard (mainly UMTS these days), which are connected to broadband Internet (via xDSL or FTTH). Unlike GSM amplifiers/repeaters that amplify radio signals coming from operators' cellular infrastructure, they connect to the networks of the operators via other broadband services and broadcast their radio signals as separate base stations (BTS). Femtocells have been developed in order to relieve the existing cellular base stations and increase the coverage of mobile networks in homes and small businesses. Their use will allow, among other things, to reduce the cost of building infrastructure for mobile networks using new standards, such as LTE.

Wonders of antenna technology?

Is a timeless desire to develop devices that will solve important human problems. In the Middle Ages many searched for "philosopher's stone" that would change ordinary metals into gold, others worked on "perpetuum mobile", a machine that does not need power supply.
The times and problems change, but human desire to outsmart physics is forever alive. Hobbyists still work on antenna constructions allowing to receive "everything".
Will the several structures shown below be implemented for mass production?

Professional connector installation.

Large MATV/SMATV systems need hundreds of connections. To mount the connectors quickly and precisely, the installer has to have appropriate tools. The cable preparation tool E80074 (dual drop trimmer) is a very handy tool for any professional installer of coaxial cables, enabling proper termination of the cable end that is perfectly suited for mounting a connector. It cuts appropriate lengths of the sheath, braid and dielectric.

Then the braid has to be turn down onto the jacket (sheath) of the cable. The next step is installation ofE80340 connector with the use of E80075 tool. Such connection will guarantee good contact and stability, thanks to:

Camera housings.

In CCTV systems, cameras are usually the most vulnerable elements, being exposed to environmental conditions. Most CCTV cameras can operate between -10 and +50 deg C, up to 90% relative humidity. Every camera operating in changeable weather conditions that differ from its rated range has to be equipped with suitable outdoor housing. The housing should have a heater with thermostat. The elements ensure proper operating conditions of the camera-lens set. They prevent fogging up the pane and lenses, and condensation of steam on metal and other parts of the housing and the enclosed camera (dew point). Higher-class housings are also equipped with fans that equalize the inside temperature.
Camera enclosure should allow easy access to the camera, lens, etc. for the purpose of servicing. On the other hand it should provide adequate resistance to vandalism and optimal working conditions for the camera, taking into account the temperature rise inside the housing due to power dissipation.
The housing (sticker) or its specifications should contain information on compliance with specified IP class. IP refers to the standard of resistance to the penetration of solids (first number) and tightness against water (the second number). Typically, camera housings are compliant with IP 65 or IP66 class, which means that they are fully resistant to dust and partially protected against the influence of water. Environments with high humidity require to use housings marked IP67 or IP68; the latter can be used even under water.

Marathon housings

IP cameras in the largest Coca Cola bottling plant between Berlin and Beijing.

CCI is one of the leading bottling plants of alcohol-free beverages in Southern Eurasia and the Middle East. CCI has made one of the biggest manufacturing plant investments in Bursa, Turkey. It has been equipped with video surveillance system based on ACTi cameras and NVR software.
The set of cameras includes PTZ and megapixel devices. The PTZ cameras are CAM-6630 K1216. These high speed IP cameras ensure D1 resolution images at 30 frames per second (NTSC) or 25 fps (PAL), available simultaneously on two ports (LAN and WAN), and analog video. Support of PPPoE allows for direct connection of the WAN port to ADSL modem.
The megapixel cameras ACM-3401 K1314 provide high-quality images of 1280 x 1024 resolution, even in low-light conditions. The employed CMOS sensor can operate from 0.5 lx. Effective MPEG-4 compression allows transmission and recording of high-resolution images with relatively narrow bandwidth (up to 3 Mbps).
The cameras are directly connected to Linksys Full POE Gigabit Switches.
The backbone of the system is based on fiber-optics infrastructure, the Linksys switches are connected with CISCO Full Fiber 3750 Series Switches.
The surveillance staff can watch any movement which is observed in the area in pop-up windows at the monitors. This function of ACTi NVR software is especially suitable at night. eMap function helps to locate the cameras and events in the layout of the plant.

