Antennas in "City of God"

There are few pictures from the "City of God", because only few photographers have the courage to penetrate this area at the cost of the equipment or even their lives. The people living here do not obey the laws of the country, and the police patrol the grounds from helicopters only. The alleys are too narrow and steep for the squad cars, and no one will send foot patrols there. Each intervention of armed police or army units means a full-scale war. The only law is the law of the jungle - it is survival of the fittest. If there is any doubt who is the boss, the gangs quickly "clarify" this issue among themselves.

"City of God" is situated close to the port called "River of January" - where is it? Brazil. The pictures come from Rio de Janeiro (River of January). The name "City of God" comes from the film with the same title - it was used for describing "favelas" - the slums and shanty towns. There are about 600 such places in Rio de Janeiro. In the fifties, they housed in about 7% of the city population, now it is ca. 20%.

What is DDNS?

If we wish to run a server for website hosting or accessing CCTV cameras, available from any Internet location - and we don't have a static IP address but a dynamic one supplied by DHCP server (e.g. ADSL service) - we have to use DDNS (Dynamic Domain Name System).

DDNS server provides a database containing relations between domain names and numeric addresses, which may be updated on request, by the domain owner. Thanks to this feature, the server is available in the domain name regardless its current IP address.

We have to remember that when DHCP server changes the IP, it takes some time to detect this change by the client software or router. Then, after the notification has been sent to DDNS server, it takes another minute or so to send this piece of data to DNS server to update the database. As a result, our server will be periodically unavailable up to several minutes - every time the IP address has been changed.

Requirements for input signals in multiswitch systems

In the case of large multiswitch installation there have to be used many amplification stages, which increases the noise figure of such system. It directly translates into increase of BER. BER values above 10^-4 (in the outlet) will prevent the user from receiving satellite broadcasts (the receiver will not be able to restore the original signal). To ensure reliable and high quality decoding, the BER values should be at least about 10^-8 (in LNB outputs). Signals with low BER are ensured by use of appropriate dishes, e.g. 110 cm. It is very wise to use large dishes - the whole multiswich system needs only one set of dishes, being a small part of the total costs, but deciding on the quality of the input (and output) signals.

IP CCTV in fright forwarding company

Digital CCTV monitoring based on IP solutions becomes increasingly mainstream in video surveillance of buildings, parking lots, distribution centers etc. Not long ago the costs of professional IP CCTV monitoring systems were so high that they were mainly deployed in big cities. Recently the situation has changed significantly so that they may be used literally everywhere. IP CCTV systems ensure effective monitoring of geographically dispersed locations and building of installations with great number of cameras. They can be easily extended, reconfigured, and developed by software solutions. This cuts operational costs. Example of Spedkol company in Poland.

The thinker of the 21st century

CeBIT 2008

CeBIT 2008 - photo report

New trends in telecommunications - CeBIT 2008

An indisputable leader in display technologies - once again Samsung - Large Format Display (LFD).

The products awarded for aesthetics (International Forum Design): Access Point - Level One, computer of Sony, CCTV camera of Panasonic.

31-inch OLED television, so far the largest TV set made in this technology. AMOLED (Active Matrix OLED) displays, in the first place may replace LCD screens in mobile phones and still/video cameras.

CeBIT 2008 - new trends in telecommunications and IT. For many years CeBIT has been mapping out development of electronic industries in the world. This year we saw several forerunners of new technologies, and products that have a chance to become hits in the near future, as well.

The marked tendency revealed at the fair was increase of mobile multimedia market. Transfer rates of 100 Mbps available in mobile phones (LTE announced for 2009), OLED screens - consuming less energy, and more effective sources of energy - will mean cultural breakthrough, similar to that of GSM revolution. Low costs of broadcasting will allow the operators to offer many programs available all around the world. Video telephony and VOD will become really popular.

So far, many big companies, like Microsoft, Linksys, Netgear, promoted solutions based on fixed lines. In the future, home servers will be libraries with collections of films, music, computer games, and - at the same time - phone exchanges. Computer network will become the core of all communication and multimedia systems.

The trade fair confirmed strong position of IP cameras as important category of network devices. Majority of well known manufacturers of WLAN equipment have introduced (or will introduce) wireless cameras, as one of the main parts of the offers. Functionality of the devices will probably decide about elimination from the market of the traditional analog CCTV cameras.

