SAVSI

Competitiveness & Growth

Status

Completed
Status date

2014-12-09

Objectives

The main purpose of the SAVSI project is to combine the aspects of several tested-and-affordable technologies in order to provide a centralized video surveillance service for locations where terrestrial DSL connections are not available.

These technologies are:

IP video surveillance using MPEG compression,
Wireless local network,
DVB-RCS broadband Internet connection.

Two video-surveillance services are currently being developed:

Surveillance of sensible sites, either as a nominal surveillance capability or as a means of redundancy (high-risk sites classified as "Seveso" e.g. remote train crossings, hydroelectric dams, isolated ATM machines, etc.),
Surveillance of large and remote areas (mountains, borders, jungles, volcanic areas) where several risks are present (fires, smuggling, rains, eruption, etc.).

The SAVSI project focuses on these two specific services, especially the surveillance of isolated SEVESO classified sites and the surveillance of wild fire over large surfaces. Two users with specific needs have been selected in order to demonstrate the services in an operational environment where the use of a DVB-RCS satellite connection is mandatory:

Titanite: a private company specialised in the production and storage of explosive substances which owns several isolated storage sites in France and Belgium
BMPM (Bataillons des Marins Pompiers de Marseille): the marine fire-fighters battalion of Marseilles city who are involved in the protection of the city and its surroundings.

The expressed needs are different:

Titanite is subject to a new French law concerning Class 1 Seveso facilities, obliging the company to keep the video records of its remote sites where dangerous materials are stored in a central and secure location,
BMPM would like to have an operational tool, which would allow the fire-fighters to observe isolated are

Challenges

The use of satellite bandwidth. As any scarce resource, the bandwidth must be managed precisely in order to give a good user experience of video surveillance over IP.

The human-machine interface of the video surveillance subsystem is critical. BMPM will use the system in real conditions during the summer of 2006, which is a fire-prone season. The operators will work under high pressure and the system must respond perfectly to their demands.

The quality of the video cameras is critical to the surveillance subsystem, especially for the fire surveillance service because large areas are to be monitored.

The secure video storage of the records is critical for the SEVESO site surveillance. The architecture with two video servers (one on the remote site and one on the central) is designed to provide the best service.

Benefits

The main benefit for the surveillance of sensible sites is to provide a technical answer to the companies that face the same situation as Titanite: these companies must comply with the new French SEVESO law within two years from January 2006.

The main benefit for the surveillance of large areas is to provide an easy-to-deploy system that perfectly responds to specific needs in terms of quality of image, video recording and operational constraints.

Features

The system which will deliver the services is composed of the following three subsystems:

Video surveillance subsystem
Local network subsystem
Satellite network subsystem

The video surveillance subsystem is composed of:
- Several cameras depending on the user needs,
- A video server located on the remote site,
- A video server located on the central site,
- A control panel where the operator can manage the video surveillance system.
The local network subsystem is composed of:
- A wired and a wireless network on the remote site (routers, switch, etc)
- A wired network on the central site.
The satellite network subsystem is composed of:
- A satellite gateway on the remote site featuring mainly VPN, IP compression and TCP acceleration,
- A DVB-RCS terminal (RCST) featuring the satellite Internet connectivity,
- An Internet gateway on the central site featuring VPN and the Internet connectivity.

Plan

1st step - Specifications: the system specifications depending on the functional requirements and the technical constraints of the subsystems are to be outlined by the end of January 2006.

2nd step - Prototype implementation: the system is built at als@tis facilities in order to confirm all functionalities. An agreement for the prototype with the users is expected by the end of April 2006.

3rd step - In Situ implementation: the systems are to be deployed in their experimentation sites, and configured for operational use. This step will be completed by the user's acceptance of the system by the end of May 2006.

4th step - In Situ experimentation: the users have full control of the systems and use them in operational conditions. This step lasts from June to October and ends with the final review where the feedback of the users will be incorporated.

Current status

Some long delays were encountered with the SEVESO domain development. In particular the search for a commercial partner together with the evolution of the specifications (e.g. data storage policy, inclusion of voice, software interface) required a much longer development.

As a result of a significant modification of the commercial market (a new and very aggressive offer from the national historic ground network operator in France) and of the very demanding French Directive Constraints, the proposed satellite solution that was to be developed, has become commercially obsolete, at least in France.

After successful completion of the MTR for both the BMPM and the SEVESO domains (3rd step not deployed for SEVESO), the project has been terminated by mutual agreement.