Monitoring of construction site via GSM/UMTS modem.

IP transmission allows for installing video surveillance systems in a very simple way, with the possibility of quick modification and relocation.
The system in the diagram below uses outdoor megapixel cameras K1511, directed on the gateway and the most important places of the building site. This kind of high-resolution cameras can practically be a "building diary", recording all stages of the building process.
Larger area is monitored with PTZ camera ACTi K1215 or K1216, set in patrol mode.
The IP streams are recorded on PC managed by ULTISYSTEM software (K3204) that can use server-client architecture.
Easy access to the monitoring system placed even "somewhere in the field" can be provided from any place by connecting the system wirelessly to GSM/UMTS cellular network via appropriate modem/adapter. This way the most important data can be easily transmitted to "remote clients".
Upon completion of the construction work it is sufficient to dismantle the system and move it to another location.
The main transmission network is based on ULTIAIR devices that can be used even in harsh industrial environments.

F-number - the relative aperture of the lens.

F-number of an optical system expresses the diameter of the entrance pupil in terms of the focal length of the lens. It is a factor of the lens ability of light transmission, measured in F scale. The F series is: 1; 1.4; 2; 2.8; 4; 5.6; 8; 11; 16; 22; 32; 45; 64 etc. With increase in F-number by one step, the quantity of light passing through the lens decreases in half. The lowest possible F-number of a specific lens describes its ability for work in low light or with low shutter speeds.
Currently there are available F=1.0 lens (e.g. M2130) that used with sensitive cameras can provide amazing results in low-light conditions.
In the case of lenses with higher F-numbers the exposure time has to be increased.

Multifunction Peripheral/Printer and Storage Server TP-LINK TL-PS310U N3312.

The TP-LINK MFP and Storage Server TL-PS310U is designed to share USB devices throughout home or office network (SOHO applications). It allows to use one printer/multifunctional device and other USB devices by a number of users.

TL-PS310U can cooperate with:

The server cooperates with many models of printers, scanners, multifunction peripherals, card readers etc. The full list of compatible devices is available here.
With additional USB HUB the user can simultaneously connect to TP-LINK TL-PS310U N3312 up to four USB devices.

Video surveillance of recreation places with the use of ULTIAIR devices.

At recreational areas, especially used seasonally, it is difficult and uneconomical to install wired monitoring systems. The video data can be easily transmitted via wireless links, using e.g. devices of ULTIAIR series.

The simplest IP monitoring can be performed with outdoor megapixel IP cameras ACTi ACM-1231 K1511. Thanks to the 1.3 Mpx cameras the operator can see more details or watch wider areas in comparison with standard video cameras.
Application of a PTZ camera (e.g. K1215) enables the operator to patrol the whole area with a 360 degrees view.
The video data can be wirelessly transmitted via ULTIAIR 319KC N2310 devices, placed directly by the camera points. The ULTIAIR 319KC access points send the data to a surveillance post/center equipped with ULTIAIR 417KC access point (N2330).

We have written about:

Internet through power outlet? - Yes, it's possible! TP-LINK manufactures powerline Ethernet adapters TP-LINK TL-PA201 N3355 and TP-LINK TL-PA101 N3350, allowing to transmit Ethernet signal over existing power line. The pair or set of the adapters is an ideal solution in every case when it is impossible to install Ethernet cables or the environment does not allow to use wireless connectivity.
- archive DWR of Feb. 23, 2009

ULTIMAX - DVRs for demanding customers - maps in remote client software. Distributed video surveillance systems and systems with a large number of cameras should enable the operator to easily locate the camera capturing the image, or the sequence of cameras that follow a moving object...
- archive DWR of June 16, 2008

Lossless splitting of cable TV signal for multi-room TV/video installations. Most of antenna amplifiers cannot be used for this purpose, due to unspecified parameters in the special cable channels...
- archive DWR of Oct. 15, 2007

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