Keeping our urban rail transport systems safe and efficient-
No matter how safe and reliable a rail system is, there is no room for complacency in ensuring its continuing safety and efficiency. This is certainly the case in Singapore, as passenger figures continue to climb, placing the ageing system under considerable strain.
As early as just four months after its inception in 1988, the trains were already carrying passengers a fifth more than what Singapore mass rapid transit (MRT) had expected. Singapore is now home to more than 5.1 million people, and according to the “Population White Paper” published by the government, the figure could increase to 6 million by 2020 and 6.9 million by 2030. Currently, the MRT and the light rail transit (LRT) serve more than 2 million passengers a day, according to the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
To provide a world-class transport service, all governments need to address the critical need for a reliable public safety network. At the heart of any transport system lies a computer network whose own reliability and efficiency is key to operational efficiency, safety, and reliability. An ideal IT infrastructure should comprise a single, robust, intelligent, and converged network that can support any video, voice, and other types of data generated by the transport facilities. Hence, physical security solutions can help the transport industry to build an effective future-proof network with lower operational and capital costs.
A pervasive network
The current network is like an octopus with many tentacles permeating into every aspect of transport operations such as surveillance, communications, and even monitoring sensors that aid fault detection. Why is it imperative for this network to be able to support all of these aspects and more?
While a failing camera means that a single view is lost, a failing network switch means all surveillance capabilities will be lost for an indeterminate period of time. This could lead to a cracked rail not being detected in time, thus causing an accident. A network breakdown might cause facility managers to lose their mode of communication, further compounding the problem.
The revolution of surveillance and the demands it imposes on the network
The tasks of surveillance have been rapidly evolving in tandem with the advances in our transport systems. They have taken a more “active” form – monitoring the human traffic flow, detecting baggages left behind, as well as identifying people showing suspicious behaviour or trespassing on the train tracks. As technology improves, video cameras would be able to capture images with a higher frame rate and resolution, thus resulting in a greater volume of data being transferred over the network. Another requirement of a safe urban rail network is its ability to sense high-priority traffic at wire speedand use that information to regulate the network, thus ensuring that high-priority traffic is handled first.
In the surveillance world, the network switch is a vital component in a mission-critical, high-liability environment. IT-centric criteria like reliability, performance, and integration are becoming key factors in surveillance investment decisions, with the network switch becoming a vital component.
Additionally, since all data flow to and from a single, centralised security operations centre, these requirements put even more strain on the network. It has to be able to accommodate different surveillance protocols and data, as well as cover a huge area. As the network grows or changes, more cameras and connected devices need to be rapidly added without the need to rebuild or redesign the network. Video and audio must be reviewed in real time, and if needed, multiplied on the fly and dispersed to key partnering agencies, thus requiring a high performance network with low latency. Most importantly, the network must operate 24/7/365, with no room for failure.
All-seeing, intelligent converged networks
A combination of functionality and performance is needed to ensure deployment success across all surveillance environments, thus enabling networks to communicate with the camera layer effectively and reliably to enhance overall physical security. Therefore, it is only natural for vendors offering network convergence solutions to establish partnerships with other network camera providers.
Extreme Networks’ partnership with Axisi reduces resources needed to support physical security installations. Extreme Networks provides the best-in-class Ethernet switches for Axis Communications’ IP-based network solutions including Axis IP cameras, video management systems (VMS), and video encoders, with the aim of lowering Total cost of oOwnership (TCO). This partnership allows customers to easily deploy solutions because of the reduced need for IT personnel and expertise.
An estimated 35 per cent of support calls in the surveillance market are related to network issues. Ensuring that the appropriate devices are installed the first time can help to keep ongoing support costs low, particularly through the reduction of on-site service calls. It also gives visibility to network issues that affect service, as well as sustained network uptime and lifetime warranties. Such streamlined functionality between networks and cameras is the reason why Extreme Networks’ solutions are used in major rail transport systems in many countries in the Asia Pacific.
Ultimately, enterprises should aim to achieve a unified network that handles data, video, and communications, while staying easily operable, automated, scalable, and intelligent. This unified network should be open and scalable to allow business growth, while remaining protected from unauthorised intrusion into the system. Lastly, though most enterprises base a switch purchase on initial costs, such an approach would be more suitable for consumer-level hardware. The reality is that the ultimate “costs” will involve more than the purchase price, especially when maintenance, reliability, and support are factored into the value equation.
Wilson Lai is the Technical Director of APAC and Japan at Extreme Networks. Wilson leads the technical sales engineering team in the region. He joined Extreme Networks in 1999 and has over 15 years of experience in the networking industry. Before his engineering role, he served over 13 years in multiple technical leadership roles in the APAC and the US. Wilson received his Bachelor’s degree in Management from the University of Phoenix and his MBA from Duke University’s Global Executive MBA programme.
