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

Graphene supercapacitors in electric vehicles.

Skeleton Technololgies, an Estonian manufacturer of graphene supercapacitors, is working with the German Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe (KIT) to develop advanced graphene capacitors which can be charged in 15 seconds. The company plans to use them as an addition to drivetrains of electric, hybrid and fuel cell powered vehicles.

The combination of Li-Ion batteries and supercapacitors in electric vehicles will draw from the benefits of both energy storage methods. Supercapacitors withstand a huge number of charge and discharge cycles and can quickly absorb and deliver high power. The lithium-ion batteries, however, offer a better energy storage capacity, expressed as energy density, i.e. the amount of Wh generated per kg of battery weight, which is an order of magnitude better. Batteries must therefore remain the primary energy storage, and graphene capacitors will be used to generate high power during acceleration and to recuperate energy from braking. As a result, the batteries can be smaller and their service life will be significantly improved due to fewer charging cycles and reduced power output. According to the research, the batteries supported with capacitors are estimated to last up to 50% longer, and their cooling system can be significantly reduced.

The company already uses graphene supercapacitors in goods transport, where they play the role of the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), i.e. they recuperate the kinetic energy of the vehicle lost during braking, and reuse it for acceleration. In real use, the installation of a 400 Wh supercapacitor in a 10-ton truck reduced its fuel consumption by approximately 30%.

Skeleton supercapacitors are made in a patented process, with the electrodes based on a proprietary, inorganic graphene structure. The use of this material increases a cell capacity by 40% compared to the competitive products. This solution has gained great recognition among vehicle manufacturers. The manufacturer has already signed a letter of intent with leading automotive concerns who have supported the idea financially. We are hoping for a further successful evolution of the capacitors to replace the "slow" batteries.

Winners of the 19th edition of DIPOL photo contest!!

We thank all the participants for almost 400 photos they have sent us. We received a lot of photographs representing the highest level of art, thus making the award decision particularly difficult. Congratulations to the winners and honored participants – you have once again proved that such inconspicuous and seemingly common objects as antennas can be inspirations for creating truly artistic works.

All works received can be seen here.

1st prize - Samotność (loneliness) – Sebastian Szostek

2nd prize - Step by step – Ferenc Mészáros

New software version for the WS-6980 Signal meter.

A dedicated TV signal meter is required to measure the parameters of the satellite, terrestrial and cable TV signals. Without such a meter, it would not be possible to quickly and accurately position a satellite dish or find the proper orientation of a terrestrial TV antenna, making it very hard to set up the whole TV/SAT system properly. The WS-6980 R10837 measures satellite DVB-S/DVB-S2 (HD), terrestrial DVB-T/DVB-T2 (HD) and cable DVB-C signals. Thanks to a built-in receiver, the user can monitor the currently tested channel. The monitoring of the tested channels and intuitive operation accelerate installation work. The device measures such parameters as signal level expressed in dBμV, C/N and MER parameters, so accurate setting of individual system components (dish, LNB) and, in the case of more complex systems, multiswitches and amplifiers, poses no problem at all.

Calibration of optical power meters – certificates.

The optical power meter, like most measuring devices, performs measurements with certain uncertainty. Its value is usually given in the meter data sheet and confirmed with the attached certificate.

In the case of most cheaper optical meters, the certificate has no formal power and represents a mere declaration concerning the final quality of the product. The document is issued by the manufacturer, who is also the party responsible for the process of measurement and calibration. The latter is not required to conform to any specific standards and the calibration instruments used do not need to have the status of reference devices. In many cases, however, such a basic certificate is sufficient to confirm that the measurements will be reliable.

A basic calibration certificate issued by an optical power meter producer

Installers who require a higher-level certificate should choose products compliant with the ISO9001 and IEC17025 standards. In this case, relevant certificates can only be issued by producers who follow procedures specified in the ISO9001 quality management standard, or, better yet, by an external lab that has implemented the IEC 17025 guidelines.

The highest level of certification is offered by an accredited lab. Several dozen IEC 17025 accredited labs around the world perform calibration based on rigorous procedures defined in the European IEC 61365 standard or an American equivalent, i.e. TIA-455-221/FOTP-231. Meters with such certificates are top-quality devices, which, provided that full compliance with relevant standards is ensured, can serve as a reference device for the calibration of other instruments.

The two best known labs used by renowned measuring equipment producers are the American N.I.S.T (National Institute of Standard and Technology) and the Australian NMI (National Measurement Institute). In Poland, calibration can be performed at the LMEEiO (Laboratory of Electrical, Electronic, and Optoelectronic Metrology) in Warsaw. The institution is accredited by the Polish Center for Accreditation (PCA) and can calibrate any optical power meter.

