By Ray Harding, Managing Director of IVC Media.
Fibre has long been used in the security industry. As a high-speed, high-bandwidth medium, it has the advantage of enabling numerous services to be carried across a network. However, up until now, fibre has been used as a link in a point-to-point arrangement which, due to the volume of cabling required, can be expensive in terms of both installation costs and ground rental when run connections through existing infrastructure.
The good news is that advances in technology now mean for large scale, multi-building sites like campuses, apartment blocks, hotel resorts and even city wide networks, it is now both possible and economically viable, to implement a GPON system.
The GPON (Passive Optical Network) is a point-to-multipoint, fibre-to-the-premises network architecture, which uses un-powered optical splitters deployed across multi-building sites. Now, many of the internal infrastructure components like: CCTV, door entry and fire alarms for example, are available with network connections that allow them to be controlled and viewed on a common fibre network.
The GPON serves and connects multiple premises, reducing the amount of central and remote switches that are required, saving budget, simplifying the system and ensuring easy future expansion, for items like digital signage. This interlinkage of components over the fibre network also results in reduced build and maintenance costs, and that the all-important return on investment can be achieved.
The potential of GPON within the security industry is therefore is significant. It allows a security system to be managed and monitored from a central point. It creates the potential for an integrated solution including provision for multiple CCTV sites, remote monitoring and management, door access, display of information live on signage platforms, audio announcements and even the possibility of including facial recognition in the future, all run over one simple fibre solution.
The trend towards IP driven platforms in recent years is partly as a result of the recognition that maintenance of several incompatible networks is inefficient. The GPON can contribute to solving this issue, in relation to security systems, as it allows data all to be put over one network.
In addition, unlike many proprietary fibre security installations, the GPON is ‘component agnostic’. In other words, a mix of manufacturers’ products can be used with this architecture, as components are compatible with the IP standard rather than the brand the fibre installation was designed to be integrated with.
A further and perhaps the most significant advantage of GPON however, is that is has the potential to cut energy usage by up to 60% compared with more traditional network infrastructures. Passive optical splitters eliminate the traditional power requirements of network switches. In simple terms, this means less power, with significant environmental benefits.
The GPON configuration also drastically reduces the amount of fibre required and removes the need to install cables to each end point, by multiplexing all the technical services required over a single fibre cable network.
Last year, IVC Media was appointed to design, supply and install every element of a complete working, unified communications system for the entire Tortuga Beach Resort & Spa on the Cape Verde Island of Sal, off West Africa. IVC Media’s brief was to provide an IT network to accommodate multiple services to the resort including: fast internet access, multi-channel high definition TV capabilities, video-on-demand, VOIP and analogue telephony, fire detection in addition to security such as: door entry systems and CCTV. This all needed to be controlled by a remotely monitored, centralised management system, linking leisure areas, shops, villas, apartments and a spa. The entire infrastructure needed to be easy to manage and maintain.
IVC is using a GPON to enable a single optical fibre to serve multiple locations, typically 32-128, over great distances. The network consists of an optical line terminal at the Hotel’s central office which interfaces to the central servers and control equipment and a number of optical network units at the end point / room to deliver services to the hotel guest.
The GPON configuration has drastically reduced the amount of fibre required to each hotel room by multiplexing all the technical services required over the fibre network. Downstream and upstream signals are broadcast and received by each room and encryption is used to provide security and prevent eavesdropping.
As the Tortuga Resort example demonstrates, the GPON has the ability to achieve high bandwidth speeds and efficiencies for multiple services including security. Because the GPON uses less central office space, hardware, cabling, power and efficient use of a single fibre, it becomes a very attractive, in-expensive and feasible architecture for multiple site, large-scale, security projects.
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