IP Surveillance Upgrade in Southeast Asia’s Railway System
Transforming Railway Surveillance
A major international rail line extends nearly 2,000 kilometers across Southeast Asia. Originally constructed in the early 20th century, the railway's surveillance system relied on legacy communication devices. In pursuit of modernization, the railway sought to install new high-definition IP video surveillance cameras and IP-based devices capable of supporting advanced video analytics software, including people counting, facial recognition, object detection, sound analysis, and intruder detection. Additionally, enhancing passenger security and information systems was a priority, which led to the integration of a Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) solution for emergency calls and passenger assistance interfaces. All these upgrades demanded uninterrupted power and network services.
EtherWAN, renowned for its technical expertise and extensive experience in similar projects, was the ideal choice to provide the necessary network infrastructure for this vital upgrade.
Challenges in Expanding Railway Networks
The extensive length of the rail line and the large number of stations necessitated a solution capable of efficiently handling substantial data traffic generated by advanced IP transmission over extended distances. Furthermore, the solution had to address the imperative of reducing electrical wiring costs and ensuring scalability for future expansions. An intriguing challenge in deploying PoE devices was the fact that the DC power available at the stations fell below the standards required for PoE power sourcing equipment (PSE).
The local climate, characterized by year-round humid tropical weather, posed formidable challenges. In the face of these harsh environmental conditions, the railway required a solution that could endure extreme heat and high humidity. Additionally, the solution needed to exhibit high resistance to electromagnetic interference while seamlessly integrating with the existing, larger network infrastructure.
Application Network Requisites
- Transmission stability over long distances for high-resolution video images
- Power-over-Ethernet Solutions
- Equipment highly resistant to heat and moisture
- Maintaining PoE standard voltage output from switches, even with input power deviating from PoE PSE switch voltage
- Easy scalability for future expansion
- Built-in redundancy
Network Integrity for Railway Systems
EtherWAN successfully tackled the challenges of this project by leveraging its extensive range of industrial switch designs and advanced proprietary technology. Network redundancy was a pivotal requirement, and EtherWAN's proprietary Alpha-ring technology delivered the necessary redundancy with rapid failover capabilities while seamlessly integrating with third-party devices.
Ensuring network continuity in the face of power source failures was equally critical. EtherWAN's solution featured devices with dual power inputs, offering backup power in the event of a single power source failure, guaranteeing uninterrupted network operation.
For fault-tolerant data transmission between platforms, the EX61000A Series industrial managed switch was deployed. All data was routed to connect with the core network, ultimately reaching the digital information boards in the train stations. The EX61000A switches, forming an Alpha-ring for redundancy, delivered high-speed data throughput even under extreme temperature conditions.
To support VOIP emergency intercoms and high-resolution IP cameras in the video surveillance system, the EX76000 Series switches were selected. These switches, with their high port count, robust PoE budget, and intelligent PoE management, proved ideal for consistently transferring large volumes of voice and IP camera data.
At the heart of the security network, two EX29000 modular managed switches acted as the backbone, connecting to the larger railway network utilizing RSTP. The EX29000, known for its highly flexible modularized switch configuration, provided a choice of up to 28 electrical and/or optical interfaces, along with up to four gigabit, fixed fiber, or SFP Combo port options. Supporting the Alpha-ring redundancy protocol with fault recovery in under 15 milliseconds, it proved perfect for critical applications demanding uninterrupted service. Moreover, the Alpha-rings supported redundant pairs, ensuring scalability for future expansion.
To address the input voltage challenge, EtherWAN made specialized power design adjustments, enabling the PoE switches to deliver full power to the PoE devices even under low voltage conditions that would typically hinder a PoE solution's performance.
Now, with the upgraded network solution courtesy of EtherWAN, the Malaysia-Thailand Railway boasts a smarter, safer video surveillance system and VoIP solution that is reliable, cost-effective, and future-ready.
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