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

The launch of the long-awaited...

At CES 2012 in Las Vegas (Jan. 10-13) - Buffalo, TRENDnet, and D-Link companies presented prototypes of wireless devices based on 802.11ac - a wireless computer networking standard currently under development - popularly called as Gigabit Wi-Fi or 5G, starting a new era in WLAN technology.

The Buffalo WZR-1750H router is equipped with a Broadcom wireless chipset. The presented device achieves reliable data transfer over 800 Mbps. The manufacturer has equipped its product with 5-port Gigabit switch.

The router from TRENDnet - TEW-811DR - will eventually achieve bandwidth of 1.3 Gbps, nearly three times more than in the case of the existing devices operating in 802.11n standard.

The devices supporting the new standard should be available on the market in the second half of this year. They will be backward-compatible with the earlier Wi-Fi standards. According to TRENDnet company, the retail price will be about $200.

The implementation of the new technology is extremely fast - on November 15, 2011, Quantenna company presented the first chipset, in mid-December Redpine Signals showed a chipset for mobile devices, on January 5, 2012, the first chipset was demonstrated by the market leader, Broadcom, and - after one week - the companies mentioned earlier showed the prototypes, then, on January 20, IEEE approved the preliminary technical specification of the new standard (Initial Technical Specification Draft 0.1). The ratification of the final 802.11ac standard is planned for 2013.

IMS Research believes that equipment manufacturers will sell over 3 million 802.11ac devices in the first year of sale, and by 2016 the total number of devices compliant with this standard will reach 400 million.

The developed 802.11ac standard, using 5 GHz band, will be the successor of the 802.11n, ratified in September 2009. Similarly to the predecessor, 802.11ac will use MIMO technology (Multiple Input Multiple Output), but the maximum number of streams will be increased to 8 (802.11n - 4).
The 256-QAM modulated signals will be transmitted within 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and even 160 MHz channels (802.11n - up to 40 MHz).

The leading wireless chipset manufacturers - Qualcomm, Atheros, Intel, Texas Instruments, Broadcom - declared the introduction of new models shortly so that the final products could be available to consumers as quick as possible.

source: www.trendnet.com

We may mention here that the first 802.11 wireless standard offered transmission speeds of 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps, the next 802.11b - 11 Mbps, currently the most popular 802.11n offers bandwidth up to 600 Mbps. The new standard will allow transmission rates up to 1.7 Gbps through the use of wider channels and 256QAM modulation.

Hikvision modernizes video surveillance system at "Katsura Campus" in Kyoto.

The Katsura Campus was originally monitored by a comprehensive analog CCTV system. However, in 2011, Kyoto University made the decision to upgrade its existing Katsura Campus analog security infrastructure to an IP-based CCTV technology.
The investor expected an efficient and reliable system based on IP technology, but fully utilizing the existing equipment. To meet the client's needs, the administrator of the existing network turned to Hikvision for help.

So, one of the main requirements was to utilize the modern analog cameras being in excellent condition. Building the IP CCTV infrastructure, they connected the cameras to the system via video servers Hikvision DS-6101HFI-IP K2140. The video servers guarantee stable operation, employ advanced methods of access control and, thanks to hardware H.264 compression, provide good video quality at substantially lower bitrates than devices using previous standards. It saves disk space of the NVRs and the bandwidth of the network. The administrator can easily adjust bitrate, resolution, frame rate, and other parameters of the video stream.

Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology company is one of the leading manufacturers of CCTV equipment. The company has its headquarters in China, employs over 2300 employees in branches around the world. More than 700 of them are engineers from the R&D department.
Their wide range of products includes state-of-the-art digital video recorders, IP cameras and video servers.

TERRA system for Euro 2012.

The owner of one of the hotels located near Warsaw decided to prepare for the upcoming 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. To attract foreign fans to his hotel, he decided to expand the TV system with a headend offering foreign broadcasts. He decided to use a professional and easily expandable in the future Terra MMH-3000 headend.

Three base units UC-380 R81700 contain 21 modules: 6 QPSK CI stereo receivers RDC-313 R81710, 12 MPEG-2 TS decoders/VSB modulators DM-313 R81712 and 3 VSB modulators MT-310 MT-310 R81708. The circuitry distributes 18 TV channels in English, German, French and Polish. These are news, sports, music, and children channels.
The three modulators have been used by the owner of the hotel to distribute content of his choice, such as video from the security camera installed on the parking lot, video from DVD player, advertisements from his computer.

View of the Terra MMH-3000 headend installed in the hotel

If, in the future, the owner replaces all TVs to new ones with DVB-T tuners, he will be able to take advantage of free space in one of the base units, putting in DVB-T modulators TRX-360 R81709.

How to terminate optical links - the necessary components.

When installing fiber optic lines, the installer has to choose the implementation method and adequate equipment and accessories for termination, splicing, and protection of the optical components.

To organize fiber optic cables, secure mechanical splices and optical connectors, we have introduced the ULTIMODE series of distribution frames and termination boxes. They protect the optical nodes against damage and unauthorized access, can hold spare fibers, allow for easy maintenance of the system and modifications of the network in the future.

