Putting wireless in the picture

The applications for wireless based video security networks are coming under renewed scrutiny as the public sector comes under increasing government pressure to cut costs whilst maintaining service levels. It is a fact that, when implemented correctly, it is virtually impossible to detect any difference in performance between fibre and line-of-sight wireless-based video networks. They can deliver equivalent levels of latency and picture quality as fibre at a significantly lower cost, whether used as standalone networks, extending the range of existing fibre networks or used to rapidly deploy temporary communications links for covert or overt operations.

Wavesight has become one of the world’s leading video surveillance market specialists and can trace its roots back to the early days of EMI and the Central Research Laboratories in the 1930s. It has a long history of first-to-market innovations for secure, high bandwidth, long range transmission of data, voice and CCTV video to the 802.11 standard and works closely in partnership with the world’s leading systems integration companies to meet diverse client security applications across the public and private sectors.

In 2007, Wavesight became part of the Jaltek Group, a leading technology solutions organisation that provides vertically integrated design and electronic manufacturing services, bespoke systems development, telematics and personal telemetry solutions. This acquisition has provided the financial stability required to actively research and develop new innovations and led to a new management team being installed, which has helped to regain the confidence of the market. The company has recently won many prestigious contracts across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East including the world’s largest license exempt contract for a wireless video network in India utilising over 500 cameras.

The Wavesight Difference
A key difference between Wavesight and traditional suppliers is that every system is developed with the bandwidth to deliver video images at rates of up to 25 fps and latency rates of less than 3ms at ranges of up to 40km. The company provides a comprehensive range of transceiver solutions that enable high quality images to be received from remote locations where traditional cabling is either not practical or simply not affordable. This is something that cannot be reliably achieved with the voice and data based products that have commonly been deployed in an attempt to run bandwidth hungry video applications.

Wavesight systems also meet all relevant international standards for outdoor use, including IP67 industrial protection, and are regularly specified for diverse environments around the world including the Orkney Islands, India and Australia.

Installation is another area where Wavesight systems excel, with the process being quick and easy without requiring the high levels of technical expertise needed to work with alternative voice and data-based products. Wavesight even provides installers with specific tools such RFAnalyser, to optimise the configuration and management processes.

Being UK-based, Wavesight also provides a level of support that just cannot be matched by other international suppliers. It has strength in depth with support teams that offer unrivalled levels of application and technical expertise to add high levels of value to the system design, development, configuration and deployment processes. They have proven experience with many successful deployments in a wide range of environments to exceed client expectations for every installation whether a complete solution or integrated with third party licensed and COFDM products.

With a competitive pricing strategy and a straightforward and pragmatic approach to doing business, it is no surprise that Wavesight has experienced a 40 per cent increase in revenues over the last 12 months. This is no mean feat in the current challenging financial conditions and is hard evidence that the company’s wireless video solutions are now gaining real market acceptance. As a ‘standards-based’ manufacturer of wireless video surveillance solutions to multiple Home Office departments and Police Technical Support Units (TSU) across the UK, the company is also now a preferred supplier of license exempt solutions to most of the UK’s leading systems integrators.

Significant Cost Savings
As well as delivering comparable performance to fibre networks and leased lines, Wavesight systems can also enable organisations to install or expand video security networks at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. The market is already changing and where wireless was once seen as being only suitable as an extension to fibre, it is now commonly being specified to replace fibre. At just 15-20 per cent of the cost, organisations are achieving a return on investment in as little as 24 months whilst eliminating the high ongoing costs required for fibre or leased lines will deliver further significant savings over the same period. This will be particularly important to the public sector that is now under severe pressure to cut costs as part of the government’s strategy to reduce the high debt burden on the economy. It will enable a ‘capital expenditure’ approach to investing in systems resulting in borough owned infrastructures without the line leasing commitments.

Of course, in the developing world, these are not important issues as they simply cannot afford to even consider fibre-based networks particularly when there is no visible difference in terms of performance. With proper network planning and construction, wireless is suitable for all but the very largest scale communications networks and considering the cost and reliability advantages of wireless, why would they even consider the alternatives?

Product Portfolio
Wavesight products enable wireless to be quickly and easily integrated with hybrid CCTV networks and are compatible with analogue and digital CCTV cameras, DVRs and NVRs as well as the latest generation of IP-based systems. They are manufactured at Jaltek Group’s niche UK-based manufacturing facility which is accredited to AS9100 and ISO13485 to meet the requirements of highly regulated markets globally.

WaveSPRINT – The market’s most compact outdoor transceiver solution with integrated aerial designed specifically for short range CCTV applications of up to 1km at up to 54 Mbps. It delivers high level of performance for point to point bridging, outdoor access point or client roles with the bandwidth to meet all video, voice and data requirements. WaveSPRINT is a rapidly redeployable asset that delivers rapid ROI by eliminating the cost, planning delays, and disruption associated with laying fibre or leasing lines.
WaveFLOW – This flexible transceiver solution delivers data rates of up to 108 Mbps at ranges of up to 5km providing performance equivalent to cabled Ethernet to meet the requirements of the latest high definition CCTV and the latest bandwidth-hungry applications VoIP and remote conferencing. WaveFLOW has an integrated aerial and provides reliable and resilient point to point and multipoint bridging as well as outdoor access point and client operation in a single ruggedised package.
WaveMAX – A powerful transceiver that uses advanced OFDM radio and proprietary technologies to deliver high quality video images at ranges up to 40km at up to 108 Mbps. It provides a flexible and cost effective outdoor bridging solution in both point to point and multipoint configurations. WaveMAX is available with integrated aerial or standalone enabling the use of different antennas to meet a wide range of applications.
WavePULSE – Used to remotely monitor and manage video networks to protect bandwidth integrity and ensure that wireless video networks continue to deliver the highest levels of performance. Importantly, this is achieved using standard web browsers around the clock without requiring full access to the data network. Alerts can be sent using e-mail or SMS text messaging should link quality or data throughput drop below pre-defined levels. WavePULSE also provides an integrated set of network diagnostics tools including radio transceiver PING, data route tracing and data capture.

Wavesight is now clearly focused on the development and delivery of cost effective, flexible and easy to deploy point to point and point to multipoint solutions. These can be utilised in conjunction with 3rd party technology products to ensure that wider network infrastructure solutions can be designed and deployed to meet diverse applications.

Whether used in standalone applications or integrated with existing fibre networks, wireless video surveillance solutions are now gaining real traction in a wide range of applications around the world including town centres, law enforcement, ports, harbours, airports, railways as well as high security and classified government and commercial facilities. With the full support and backing of the Jaltek Group, Wavesight is committed to becoming the de facto standard for organisations requiring highly scalable wireless surveillance networks that are designed, developed and manufactured specifically for the delivery of video.

For more information
Wavesight Limited
Unit 13, Dencora Way, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU3 3HP, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1582 578160
Fax: +44 (0)1582 578298
E-mail: sales@wavesight.com
Web: www.wavesight.com