Popularity of LFD (Large Format Display) will change the nature of advertising. Large screens connected to the Web and equipped with dedicated software will be able to react to the watcher changing the content (woman, man, child).

More information: http://weeklyreview.dipolnet.com/inf_dipo_2008_11.htm
More pictures: here.

Scam application form - eurobusiness guide

Attention! False business guide company

There is a company, Eurobusiness guide from Netherlands that offers you to put information about your company at their website. It's called business guide that helps the others to find your company. Be careful, there is a trick. You can't see that they oblige you to pay 990 EUR per 1 year!!!

What else, you sign the application form (order) for 3 years. All those informations are written with small letters. What else, at the top there is an information: "Updating free of charge" - it makes you calm that you don't have to pay anything for ths service. After 1 month you get an Invoice telling you to pay. But there is even no VAT EU number of this company. They put your address, their bank account and count on your mistake to pay them.

When I got the invoice, I was really angry. I wrote e-mail to this company and that's what they replied that I should have read the small letters saying about 3 years insertion and price of 990 EUR... And that they oblige the company to pay!

What a company! They give you 7 days to cancel your order, but you even don't know that you ordered it not for free! Moreover, they send the invoice after 1 month - and it's already to late to cancel your order.I' ve found a blog saying also about it, you can read it here.

Wireless Internet in Cracow

Whre can you get access to wireless Internet in Cracow? Here you can see the plan.

Hotspots in Paris

	Logan S Hotspot‎ 71, Avenue D Italie, 75013 Paris, France 01 00 00 00 00‎
	Hot Spot In A Box - Inventel‎ 35, Rue Tournefort, 75005 Paris, France 01 00 00 00 00‎
	Enet Hot Spot‎ 14, Rue Dombasle, 75015 Paris, France 01 00 00 00 00

Hotspot Design Graphique‎

22, Rue Hauteville, 75010 Paris, France

01 44 79 04 41

The city of Paris is putting in Wi-Fi at various locations across the city, including museums, libraries and parks around the city. Here you can find a full list of Wi-Fi hotspots.

First Hotspot in Paris in 2004.

Monitoring of several locations with remote surveillance center

The main problem that has to be solved in this case is transmission and recording of video data. The solutions used in modern installations divide the video surveillance system into smaller units with individual servers. Management functions can be executed by client station connecting with the servers. Additionally, setting access rights, Internet browser will allow to follow the video online, e.g. when motion detection has been triggered. The solution can be can be implemented with ACTi devices, as in the picture.

Real Time Operating System

Why RTOS (Real Time Operating System)? Operating system is the core of every digital recording device. It determines the overall quality and stability of the device. In industrial applications of computers, operating system decides on the sequence and way of performing the tasks. For RTOS it is important to take into consideration the time factor - positive result of operations depends not only on the sequence, but also on the time of completion.

The example is conversion and compression of analog video signals. Recording of the signals in digital form (with set parameters: resolution, frame rate, number of channels) is a priority and has to be performed in real time. Any delay will cause loss of video data (e.g. several video frames). Real-time algorithms enable the system to perform critical tasks in precisely defined periods of time. In practice - DVR will delay less important operations (e.g. playback of archives) to ensure proper recording of video even with the maximum quality requirements. DVRs that are not equipped with RTOS systems simply decrease recording parameters, e.g. frame rate, losing some information.

CeBIT 2008

New concept of CEBiT - a success? This year's CEBiT in Hanover - the world's largest trade fair for IT and telecommunications - took place between 4th and 9th of March.

There were about 5900 companies (by 5 percent less than last year). For the first time in the history of the fair, China had the largest representation, surpassing in numbers the previous leader, Taiwan.
Among the notable absentees were Sony, Sharp, Philips, Lenovo, Dell and Nokia.

After several years of decrease of the number of exhibitors, the organizers decided to increase the number of conferences - to attract professionals, and shorten the event by one day - to cut the costs of exhibitors. But probably the main focus was to define the objectives of the exhibition.

Unfortunately the organization efforts didn't seem to refresh the event. They couldn't eliminate the feeling of deficiency, a want for new technologies and for an impulse to stop the decrease of investments in European telecommunications.

