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

"Howz" - unobtrusive in-home monitoring of the elderly.

Many old and sick people live alone, away from their loved ones, although they need supervision because of their health or age. Modern technology can provide solutions to them and their families: older people may remain independent in their homes knowing that someone will be informed when they need help. Video surveillance is usually not acceptable as it does not respect privacy, so Jonathan Burr, a British innovator, has come up with a less intrusive tracking system for people living alone. The inventor and owner of Intelesant company has assembled a team of engineers, IT specialists and sponsors to implement "Howz" project. What is the innovation?

"Howz" in action

In the Howz system, the activities of the resident(s) are remotely monitored on the basis of how they use household electrical appliances. The basic system consists of several components: a wireless energy meter connected by the electricity meter, a door sensor mounted at the front door, a multi-sensor with temperature and light detectors, and the hub gathering all the information, with wired connection to the home router with Internet access. The sensors collect information about the daily activities of the householder(s). The information from the sensors provided via the Internet is stored by Howz server and shared with the householder(s) and a circle of people, usually relatives, who care for the householder(s). The Howz app is available for Android and iOS smartphones. According to the developers, "Howz measures a household’s usage of electricity to work out when different appliances are being used. It combines this with information from sensors that detect door movement, temperature and light levels. You receive the information in the Howz app with relevant tips from our health care professionals. The information can also be shared with other members of the family." For example, when the householder is boiling water in the kettle at similar times, the system keeps track of the activity and sends an alert when the kettle is not on for a longer time. The same happens with other routine activities at home.

The starter pack will be available on the market for 199 pounds. Currently, the "Howz" system is tested in a hundred homes in Manchester. Soon, the system will help to take care of 350 people in Surrey.

For the Howz system, Jonathan Burr has been awarded the main prize in the annual innovation competition in the Blue Lab connected home and business category, organized by EDF, the world's largest producer of electricity. As a "side effect", the monitoring of the use of home appliances can determine which devices are turned on unnecessarily for extended periods of time. As a result, more economical use of the devices can reduce the home's energy consumption by 10-15%.

"Private" channel in a hotel TV system.

Many hotel owners would like to launch in their hotel TV systems "private" HD channel(s) with a required content (advertisements, local news and information etc). The typical signal sources include PCs, Blu-rays, media players or just USB sticks with previously prepared presentations and videos. The injection of such a channel into the hotel TV distribution system is possible with the use of an appropriate DVB-T modulator ensuring distribution of HD content, for example MHD-101 R86101. The modulator can distribute Full HD 1080p material provided to its HDMI input, in the form of DVB-T multiplex on a selected RF channel.

Devices for the deployment of hotel WiFi networks.

Facilities which have to provide Internet access to the Internet for large numbers of users should employ dedicated hardware solutions. The solutions must be scalable and very reliable. TP-Link CAP systems with TP-Link AC50 N2551 hardware controller ensure simultaneous network configuration and management of up to 50 CAP access points. The controller automatically detects, configures, and manages new access point a moment after connecting it to the network. In contrast, SOHO access points could only be used for creating many inefficient networks without central management.

Architecture of a hotel CAP system based on N2553 APs and N2551 hardware controller

The N2551 controller allows for authentication of users via captive portal. Captive portal provides a convenient method of authentication for Wi-Fi guests, requiring users to perform certain actions (such as viewing and agreeing to an acceptable use policy or entering a password) before network access is allowed. The required action must be verified by a server or customized database prepared by the administrator.

Some functions of the controller:

LAN in two buildings - distance of 200 m.

The best way to create one LAN network in two buildings located at a distance of 200 meters is the application of fiber optic cable. The use of twisted pair cable over such a distance would not comply with applicable standards and would result in a significant reduction of the throughput of the LAN.

In a situation where the buildings are already equipped with switches without SFP slots, the best and universal solution is the use of optical media converters. In each building the suitable media converter is connected to one of the ports of the switch and changes the electrical signals into optical form and vice versa. Choosing a media converter, the user should consider the following parameters:

An implementation of optical link over 200 meters.
Optical media converters

Integration of HD analog video surveillance with cash registers.

A video surveillance system covering cash registers provides additional means of monitoring POS transactions. Combining video surveillance with POS data, it is possible to check e.g. whether the product given to the customer is consistent with that specified on the receipt. The FG-50HD M1725 overlay character generator links point of sale terminals (POS) with CCTV cameras to produce a continuous overlay of transactions superimposed on the video output. This allows to save complete information about sales activities. The device can be used in CCTV systems using PAL (CVBS), AHD, HD-CVI, or HD-TVI equipment.

Monitoring of a POS terminal with SNIF-42 M1721 RS-232 to RS-485 converter,
video text inserter M1725, and a security camera

The diagram above illustrates how to connect a cash register to video monitoring system. The SNIF-42 M1721 device converts data from RS-232 to RS-485, the standard supported by the FG-50HD M1725 generator. The red rectangle with number 1 symbolizes an optional expansion port of the fiscal printer.

Saving a view in iVMS-4200 app.

The iVMS-4200 application is a client software for the management and control of video functions of Hikvision DVRs, NVRs, IP cameras, encoders, decoders, VCA solutions etc. The features of the software include live viewing and recording, remote browsing/searching of recordings, playback, backup, processing of alarm signals.

A very convenient feature of the application for the system operator is the possibility to create a required view - the layout of images from the most important cameras. This way, immediately after launching the application, the operator can quickly view images from the selected cameras. This option is especially useful for people who monitor the cameras with this application, but are not experts in using it.

For automatic resume of the latest layout of images after each start of the app, the user should enter the Tools -> System Configuration -> Live View and Playback -> Resume Latest Live View Status after Restart item. From now on, the iVMS-4200 app will automatically resume the camera view that has been used the last time.

Activation of the automatic resume of the latest layout of images
after each restart of the iVMS-4200 application

Video monitoring of a home with the use of Sunell IP cameras. Currently we offer 2 MP Sunell IP cameras characterized by very good image quality and low price. They are perfect devices for simple and low cost HD video surveillance systems in single-family homes. Both the indoor cameras SN-IPR/04FVD/B(II) K1633 and outdoor models SN-IPR54/04ZMDN/M(II) K1676 have been equipped with 2.8-12 mm varifocal lens with adjustable viewing angle. The built-in IR illuminators allow for operation without visible light... >>> more

Video monitoring of a home, based on 2-megapixel Sunell IP cameras

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