LTE - the technology of the future

LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a technology of mobile networks in which the download speed will reach up to 326 Mb/s and upload speed up to 86 Mb/s (20 MHz channel, 64QAM modulation, 4x4 MIMO).

The technology is seen as the next stage in the development of mobile networks, allowing them to achieve the possibility of efficient multimedia transmission. The popularity of smartphones (like iPhone) means the growing demand for mobile broadband networks.

LTE technology is flexible, both in terms of frequency band and width of the transmission channel. Depending on the needs, LTE networks can operate at frequencies from 700 MHz (rural areas - higher ranges) to 2.6 GHz (metropolitan areas). It is possible to use transmission channels with the following bandwidths: 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, and 20 MHz. With the increase in channel width, the link speed rises as well.
The "downlinks" use OFDM spread spectrum technique with multiple subcarriers, whereas the "uplinks" are based on SC-FDMA (Single Carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access) that uses a single carrier (to save the battery life of the client device) .

Additionally, LTE uses Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology which utilizes many antennas. So far, client terminals are usually equipped with two antennas (MIMO 2x2), due to implementation problems in such small devices.

An important element of LTE is a new network structure, called System Architecture Evolution (SAE). It is based entirely on IP protocol.

The technology is evolving in two directions: FD-LTE and TD-LTE. They differ in the utilization of the channel. In the case of FD-LTE, the transmission channel is divided into two frequency bands - one of them is used for transmission towards the base station and the second from the base station to the terminal.
The TD-LTE uplink and downlink transmissions are spread over the whole channel. The time at which transmission is carried out is divided into time slots, separated by guard time. In each time slot the transmission goes only one way. This allows for flexible use of the capacity of the transmission channel.
Currently, TD-LTE is gaining more and more supporters; not without significance is the fact that it is chosen as the primary technology for building commercial LTE networks in China.
The first commercial LTE networks will be launched in 2010 (China, USA, Scandinavia, Japan), however, works are already carried out to develop a more advanced version of this technology, namely LTE-A (Advanced), with estimated throughput of 1 Gb/s (downlink) and 500 Mb/s (uplink) within a 100 MHz band.

Before the 4G - changes among leaders

Generation Mobile" - a new era in telecommunications. The data rates offered by the 4G systems will allow
to transmit HD television to mobile devices.

The year 2010 promises to be a breakthrough in wireless communications. Everything seems to indicate that the 4G standard will be adopted and practically implemented by the first commercial networks using this technology. The promise of huge investment gives rise to increasing speculation which of the industry tycoons is best prepared to become a world leader in wireless communications. Last year, the leader was Ericsson (36% market share), the second place took Nokia (20%), and the third - Huawei (11%). However, this year brings some significant change to that ranking. According to forecasts, by the end of the year the annual turnover of Ericsson will come to US$ 26 billion, of Huawei - 18.4 billion, and of Nokia - 15.7 billion. The Chinese giant will probably increase sales by 21%, just opposite to Nokia with about 22% drop in the figure.

Is there a chance that the trend of rapid growth of Huawei's market position will continue in the next year?

Huawei is a world leader of TD - LTE technology which has been selected by China Mobile as the basis for the construction of Chinese 4G network. Installation of the infrastructure will start as early in the beginning of 2010. Huawei will be the primary equipment supplier. Already in May, at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai, a pilot 4G network will start operation in China. The potential of the Chinese market may be crucial, but equally important is the winning of the prestigious tender for 4G in Norway. Huawei beat Ericsson in the Nordic market, which was quite a sensation. Advanced talks between Vodafone and Huawei on 4G in the German market may indicate that it will be another success of the Chinese supplier. Similar negotiations are conducted in Spain. Great potential of Huawei allows for rapid growth, so in 2010 it may become a global leader in wireless technologies.

The 4G system should guarantee mobile data transfer rates of 100 Mbps, and in the case of fixed equipment - 1 Gbps. Development of mobile technology in the direction of 4G is currently achieved mainly in two ways: WiMAX and LTE.
In November this year, ITU (International Telecommunication Union) approved 6 solutions as the basis for the final decision on the adoption of international standard, among them LTE (including Chinese TD-LTE) and WiMAX 2.0 (802.16m). Final adoption of the standard is to be announced on next year's October. Specialists estimate that China may own more than 40% of patents concerning leading telecommunications technologies.

