Case Study: Exalt Radio Systems Provide Video Surveillance Network Backbone

Located midway between Denver and Colorado Springs, Castle Rock, Colorado is home to more than 46,000 people. The town encompasses 33 square miles and sits at the base of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 6,202 feet. Recently, the Town was recognized as one of the best places to live in America by both Family Circle magazine and RelocateAmerica.com.
Like many municipalities in this post-9/11 era, the Town of Castle Rock has become increasingly concerned with the security of its facilities. In an effort to improve the security of its water system, the Town’s Utility Department developed a plan to deploy video surveillance cameras at roughly 40 different locations containing wells, pumping stations, treatment plants and other equipment. Along with the cameras, the system required a secure, high-performance network to transport the video from the cameras’ distributed locations to the Town’s network operations center.
Building a Video Surveillance Network
“We needed a network that we could rely on under all conditions,” says Gordon Tye, Utilities System Control Network Analyst for the Town of Castle Rock Utilities Department. For help with the project, Tye contacted Lakewood, Colorado-based KNS Communications, which has designed and built radio networks for utility departments throughout the western United States.
KNS personnel deployed ten Exalt EX-11s microwave radio systems in a ring topology to collect and transport video feeds from the cameras in the system. “The ring gives us fault-tolerance,” says Tye. “If we have a network failure anywhere in the ring, the traffic can reverse course and still get to its destination.”
The Exalt radio systems use the licensed 11 GHz frequency to provide interference-free communications. Each radio is capable of delivering up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) of full-duplex Ethernet data and up to four T1 lines. As configured for the Town of Castle Rock, the radios deliver the full 100 Mbps of Ethernet, which is more than enough to handle the video traffic from the network of cameras.
The EX-11s radio systems include a band-independent indoor unit (IDU) and an external band-specific outdoor unit (ODU) and antenna. In this deployment, the indoor units are housed inside NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association)-rated enclosures, which protect them and other equipment from rain and snow. The ODUs are located outside the NEMA enclosures.
In addition to the radios’ high performance, Tye and his team have had a very good experience with Exalt as a company. “Exalt has always been very responsive whenever we have a question,” he says.
With their high performance and reliability, the Exalt radio systems have formed an unshakeable foundation for the Utility Department’s video security system. “These radio systems have been completely reliable since they went in,” says Tye. “That kind of reliability is important because we want to be able to focus on secure deliveries of clean water rather than worrying about what’s wrong with the network.”
The ring of Exalt radio systems and the other components of the video surveillance system add a new layer of protection for the Town’s water supply, making it possible for the Utility District to keep an eye on its diverse operations at all times.
Quote
“These radio systems have been completely reliable since they went in. That kind of reliability is important because we want to be able to focus on secure deliveries of clean water rather than worrying about what’s wrong with the network.”
–Gordon Tye, Utilities System Control Network Analyst, Town of Castle Rock Utilities Department
Challenges
• Deliver video surveillance traffic from approximately 40 different cameras
• Provide secure and highly reliable communications in all weather conditions
• Enable fault-tolerance in the network
Solutions
• Deploy Exalt EX-11s radios configured to support 100 Mbps Ethernet
• Use the licensed 11 GHz frequency to minimize interference
• Use a bidirectional ring configuration with Exalt’s 99.999 percent throughput availability to ensure reliable transmissions in rain and snow