Time for an upgrade to our security systems – IP is the way to go!
CCTV systems which are vital to our security have always enabled a post incident analysis rather than a proactive approach. With our software products getting smarter by the day, we have ones today that can analyze video footage and through the boons of machine learning, can trigger alarms to signal breaches or even potential breaches. This helps us transition from just plain old monitoring to proactive monitoring. Just a change in software alone though is not enough to effect a change in our security systems. There are still many places that rely on analog cameras that feed the video to recorders that display it to human beings monitoring the situation. The best way to bring together the capabilities of today’s software with the existing hardware is through IP convergence and updating the cabling systems. Whether people work in telecommunications, security or as engineers, they understand the importance of converged systems in combining data, voice, video and automated systems for buildings. We need to understand that we are moving from security which had no existent cabling standards to the IP revolution that is standardizing our security architecture. Let’s look at how IP convergence has impacted cabling in our security systems.
The transition to structured cabling accounting for IP
Initially, coaxial cables were the norm in connecting cameras. An analog camera would be connected to the patch panels in Telecommunication Rooms (TR) using these coaxial cables. This video feed would then be sent from there to the Digital Video Recorder which would then convert the Video feed to digital signals for viewing and storage. With the introduction of Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cables though, coaxial cables were soon phased out. This was because UTP cables could supply both power and transmit data on a single cable. Separate cables were needed for power and data in coaxial cables and this led to more dense wiring. Moreover, the twisting rates were unique in different UTP cables ensuring lesser noise during transmission and lesser interference from surrounding UTP cables. Keeping all these in mind, UTP cables were preferred in structured cabling infrastructure. Today, with the lowering costs of fiber cables, they may soon take over from UTPs due to their higher data carrying capacities in a cabling structure. Just like the standard followed in Telephony, security systems also use Cat5/5e and Cat6 cables. Only these can facilitate data transmission over longer distances and have large enough capacity to support the data load.
Possible Structures involving converged cables
Before we go into the scenarios we must first examine why deploying a structured cabling system is advantageous. Aside from the many cost benefits and data transmission efficiency, one of the key features of a systematized cable deployment is creating an environment that is future ready. This means even if we come up with new components that aren’t too radical, we should be able to add them on to the security systems with ease. There are 3 main scenarios that arise as far converged cables in security systems go. The first is the analog system that uses coaxial cables to connect cameras through TRs to the Video recorder. The second is a Hybrid scenario present usually in facilities in the process of upgrading to a unified communication structure. Here, given that their existent analog cameras were using UTP cables already, adding IP cameras is a simple case as these cameras come with a RJ-45 connection that allows them to adapt to UTP connections. The last case is that of complete IP conversion where there is a flexible system that utilizes only necessary cabling and lesser power. Moreover, all device components are remotely accessible for web enabled devices.
Planning out your data cabling
For security cameras, the cabling deployment shadows pretty much what is followed in the Telecommunications industry except for a few modifications. Just like normal voice data transfer networks, there are horizontal and vertical cables, network switches, patch panels, telecommunications rooms, etc. Beyond this, there are couple of other things that need to be considered as a part of expert data cabling. They are things like camera rack sizes, termination points required in the TRs for each camera and Power Distribution Units (PDUs). If ethernet cables are used, then data and power can both be transmitted to various devices from the PDUs. Just like cabling computer equipment, the security camera workstations on the same floor are connected through horizontal cables and those on different floors by vertical cables. All cables are terminated and consolidated at the TR. From here, the data is sent to be viewed, analyzed and stored.
Fiber optic solutions for non-latent security
Finally, your camera relays are only as fast as the data transmission. Today, nothing short of a high performing internet connection is expected especially in something delicate and sensitive like security.Fiber optic solutions apply not only for data transmission but is quickly becoming a favorite for its use a networking cable due to its high data capac