Multiswitches for professional installations

Technical parameters significantly better than those of similar devices on the market, reliability, extensive range of models well-suited for the requirements of investors, 24-month warranty, availability of quick service - are the criteria allowing to include some equipment to the professional group. TERRA multiswitches fulfill these requirements, and, according to opinions of installers and the editorial staff of "SatKurier", are the best products on the market.
TERRA company provides two kinds of these devices: cascadable multiswitches (MS series) and radial multiswitches (MSR and MSV series - the latter can be powered remotely). TERRA multiswitches allow to build SMATV systems up to 1000 outlets. Each of the series is divided into two subgroups: 5-input (for one satellite and terrestrial TV) and 9-input (for two satellites and terrestrial TV).

CeBIT 2009

The world's leading trade fair for IT and telecommunications, or ICT industry - CeBIT 2009 in Hanover - took place from March 3 to 8. This year there were about 4300 companies from 69 countries, exhibiting their products, and about 400,000 visitors. However, these numbers showing the scale of the event are much smaller than that of the peak 2001 year with 8100 exhibitors.



IBM, MSI, Panasonic, Comarch, Intel, ASUS, Microsoft and... beautiful women at CeBIT fair 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAhq9YjEbu8&fmt=18

The absence of many traditional leaders of telecommunications market, both in the case of manufacturers and telecoms, and a very weak representation of companies supplying products for banking industry - were the main symptoms of the crisis. Among German operators we saw Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone, but couldn't find E-Plus and so blatant before O2 stand.

But the greatest sensation was caused by Samsung, not having its own stand but only being represented by distributors. It was a stark contrast in comparison with last year, when the corporation fascinated everyone with a grand scale, as well as with the number of new products. The sponsorship of World Cyber Games (WCG), with thousands of StarCraft, Counter-Strike, and Warcraft III gamers, was a thing of the past. It raised questions about the corporation's financial condition - the end of the sponsoring "e-sports" could be a real blow to the image of the tycoon among young people.

Japanese companies were modestly represented by NEC and Sony Ericsson; Toshiba, DoCoMo, Motorola failed to show up. There were no stands outside - last year's AMD show with off-road vehicles promoting new AMD processors was just a memory - the company was absent as well.

We couldn't find exhibitors presenting new technologies, probably the manufacturers didn't believe in possibility of profitable implementations in the near future (for example - lack of promising LTE technology). There was only one word for the pavilions promoting Green IT - boredom.

Was the fair a failure? - No !!!
More about CeBIT.

Megapixel revolution in Prague - Pragoalarm/ Pragosec 2009

The 17th international fair of security equipment, systems and services, fire protection and safety equipment - PRAGOALARM/PRAGOSEC 2009 - will be held from February 24 to 26, 2009. It promises to be the biggest event in this industry in Central - Eastern Europe, because this year the Securex in Poznan does not take place (it is held every two years). Czech market is one of the most advanced and demanding in Europe, so the fair will be attended by leading companies from all over the world: exhibitors.
The fair will be attended by DIPOL Czech and Slovakia, presenting products that bring about "A megapixel revolution". A candidate for the prize of the fair is ULTISYSTEM software, a unique in the world surveillance suite that effectively combines local CCTV systems with city surveillance.

Network video recorder NUUO provides means for recording video streams from megapixel cameras. DIPOL will exhibit megapixel cameras from four world leaders in video surveillance industry (ACTi, IQinVision, Pixord, ULTICAM), including new developments in the market - the devices using H.264 compression.
The organizers have prepared a pool of free tickets for all professional visitors that registe rat the website by February 8, 2009.

ULTISYSTEM

ULTISYSTEM got a distinction

The ULTISYSTEM software suite that enables cooperation of local monitoring systems with city video surveillance has been honored at Video Surveillance Conference and Exhibition ALARM, in Kielce, Poland (Nov. 5-6, 2008).

ULTISYSTEM allows to connect to the city surveillance system based on IP technology (and its monitoring center) a number of local CCTV systems, e.g. in:

• sports facilities, concert halls etc.
• schools, universities etc.
• banks, offices, agencies etc.

using analog cameras connected to DVRs.

ULTISYSTEM is a perfect platform both for small local monitoring systems and large, advanced video surveillance structures. ULTISYSTEM allows to manage the whole structure with all its sub-systems from one, professional Monitoring Center (live monitoring, PTZ control, recording). It is possible to organize temporary sub-centers for the security of mass events. The whole concept is focused on cost reduction of the installations and their operation.

CCTV in Israel - report

Israel belongs to the group of countries most vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Issues relating to security are among the priorities of the state. However, many of the methods used to prevent attacks cause concern around the world: building of a wall separating Arab villages in the West Bank, closing of access roads to Arab towns, etc.