During the trade fair we could see a steady factor in European industry - expansion of red tape. The organizers, using subsidizing, invite national exhibitors that, instead of products, are showing travel brochures, and grassroots movements - promoting projects like Green IT.

In this situation the most interesting trends seen at the fair were network and mobile solutions for television - as an extension of offers of telecommunication operators. The solutions are based on technologies that improve data transfers, especially those of mobile telephony. The example is LTE technology presented by Sony Ericsson and T-Mobile.

LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the newest transmission system for mobile applications, developed according to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The specification accepted in January, 2008, adopts theoretical limit of 326 Mbps (practical speeds reach 100 Mbps).

Raptor - for wireless network

Raptor for outdoor operation as access point and wireless client, compliant with 802.11a standard (5 GHz band). It allows point-to-point or point-to-multipoint links. The device is managed by www interface, which permits easy configuration including setting up more advanced parameters. The main use for raptors is for city monitoring systems. The main problems there are caused by extensiveness of the systems - transmission of cameras' images to monitoring center and commands to the cameras (PTZ control).

IP CCTV installations have become the mainstream nowadays. At current stage of IP CCTV there is no problem. At current stage of IP CCTV there is no problem with transmitting data in central parts of cities, using common Internet infrastructure with adequate bandwidth. But the trouble begins when the system should cover some more isolated locations with limited connectivity.

Then the only feasible solution is doing individual wireless network, using WLAN technology.

Both for transmission of video stream and PTZ commands there can be used access points integrated with antennas, powered with use of PoE technology. There may be employed sector antennas, as well as the system itself can be divided into easily manageable sectors.

Practical potential of WLAN systems

• wireless access to local networks in homes, offices, businesses
  
• wireless access to public hot-spots at airports, stations, in coffee shops
  
• point-to-point links (bridging of LANs, telemetry, remote control, remote monitoring)
• delivery of Internet connectivity (in cities and in the country)
• redundancy for wired links (critical connectivity applications)

Wireless CCTV monitoring system

IP cameras win the market share battle due to simple installation and configuration. But the distance between buildings is often too large to use standard UTP/ FTP cable. An excellent solution to such a problem is wireless transmission based on Raptor family of devices. Schemes and more informations:

Raptor family of devices.

HD DVD - the end of competition

On February 19, 2008, Toshiba officially announced the discontinuation of HD DVD format. It means end of the "second technological war" for video recording standard. Before the latest campaign for blue-laser format - HD DVD vis a vis Blu-ray, there was the clash between videotape formats - VHS vis a vis Betamax.

Probably the final blow was dealt by Warner Bros - it was the information about decision of releasing its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in Blu-ray disc format - beginning since June this year. After that Wal-Mart Stores decided to withdraw HD DVD players. It did not help at all that Xbox 360 consoles equipped with HD DVD players sold well in the end of last year (ca 100,000 pieces). Toshiba informed about a million HD DVD players sold by January of 2008. There were released 386 HD DVD films in the U.S., and 214 in Japan.

Telecommunication in Israel

Telecommunications is one of the most important industries in this small country. Population of Israel: 7.7 million. Its technological level can be measured by the percentage of homes using broadband access to the Internet - ca. 70%, securing the fourth position in the world - after South Korea, Hong Kong and Iceland.

Mobile telephony is also included in the top rankings - already in 2006 there were more mobile phones than the number of inhabitants (7%). 97% of the residents can potentially use cable TV (52% of households subscribe it).

Israel belongs to the small group of countries having own satellites. The first satellite has been successfully launched on the orbit in 1996, and together with the second one - AMOS-2, is mainly used for direct TV transmissions.

Other satellites, Gurwin-II TechSAT and EROS, are used for communication, cartography, and other research purposes. Great potential of high-tech industries in Israel has attracted international corporations - IBM, Motorola, Cisco, or Deutsche Telekom were opened just in this country.
Among the companies listed on the NASDAQ stock market, Israeli firms are the second most numerous group, after Americans. They include Alvarion, Gilat Satellite Networks, Radware, RAD Data, Tadiran, Teledata, Telrad, VocalTec, Verint.

Photo report: http://www.dipolnet.com/telecommunications_in_israel_bib856.htm