The diagram below shows the components necessary for termination of a point-to-point link (a single optical fiber).
The end of the fiber should be connected via the ULTIMODE FAST-MS1 L5550 mechanical splice to a pigtail with the required optical connector. The components should be carefully placed in the ULTIMODE TB-02H L5302 termination box, in the dedicated spaces. The selected optical adapter is to be also mounted in the box and connected via a patch cord to an active device (in the example - web smart switch TP-LINK TL-SL2210WEB N29949 with ULTIMODE SFP-203/5G SC L1416 module).

Supplying power for IP cameras via UTP cables.

Professional IP security cameras (all IP cameras from Sunell) compliant with PoE IEEE 802.3af standard can be powered over a UTP/FTP cable that is normally used for data transmission. This standard allows for providing electrical power up to 15.4 W (48 V, 0.35 A) via a twisted pair cable of cat. 3 or higher. The power is transmitted via the two normally unused pairs of the UTP/FTP cable ("blue" and "brown").

The power can be provided either by a dedicated power supply, e.g. PSA16U-480 M1890, or by a suitable PoE switch, e.g. TP-LINK TL-SF1008P N29930 (8x10/100Mb/s incl. 4xPoE). In many cases, the latter solution greatly simplifies installation and reduces its cost. The PoE switch combines the function of network switch and four PoE power supplies.

The camera or other device powered over Ethernet cable must be compliant with PoE standard, i.e. be equipped with an internal voltage converter which reduces the supplying voltage to the operating level. By supplying power with a higher voltage and lower current we decrease power loss in the cable, resulting from Ohm's law. The IEEE 802.3af standard ensures that the wires do not heat up excessively and the additional function of the transmission cable will not reduce its reliability. The power consumption of security cameras, even those with IR illuminators, usually does not exceed the level offered by the PoE standard.

How to make inexpensive video monitoring of offices?

The proposed solution uses TP-Link IP cameras TL-SC3430 K1155 and TL-SC3171 K1153. They allow for monitoring of the video via mobile phones or web browsers as well as implementation of two-way audio transmission necessary for teleconferencing.

SSLv3/HTTPS encryption protects the confidentiality of transmitted information. Motion detection function implemented in the cameras will notify the authorized users by emails about any motion in the protected area.

A remote monitoring system based on TP-Link devices

In the office, the cameras are connected via UTP patch cables to the 802.11n access point TP-Link TL-WR941ND N3251. They can be accessed wirelessly via computers or smartphones. One of the selected protocols - WPA-/WPA2-PSK, WPA-/WPA2-AES or WEP - protects against unauthorized access. The preview of the video is possible by using any web browser or mobile phone with 3GPP player.

Not enough HDMI inputs on your TV?

The solution is an HDMI switcher that allows the user to connect multiple high-definition devices to a TV equipped with insufficient number of HDMI inputs. There are no problems with simultaneous connection of a satellite receiver, DVD player, PC or a game console. Even when the TV has sufficient number of HDMI inputs, it may be more elegant to connect only one HDMI cable for easy installation on a wall with the use of LCD/plasma mount. It really improves the appearance of the TV suspended on the wall. There are two high-quality HDMI switchers, H3121 with two inputs, and H3131 with three inputs. The choice of the source is made with the use of the included remote control or manually.

Application diagram

WDR in action.

A short movie presenting the M11207 security camera that solves problems with capturing video in high-contrast environments.

WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) - each pixel of the image sensor is a kind of independent analog-to-digital converter, so it can individually adapt to local exposure and provide output signal that shows important details, without overexposure or underexposure.

Worth reading:

Optical node Terra OD-003 for FTTH systems. Modern, spacious apartment and office buildings, or sports facilities with large distances between signal distribution points, require the use of optical fibers.
Typically, the attenuation of optical fibers is 4000 times lower than that of high quality coaxial cables.

Application of optical transmitter Terra MOS-211A R81720 and FTTH receivers Terra OD-003 R81728.
The solution has been used by a manufacturer of consumer electronics to test DVB-T receivers.
Thanks to using several optical fibers the system covers two test rooms with several outlets.

Cost-effective video surveillance systems with ATU DVRs. The market launch of ATU digital video recorders at a very attractive price is a breakthrough for everyone wanting a professional video monitoring system for low costs.
ATU DVR M71000 offers recording of four 4CIF (704 x 576) channels at 12 fps or four 2CIF (704 x 288) channels at 25 fps. It is recommended for video surveillance systems requiring high resolution recordings, real-time monitoring and high level of video compression.

ATU M71000 has built-in web server enabling remote monitoring
via Internet Explorer or dedicated application

IP door phone. The investor had a VoIP telephone exchange in his building, also cooperating with the door phone available from any phone there. IP camera (Pixord PL-621E K1533) mounted over the gate could be monitored on any computer. He wanted a similar functionality in another building located 600 meters away - the problem was the lack cable connections between the buildings.
The problem has been solved by DAW company. The transmission between buildings has been based on TP-LINK TL-WA5210G N2350 wireless access points...

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