Video surveillance is not a matter of controversy, being highly effective. In terms of popularity of CCTV systems, Israel is the world leader. Surveillance cameras are more common than in many European countries, maybe except for Great Britain. Israel leads in the world in the most advanced technologies for monitoring, especially in the software associated with the analysis of video and wireless data transmission.
Confirmation of that leading position are some achievements of Israeli companies.

- According to IMS Research, focused on electronic market, the Israeli company Ioimage has 37% share of the global software market associated with advanced image analysis (Video Content Analysis - VCA).
- Nice company, offering integrated managing systems for video surveillance installations, indicates that their solutions are used by 85 organizations from the list of the world's 100 biggest companies (the list of Fortune magazine). Also by the latest one - the Chinese Railways.

- Another Israeli firm, Vigilant, successfully competes in the UK market, providing monitoring systems for several districts of London.
- Verint Systems delivers its solutions for IP monitoring of the Underground, the world's longest subway. Previously, Verint Systems sold surveillance systems to 57 airports.
- The systems for wireless transmission of video data offered by Israeli companies, among them Radwin and Alvarion, are well known for their quality and innovative solutions.

The 7th edition of "Engagingly about antennas" has been adjudicated

Everyone could exercise imagination, and the results show that this activity, as usual, brought a lot of interesting compositions with antennas, the objects that does not seem to be so inspiring.
The entries often present antennas as bridges linking various worlds:

• technology - nature; industrial products often replace the natural rest places for birds: "We like it, will we fly away?" - Marek Niedoba,
• the present day - history; the antennas bridging the gap between old cultures and the most advanced technologies of the modern world: "Antenna in Mongolian grassland" - Piotr Szydlowski,
• deserted regions - research stations: "Global range" Grzegorz Kupis,
• poverty - consumption; antennas on falling apart homesteads - a symbol of the luxury for the poor: "Cairo" - Katarzyna Zwolska,
• peace of the nature - media noise; antennas found in backwoods: Evening cartoon, supper and bed - Paweł Skonieczny,
• sky - ground; "Morning news" - Weronika Zielinska, "Out of a window... - Mariusz Krason,
• isolation - a sense of community: "Loneliness in a big city"- Wojciech Pigla.

As every year, they were carefully watched by fine art photographer from Krakow, Mr. Pawel Zechenter, who awarded the first and second prizes. Another award has been granted by the DIPOL Technical Department.

Megapixel revolution in CCTV

Development of IP CCTV technology has been relatively slow to date. An important reason was that DVRs with network functions (sometimes more advanced than those of some IP cameras) supported by low-cost analog cameras were an attractive alternative to IP CCTV systems.

But the limit of analog CCTV (PAL, NTSC) is resolution of the images (PAL: 720 x 576). Such restrictions do not exist in the IP CCTV systems equipped with megapixel cameras.

An analysis of the advantages of megapixel cameras can be carried out assuming that the optimum monitoring requires approximately 130 pixels per one meter of the observed object. For a 50-meter wide scene, an analog system (720 pixels) would require to employ 9 cameras. In the case of a camera with 1.3 Mpix resolution (1280 x 1024), the number can be reduced to 5 such cameras, for a 2 Mpix camera - only 4 cameras will do the same job.

A smaller number of cameras has other advantages. First of all, it lowers the cost and time of installation and maintenance. It also lowers operational costs - it is easier to conduct surveillance with a smaller number of points.

Of course, there is another alternative for megapixel cameras - very popular speed dome/ PTZ cameras. With adequate lens, it is even possible to cover the area mentioned above with a single PTZ camera. However, such a solution has many drawbacks. First of all, the camera can be set only in one of two ways. The first one provides an overall view, without possibility of recognition of some important details, e.g. the license number of a car. The second way, using optical zoom, increases the capability of identifying details, but at the expense of losing the rest of the scene.

In addition, PTZ camera has to be controlled by the operator, who must decide what is interesting at the moment and focus on that area. In the case of fixed megapixel cameras, there is always available a complete picture, with all events recorded by the system. Due to a very high resolution of the cameras, the details can be viewed using digital zoom.

Mesh - community networks of the future?

Mesh networks differ from other networks in architecture - the component parts can connect to a number of neighbor nodes. It allows for continuous connections and reconfiguration around broken or blocked paths by jumping from node to node until the destination is reached.
The main features of wireless mesh networks:

• dynamically arranged connections - routes of packets depend on the state and work load of individual nodes,
• due to switching between the nodes - the risk of disruption of data transmission is considerably lower than in the case of star-shape architecture,
• possibility of quicker transmission thanks to lack of a central node,
• easy expansion by adding new nodes,
• new nodes can be installed in any places where they can communicate with other nodes and power supply is available.

