White Paper Sensor Technologies for the Protection of remote assets In today s complex geopolitical environment, Government Agencies and Public Bodies have a responsibility to provide protection and resilience for key infrastructure. This infrastructure can consist of large civil engineering assets covering everything from an airport to a road bridge or a railway tunnel through to the protection of remote electricity sub stations and pumping facilities. This white paper describes the types of sensor we deploy and how they can best be used to defend the smaller remote facility. Historically these facilities have been protected by physical security measures: fences, gates, walls etc. with, in some cases CCTV recording. A key problem for many of these sites is a very limited network (or even non-existent) bandwidth availability, which limits the use of real time monitoring. Smart CCTV offers the ability to provide not only a range of technology solutions, to provide strength in depth, to supplement the physical security solutions. We are also able to provide system consultancy and design to ensure that our technology is used effectively. Technologies availible consist of CCTV with image processing, laser scanning and RF mobile telephony sensing systems which can be deployed separately or in combination depending on the nature of the issues. In order to achieve a cost effective range of solutions Smart CCTV has developed integration expertise in the delivery of data rich environments over mobile telephony and radio links based around military grade technology. We achieve this in two ways. Redundant data removal We utilise ilids compliant video analytics to reduce the amount of video transmitted. ilids is the UK government s benchmark for video analytics (VA) systems. It has been developed by the Centre for Applied Science and Technology (CAST) in partnership with the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI). This means that video is only transmitted when a potential incident is identified. The video clip includes a pre alert sequence to provide control room staff with the context. We use both visible CCTV cameras and thermal cameras as inputs into our video analytics based systems. Thermal cameras offer many advantages, no illumination source required for nighttime working, ability to detect objects over very long distances but they are lower spatial resolution and monochrome so a significant amount of potential detail in the image is lost. We therefore often deploy a mixture of visible and thermal cameras so that each technology complements the other to offer the optimum solution.
Thermal camera image Highly resilient laser scanning technology which can be used to monitor irregular areas, and with the use of multiple echo technology is capable of detection in fog, heavy rain and snow conditions. These scanners are used extensively by HM Prison Service to provide breakout alerts from their secure facilities as well as safety critical applications in machine guarding and railway level crossing monitoring. Polygon Laser Scanner Detection zone We again analyse the laser scan output in real time locally and only communicate when an approaching object which meets target criteria is identified. We can also provide Bluetooth and Wi-Fi sensing, experience shows that around 50% of adults have one or more of these enabled on their mobile telephone, and with directional aerials we can capture these signals to a range of around 100 meters. This technology is very useful in identifying repeat visitors to site and potentially provides evidence that a specific phone was at the location at a defined time during any investigation. Again there is no need to transmit data except when a set of predetermined criteria are being met.
Management of the available transmission bandwidth Transmitting video via commercial 3G networks is subject to a number of potential problems. In addition to low signal strength due to geographical considerations, bandwidth availability is also adversely affected by contention issues if the network becomes busy. This leads to Jitter and images which are unrecognisable when viewed. Jitter is defined as a variation in the delay of received packets. At the sending side, packets are sent in a continuous stream with the packets spaced evenly apart. Due to network congestion, improper queuing, or configuration errors, this steady stream can become lumpy, or the delay between each packet can vary instead of remaining constant. This diagram illustrates how a steady stream of packets is handled. When a router receives a Real-Time Protocol (RTP) video stream for Mobile network, it must compensate for the jitter that is encountered. The mechanism that handles this function is the play out delay buffer. The play out delay buffer must buffer these packets and then play them out in a steady stream to the digital signal processors (DSPs) to be converted back to a video stream. The play out delay buffer is also sometimes referred to as the de-jitter buffer. This diagram illustrates how jitter is handled. If the jitter is so large that it causes packets to be received out of the range of this buffer, the out-of-range packets are discarded and dropouts are seen in the video. For losses as small as one packet, the DSP interpolates what it thinks the video should be and no problem is visible. When jitter exceeds what the DSP can do to make up for the missing packets, video problems are seen. If the packet dropped is a key frame (an I frame) in an MPEG4/H264 stream the video will freeze or be completely dropped. This diagram illustrates how excessive jitter is handled.
Our solution incorporates highly resilient digital video communications technology designed for use by the military, police and government agencies. This technology overcomes the inherent weaknesses found when using consumer mobile telephony networks for the transmission of video streams. It uses secure transmission and 256 bit encryption technologies to ensure that it is a rugged solution. Operational requirements Technology by itself is not an answer to the problem. Technology is a tool to allow human operators to make informed decisions in real time, often when they are not in receipt of the whole information. A critical part of Smart CCTV s approach to protecting vital infrastructure assets is built around a consultancy and design process, which identifies the issues related to the problem and seeks to provide technology to support the answers. The process takes a number of steps; an example of the process which we used in a CNI contract with the UK Highways Agency is shown in the diagram below.
The first and probably the most complex phase is defining the problem. In some ways this might seem counter intuitive, I know what my problem is and I need a cost effective solution. However the real world is not simple, just defining the fact that I want to know if someone tries to break into an enclosed substation or pumping facility isn t enough. What are the specific geographical constraints for the site? An asset close to the side of a country road may need a completely different approach to one in a urban environment. Understanding what is normal for the site is a key problem: firstly does anyone know what is normal, is that quiet country lane a haunt for courting couples, do people pick blackberries in the area in the autumn etc.? Following on from an understanding of these problems are the human factors, who is going to manage the system? Is there already a monitoring service in place? What happens when an alert is received etc.? Unless these issues are well understood, agreed and resourced then the total end to end system will not be reliable. The simplified operational process flow for the Highways Agency project are shown below, The HA has a number of Regional Control Centres (RCCs), which while manned 24/7/365 are essentially dedicated to traffic control and management rather than asset protection and security. The protection of assets requires that the operators in the control centre identify the criticality of asset protection alerts and priorities them over their day to day roles of dealing with breakdowns on Motorways and congestion management. (HATO is a Highways Agency Traffic officer).
Only once the problem has been defined and a management policy agreed can the technical solution be designed to meet these needs. Also critical to the design are the regulatory requirements which will affect how the solution is deployed. Implementation Now that the problem has been defined, the operational issues agreed, the system designed and the relevant regulatory requirements made, the solution has to be deployed, maintained and key staff trained. Smart CCTV is an ISO9001:2008 accredited company, utilising Prince2 as our project management process. We have integrated our technological solutions with physical security solutions including SEAP rated door sets and security fences. Security Door Delivery Our solutions have been delivered to provide resilience in the transport sector (road, rail and waterways) and high end security like diplomatic locations. For more information Smart CCTV Ltd 8 Dragoon House Hussar Court Westside View Waterlooville Hampshire PO7 7SF Tel 02392 248250 www.smartcctvltd.com