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

High-speed video transmission for machine vision.

The procedures relating to the adoption of a new version of GigE Vision standard for streaming video and performing control of various devices over Ethernet are nearing the end.

The standard is very important in the work of automation specialists and robotic engineers. It provides the possibility to transmit high-resolution images in real time and full compliance of products from different vendors. Devices such as cameras, video servers, transcoders and control/managing applications can seamlessly collaborate with each other via Ethernet platform. GigE Vision is designed to adapt the transmission network to the requirements of industrial vision systems.

The 10th version of GigE Vision, enabling transmission of video at frame rates up to 100 fps and with data speeds up to 10 Gb/s, should be approved in the second half of the year.
In automation engineering, the transmission of data should be performed in "true" real time, i.e. with minimum delays, not changing the characteristics of the controlled systems. It requires the use of equipment with decreased delays and high-bandwidth connections. Both issues will be resolved in the 10th version of GigE Vision which additionally increases the maximum transmission distance to 100-150 meters.

Schematic diagram of a quality control system based on GigE Vision data transmission and image analysis
Source: www.tmworld.com

Modern automation and robotics systems are beginning to introduce artificial intelligence based on neural networks and pattern recognition. Both of these features require high-quality transmission channels, thus the need for the new version of GigE Vision.
Cameras supporting GigE Vision are mainly used in industrial plants to control the quality of manufactured products, to sort the products depending on the shape or color etc. Devices based on the GigE Vision standard are used by the military, in medical diagnostics, aerospace industry, traffic monitoring and in many other industries.

He did not cut corners!

DiSEqC - switching between satellites in individual and multiswitch systems.

The need for selecting satellite signals from one of two or more LNBs is the reason for the development of dedicated solutions. At the beginning, the switches were operated manually, then the relays were controlled by various methods (e.g. Tone Burst, control signal from SCART). The diversity of the solutions required standardization which was supported by the satellite operator Eutelsat and resulted in DiSEqC standards. The development of the standards went from one-way to bidirectional protocols with recognition of the status of the controlled device (LNB, multiswitch, positioner).

Despite the fact that the DiSEqC protocol was developed almost twenty years ago, a multitude of versions and carelessness of satellite equipment manufacturers for proper marking of the products may lead to problems related to incompatibility and incorrect operation of satellite systems.

The main DiSEqC versions are:

	1.0	1.1	1.2	2.0	2.1	2.2
1.0	+	-	-	+	-	-
1.1	+	+	-	+	+	-
1.2	+	+	+	+	+	+
2.0	+	-	-	+	-	-
2.1	+	+	-	+	+	-
2.2	+	+	+	+	+	+

Looking at the offers of manufacturers and distributors of satellite equipment, we can also find the following descriptions:

None of the above markings is compliant with the DiSEqC standard. The devices with DiSEqC 1.3 or 2.3 labels may not cooperate properly with the main DiSEqC versions.

2MP day/night IP camera - ULTICAM.

Modern monitoring systems impose higher and higher requirements on the cameras. Motion detection, two-way audio transmission, local recording of the video directly on the camera, etc., allow the owner of the system to simplify the monitoring center.

The perfect answer to these requirements is the ULTICAM K1441 DS-852MF-E camera equipped with 1/3" CMOS sensor. Its native resolution is 1600x1200 (UXGA). With a F1.2 lens, the camera has sensitivity of 0.5 lx. It can cooperate with a varifocal lens (without AI) with C/CS mount, which provides great flexibility in setting the field of view.

The ULTICAM DS-852MF-E camera provides MPEG-4 video stream. The camera can send images of UXGA resolution at 12.5 fps, or HD720p, SVGA (800x600) and lower-resolution video at 25 fps. It is possible to configure an additional stream with lower bandwidth. The video streams can be viewed using a web browser or via the iVMS4000 client application. There are applications for mobile phones which support all popular mobile operating systems, including Android, Symbian, and WinMobile. The access to the camera is protected by passwords, with 15 levels of access rights.

The video stream from the camera can be recorded during live monitoring with the use of the free NVR Server application. The ULTICAM camera is a perfect solution for everyone requiring high image quality, wealth of features and reasonable price.

Additional protection for CCTV cameras.

The video isolator SV-1000 M1711 eliminates several problems related to the power supply for CCTV cameras. The device protects CCTV equipment from lightening discharges, voltage differences and electric currents in ground loops.

The application of the video isolator shown in the following scheme eliminates the distortion caused by the potential difference between the grounds of the camera and monitor. Otherwise, the ground loop could cause noise and interfere the video (in the form of black bars going vertically through the screen of the monitor).

To protect the devices on the both sides of the transmission line against lightning strikes, the user should employ two video isolators:

Automatic license plate recognition.

License Plate Recognition (LPR) is one of the modules of Digifort software. It is used for automatic reading and recognition of license plates of vehicles. When a vehicle comes into the camera's field of view, the software takes the picture that is used for image analysis including character recognition, then puts it into a database along with the date, time and location. If there is other database with license numbers, it can cooperate with the Digifort software, e.g. to check the right of entering a specific area.

A screenshot from the LPR module ( K3020)

The heart of the application is the "Carmen" engine from ARH Inc. It is characterized by a high success rate of 98% and support for fonts from all parts of the world, including Chinese, Latin, Cyrillic, and Arab (a unique feature) characters. Identification of a single plate takes about 0.08 s.
Using different rules, the administrator can apply multiple filters, to search for stolen cars, vehicles without valid insurance, MOT or other certificates, cars with unpaid parking fees and fines etc.

Home wireless network with access to the Internet via ADSL.

If the Internet is provided via an ADSL line, the best solution for the home is to use a wireless router with ADSL modem.

The concept is illustrated below, where the residents have access to the Internet and the network printer from all computers connected to the home network.

A home wireless network

The components of the home network and their functions:

Home 3G network in 5 minutes - TP-LINK TL-MR3420.

Short movie presenting home network installation using a 3G modem and TP-Link 3G router

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