So far, there is no final standard for this kind of wireless networks, but the work is on track since 2003 (the proposals were submitted to a vote in 2005). The result is IEEE 802.11s - a draft IEEE 802.11 amendment for mesh networking. Lack of accepted standard is the reason that mass development of the networks is a matter of time. This kind of solution is often used for applications requiring good network coverage and high reliability, where wired systems are not available or feasible.

Halogen-free TRISET cables

Halogen-free TRISET cables The new cables from TRISET family - TRISET-113 HF E1019 and TRISET-11HF E1029 are manufactured using HF (halogen free) technology. When burning, they do not give off toxic gases.
This feature allows to use the cables in public buildings (hospitals, schools, theaters etc). In such buildings there have to be used safe cables which, in the case of fire, do not pose any additional risk for people. It is not permissible to use compounds of chlorine, fluorine, bromine, or iodine - the halogen compounds hazardous to health (carcinogenic) that would give off in high temperature.

Cables in PVC sheath (containing chlorine) and those based on polyethylene and polypropylene (admixture of bromine) are halogen cables. In the mentioned halogen-free cables there are used more expensive aluminum compounds instead.

The halogen-free TRISET cables belong to NC/LSOH group, i.e. they do not emit corrosive fumes (Non Corrosive), or much smoke (Low Smoke), or, of course, halogen compounds (O Halogen - Zero Halogen - sometimes marked as ZH).

The both cables comply with EN 50268-1, 2 - (low smoke) and EN 50267-2-2 (non-corrosive, halogen free).
TRISET family has been awarded at SatKrak 2007 (international satellite trade fair in Krakow). Due to low loss, high screening efficiency, and perfect matching, TRISET cables ensure high performance of multiswitch systems and large cable installations (MATV, cable TV).

TRISET HF cables comply with highest safety standards and feature outstanding technical parameters:

• high screening efficiency (A-class: above 100 dB),
• low loss (at 2150 MHz: TRISET-113HF - 27.7 dB, TRISET-11 HF - 21.0 dB).

Trends in IP video transmission

The main problems in transmission of video data is size of the files and sensitivity of video streams to time delays. Currently and in the foreseeable future, H.264 algorithms ensure the best results - the lowest bandwidth and disc space requirements, the shortest download time. The parameters are about 30% better than in the case of MPEG-4 ASP compression. The newest codec is used by the most technologically advanced companies using mainly Texas Instruments platform (DaVinci).

Market research shows that in 2011 H.264 will catch up with MPEG-4 and then become the undisputed leader.
The tendencies were the subject of ACTi lecture at IFSEC in Birmingham.

Trends in television in Olympic year - Anga 2008

The next Anga Cable in Cologne is taking place from May 27 to 29, 2008. This exhibition and conference is dedicated to cable television, broadband networks, and satellite broadcasting. There will be 369 exhibitors from 28 countries. The organizers are expecting about 10 000 visitors.

ANGA Cable has become the most important trade exhibition of TV technology and related areas in Europe.

Great sporting events are very important for television market - they generate demand for new services, can be a breakthrough in introducing new technologies to the public.

This year the technology that has a chance for popularization due to sports transmissions is HDTV.
The first step was free HDTV transmissions on the British Freesat platform, which began in May. It has created demand for suitable receivers, adaptation of existing antenna systems to new requirements, multiswitch installations.

On the one hand it seems that there is a market opportunity for DVB-T receivers with MPEG-4 decoders. Practically all European countries plan to introduce the system enabling terrestrial HD transmissions. On the other hand, only several countries have adopted this standard, so the manufacturers cannot take advantage of mass production.

ACTi visit in DIPOL

DIPOL's office in Cracow

DIPOL and Elsa Cheng at Securex fair

Elsa Cheng from ACTi is responsible for market development in Eastern Europe. For the first time she visits Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Hungary. On April 22 she was the guest of Securex trade fair in Poznan and she also visited our headquarters in Cracow.

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).

Leonardo da Vinci

While performing some routine conservation works in the Czartorysky Museum in Cracow, a group of experts of the Historical Artifact and Relic Preservation Organization have discovered some images that were hidden in one of the paintings by Leonardo da Vinci. As it is a well-known fact, this genius invented the bicycle, helicopter, and even submarine. Now, it turns out that the "antennology" has finally found its forefather too, and its history is much longer than previously believed. A commission composed of art historians has decided to restore the picture back to its familiar motif so that it could look like before the conservation work. If that hadn't been done, the cost of renaming the painting from "Lady with an Ermine" to "Lady with an Antenna" in all art books and art guides would have outgrown the budget of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. However, we've managed to take this unique photo. :-)))

Winter