A CLEER Path To IP
Modern method of migration from analog to IP
For hospitals and critical care facilities, security and access control
systems are a key part of the situational awareness and security
management platform. Typical hospital campuses have a wide array
of dated analog surveillance and access control equipment. Those
systems need to be modernized to current IP technology standards,
which allows them to centralize the control, management and maintenance of the
overall security operation.
ROBUST SECURITY
Hospitals are open institutions, and hundreds if not thousands of people visit
daily. They can be a robust security and surveillance challenge. Patients and their
families, medical professionals, EMT vehicles and air evac helicopters, as well as
suppliers are coming and going all the time. Security areas of exposure include:
entrances, waiting rooms, mental health in/out patient areas, emergency, maternity
and parking garages all need demand security measures and management well
beyond the norm for standard security applications.
A typical hospital can have several hundred cameras, proximity readers and
panic button points of connection. Such security dense challenges drive an almost
continuous need for the modernization. The upgrade from analog systems
to IP technology is mandatory. Technology that can, for example, deliver six
times the view area and many times the resolution of traditional analog CCTV
camera systems is desirable.
Operationally, hospitals are 24/7 facilities. That means when considering a construction
or retrofit project, operational disruption or patient care interruption
can be a complicated and expensive undertaking. The financial risk of not coordinating
a technology retrofit correctly can be very high; a lot is at stake.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
Most new IP systems are installed with IP devices connected via unshielded twisted
pair (UTP) and/or fiber to a switch, then to a network recording device or software
and control equipment. This methodology has its limitations.
For example, if you wanted to retrofit or migrate to IP video surveillance from
analog CCTV, you had to re-cable using Cat- 5+ UTP and/or fiber. If the analog
cameras transmission distances were typical, cable extenders would have to be
added every 328 feet and necessitate the installation of a wiring box and supplying
specified power to that equipment. That increases cost and complexity.
It gets worse. It could also require that all old cable to be removed, per fire
code—and the UTP or fiber was pulled into place, terminated and tagged. For a
hospital facility, this type of project causes a lot of disruption within many areas
of operation, lab testing and patient care may be shut down until the wire is pulled
out and reinstalled.
An alternative to that scenario, at least for an analog camera retrofit, is to utilize the installed legacy coax cable which can be repurposed with the use of Extended
Reach Ethernet or Ethernet over Coax
(EoC) technology. The elegance of the
EoC solution is its simplicity of design
and application; that is, use existing coax
and reduce overall cost. The technology
enables more end users/installers to approach
an IP migration project with a
new set of timetable, financial and installation
parameters.
DEVIL IN THE DETAILS
The CLEER (Coax Leveraged Ethernet
Extended Reach) transmission system
from NVT is an enterprise grade switch
designed to transform the existing coax
infrastructure into an IP path with PoE.
It delivers fast Ethernet (100Mbps symmetrical)
and PoE via coax with up to
2,000ft of reach on RG6. This technology
is proven to eliminate infrastructure
barriers to IP migration, creating
a robust network in line with industry
best practices. The CLEER technology
allows installers to approach IP migration,
minimizing time and labor associated
with cabling and installation of
IDF closet infrastructure.
Ethernet Extended Reach over Coax
Advantages
Here is a summary of the most important
points:
- Supports almost any kind of coax
cable, allowing re-deployment of
legacy wire.
- Extended distance capable, six times
that of Ethernet. This eliminates the
need for IDF closets/boxes and/or
PoE extenders, and local power.
- Ability to connect multiple IP cameras
to one coax cable; saves cable,
time and resources.
- IP migration can be done at customer’s
pace, incrementally.
- Simple, economical and quick installation.
- Environmentally responsible re-use
of existing cable.
- Facility disruption is dramatically
reduced.
LEVERAGING EXISTING
INVESTMENT
The flexibility of the Ethernet over
Coax solution provides cost-effective,
simple and seamlessness migration
avoiding wholesale “forklift upgrades.”
If one were to install an entirely
new Ethernet infrastructure, the project
would be done in one pass, forcing
a large expensive retrofit. Using legacy
coax and/or UTP allows the luxury of
migrating from analog cameras to IP
cameras, in the timeframe chosen by
the end-user. Because CLEER technology
takes advantage of the reuse of legacy
cable and reduced labor, it can cost
as little half the cost of an IP upgrade.
ETHERNET DISTANCE ISSUE
Conventional Ethernet repeaters must
be installed every 328 feet. For the
installer, that typically means IDF
closets in odd (expensive) locations
throughout the hospital facility in order
to create a proper repeater data/
power supply point. This usually involves
a lockable closet that must have un-interruptible AC power installed.
A camera at 750 feet requires two repeaters.
These repeaters and their associated
connections all add up to being
a potential remote point-of-failure
headache.
With the CLEER-based PoE, an
average of 500 watts of power is provided
at the control room, with up to
20 watts can be distributed to each of
the 24 CLEER transceivers and their
PoE cameras or any IP device compliant
with IEEE 802.af/at. No repeaters
are needed so the distance and power
supply problem is solved without impacting
the budget. Cameras can operate
from the same UPS as the control
room equipment.
NO POWER FAILURES
Every CLEER switch comes standard
with PowerWISE technology that allows
up to four CLEER switches to be
stacked for power sharing and power
redundancy. PowerWISE allows hot
swappable power supply, AC/DC power
flexibility, power sharing and redundancy,
and remote power management
for each CLEER port.
The point-to-point infrastructure
creates a dedicated physical path for every
IP camera; ensuring data traffic has
no impact on the video stream.
SIMPLE INSTALLATION
CLEER provides an easy-to-connect,
transparent network that is very simple
to use, reliable, and affords seamless
integration between existing cable and
the Ethernet backbone.
The CLEER’s product features also
include two GbE Copper-Fiber high
speed uplink ports, an intuitive GUI
web based interface that allows the user
to monitor, update, configure and troubleshoot
switches in real time, making
camera video management simple and
easy.
NO FACILITY DISRUPTION
Extended distance using any wire and
any topology allows incremental migration.
This allows the end-user’s operations
to control the impact on its work
schedule. In the case of hospitals for
example, this minimizes the disruption
of service to patients. In a gaming application,
it allows gaming tables and
machines to operate within the gaming
authority’s surveillance guidelines.
The CLEER solution is not limited
to the support of IP cameras. It can easily
be used to provide Ethernet throughout
a hospital facility for access control,
wireless access point support, IP phones,
door stations, guard shacks, or any other
Ethernet transmission application.
The elegance of a CLEER solution is
its simplicity of design and application.
Installation is easy, data is robust and
reliable, and everyone saves. CLEER
technology enables more installers to
approach an IP migration project with
a new set of financial
and installation deployment
options.
This article originally appeared in the June 2015 issue of Security Today.