It is worth noting that even if the device purchased does not have a certificate issued by an accredited laboratory, the user can request such an institution for calibration. This is a paid service (you pay for each wavelength for which the procedure is performed). Note, however, that the laboratory performs only the calibration, not the adjustment. The user will receive a confirmation that the device is capable of measuring with a certain deviation from the standard. This deviation must be taken into account in the measurements, unless the meter has a manual calibration function. Then the errors indicated by the laboratory can be corrected. A meter calibrated that way can be used to perform any measurements and create any measurement documentation.

Sample image from the bispectral Hikvision camera.

DS-2TD2617-3/V1 is a bispectral IP camera manufactured by Hikvision, which combines the advantages of traditional and thermal imaging monitoring. It has with two image sensors, the first CMOS for visible light with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 px, the second, thermal imaging sensor with a resolution of 160 x 120 px. The camera can create image fusion, i.e. combine a visible image with an infrared image to achieve a quality thermal presentation. The snapshots shown below are taken with the Picture-in-Picture function turned on, with "Image Fusion Ratio" set to 80 and "Border Fusion Ratio" to 73 for the image overlay details. Moreover, the "Hot white" and "Fusion 1" color ranges have been selected in the "Display settings" tab.

A bispectral camera is a perfect complement to visual monitoring operating in the range of visible light and reflected infrared. Analog or IP CCTV cameras enable the correct identification and recognition of people during the day and at night when using an infrared illuminator. The thermal imaging camera does not need any illumination to work properly. Its operating principle is completely different from traditional cameras. Any object with a temperature above absolute zero (0 K = −273.15°C) emits infrared rays. Due to the relationship between the temperature and the intensity of radiation, the thermal imaging camera, which receives infrared waves, calculates the temperature value based on their length. The combination of the vision and thermal imaging modules in one camera enables creating the image fusion and obtaining the resulting thermal image of a better quality.

Basics of IP addressing – part 3.

In the previous issue, the subnet mask was discussed. In the third part, details on the calculation of the network and host address (IPv4) based on the network mask will be discussed. The mask determines how many subsequent bits in the IP address form the network address. The remaining bits, however, specify the addresses of a particular host in the network (end device address). Where the bit in the mask is set to 1, the corresponding bit of the IP address belongs to the network address, and when it equals 0, the corresponding bit of the IP address belongs to the host address.

The subnet mask bits are always set to 1, starting with the most significant bit (commonly the oldest), for example:

As seen in this case, the network address is:

While calculating a network address, and when the device IP address and mask, are available, the AND function should be applied (the result contains one when there is one in both strings):

The result of the AND function is the network address which, after conversion to decimal, has the form: 192.168.11.128.

Knowing the subnet address, the broadcast address can be easily calculated. To this end, the mask bit negation is used, and the resulting number is added to the network address:

Every octet has to be added to its corresponding octet of the network address. Since the first 3 octets are 0, just the last one is added: 128+127=255. The broadcast address sought in this network is therefore: 192.168.11.255.

The ability to calculate addresses is useful, for example, when the provider assigns a pool of IP addresses to the user. The provider rarely provides a list with the specified host, network or broadcast addresses. Only the network address and mask is specified in the provider documentation. For example, a user is notified of being given the 62.121.130.32/29 addressing (the /29 means the mask 255.255.255.248). The user has to calculate that the network address is 62.121.130.32, the host addresses are from 62.121.130.33 to 62.121.130.38 and the broadcast address is 62.121.130.39.

The network gateway will discussed in detail in the following issue of this Weekly Review.

Deep learning in Hikvision monitoring systems.

The DeepinView (cameras) and DeepinMind (DVRs) systems represent the top level of image analysis based on deep learning algorithms. They reflect the structure and principles of the human brain. As in the brain, learning creates connections between artificial neurons (programs) and creates a multi-layer artificial neural network. The algorithm individually analyzes model photos and recordings, looking for common features, and then creates appropriate connections. The so-called layers, responsible for detecting a specific feature, are built this way. The more layers an algorithm has, the more accurate the analysis is. Therefore, teaching with large amounts of data is crucial.
Only multi-layer networks can collect information and perform appropriate actions, in particular automatic extraction and representation of features (patterns) present in the data, teaching the network for example to recognize faces, vehicle brands, animal species or incident, e.g. a fall.

A trained algorithm is used for video analysis. The supported functions include detection and recognition of faces, animal species, vehicle brands, number plate recognition (ANPR), line crossing, intrusion, region entry and exit (perimeter protection based on target detection and classification), people counting, detection of human fall, fight, fire, etc.

Hik-ProConnect – cloud service for installers and integrators of Hikvision systems. Hik-ProConnect is a state-of-the-art cloud-based platform intended for installers and integrators of Hikvision systems. It is used for remote management and supervision of security systems connected to the Hik-Connect service. CCTV and alarm systems, video intercoms, access control and other IoT devices (e.g. wireless bells) are compatible with Hik-ProConnect...>>>more

Hik-ProConnect system structure

TV SAT solutions for hotels