If you take a look at the WiMAX headlines on any given day, you’ll notice that a
vast majority of the coverage WiMAX receives focuses on broadband wireless
access (BWA) – regardless of whether that coverage is praising the technology
for its performance and ability to provide service to underserved areas, or
whether its questioning the technology’s viability as the 4G technology of
choice. Don’t get me wrong – WiMAX is absolutely deserving of its role in
shaping the 4G and BWA landscape moving forward. The
WiMAX Forum itself defines WiMAX as "a
standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband
access as an alternative to cable and DSL".
But, that’s not the whole WiMAX story.
WiMAX can be – and often is – used for a wide variety of applications outside of
last mile access. The technology was originally designed with wireless backhaul
as one of the primary use cases (as opposed to the afterthought it seems to be
in most coverage of the technology), and its ability to provide high-throughput
wireless backhaul makes it an ideal candidate for deploying bandwidth-intensive
applications.
But there is one burgeoning market in particular that WiMAX has carved out a
well-defined niche in, and that is the video surveillance market. This is a
market whose growth has exploded over the past 5 years, and that
ABI Research forecasts will be a $41 billion a year market by 2014.
This explosive growth and continued market potential is due to an increasing
need for video surveillance to help secure the world’s ports, airports, cities
and transportation infrastructure as well as schools, hospitals, government and
other critical environments. Now more than ever, organizational demands have
hastened our search for better, more cost-effective security applications, and
in many instances, rapid deployment of security systems has become essential.
But as critical as improved security has become, budgets to accomplish this goal
are by no means unlimited.
Organizations of all kinds are being challenged to install video surveillance in
areas that are too remote, too costly or physically impossible to reach with
additional cabling. As a result, wireless solutions have been a boon to the
video surveillance market as they enable the ability to cost-effectively leap
over these barriers, allowing a virtually unlimited number of video surveillance
cameras to be deployed quickly, easily and affordably.
In particular, WiMAX has emerged as the premiere solution to provide the
wireless backhaul and transmission of real-time video surveillance. As a
wireless WAN technology, WiMAX was designed specifically with the efficient
backhaul of broadband data, voice and video at its core. Unlike wireless mesh
technologies, which provide unpredictable service for backhauling streaming
video, WiMAX is deterministic with built in scheduled access and Quality of
Service (QoS) mechanisms to ensure the reliable delivery of video.
In a WiMAX-enabled video surveillance system, high resolution, real-time video
from each security camera in the network is transmitted from multiple subscriber
units to a base station which is then backhauled via a wireless Point to Point
radio to the regional security center which controls all of the cameras. As a
result, the use of WiMAX provides the following advantages:
- Eliminates the massive costs and delays of trenching for fiber
- Quickly deployed and configured – operational within hours
- Deploys virtually anywhere – across rugged terrain, bodies of water and remote areas
- Carrier-class reliability ensures non-stop security
- High capacity, configurable and secure broadband wireless for guaranteed QoS
- Enables real-time transmission from and control of surveillance cameras
- When integrated with Wi-Fi networks, allows remote and mobile monitoring (via
PDAs, PCs, laptops, etc.) and increases ROI
Cost-Effective
Fiber based networks cost significantly more to deploy than an equivalent WiMAX
system, often about 5x-10x more. Deploying new broadband copper networks is as
expensive as fiber networks and is impractical for medium to long range
deployments. WiMAX is not only more cost-effective, but it also provides the
added benefit of scalability based on bandwidth requirements.
Quickly Deployed
Availability of copper and fiber is dependent on the location, making the
upgrading of existing wired infrastructure economically impractical in many
areas. WIMAX, on the other hand, can be deployed virtually anywhere, including
over bodies of water, rugged terrain, and remote locations. WiMAX networks can
install in hours or days (instead of weeks or months), eliminating long waiting
periods and right-of-way issues associated with trenching for fiber.
Flexible and Scalable
In many cases the deployment of wired solutions requires trenching, which can
cause any number of problems. Not only is it much more expensive, but in
scenarios where direct trenching would require tearing down a historic building
or trenching through a busy intersection, it quickly becomes unfeasible.
WiMAX solutions, in contrast, provide unparalleled flexibility. If the security
network uses wireless infrastructure for connectivity, cameras need not be
permanently located next to the wired network connection. As necessary, cameras
and subscriber units can be moved to a new location and can be reconnected
within minutes. Carrier-class WiMAX solutions are available for even the most
large scale video surveillance deployments, and are available in ruggedized
enclosures for deployment in all weather conditions. More economical solutions
are also available for smaller, more budget conscious deployments.
Highly Reliable
High-end WiMAX systems support up to 99.999% availability, enabling virtually
non-stop monitoring and surveillance. A wireless system with 99.999%
availability has only 5 minutes of downtime in an entire year.
High Capacity
Video is a bandwidth intensive application and imposes stringent bandwidth
requirements. Wired networks often do not scale quick enough to meet the growing
bandwidth demand. But with WiMAX’s ability to provide 54 Mbps of bandwidth, it
is perfectly suited for the quick build out of high capacity networks.
Mobile
The inherent un-tethered nature of WiMAX products simplifies deploying mobile
systems. This includes the transporting of large amounts of data to vehicles for
mobile video monitoring. This is achieved by deploying mobile subscriber units
in law enforcement vehicles, which receive video from fixed base station units.
As a result, police vehicles can view real-time streaming video surveillance of
a crime scene as the drive to the scene, enabling them to be more prepared upon
arrival.
Remember WiMAX’s Bigger Picture
As easy as it is to get caught up in all the "WiMAX vs. LTE" hype, it is
important that we remember to consider the bigger picture when it comes to WiMAX
as a technology. WiMAX is not solely a last-mile access technology, and its
future is not pinned solely to its success as a 4G access technology. Many high-bandwith
applications – and especially the rapidly growing, multi-billion dollar a year
video surveillance market – are wholly dependent on high-performance wireless
backhaul and connectivity solutions, and point-to-multipoint technologies like
WiMAX fit the bill perfectly for delivering those applications.
I’ll be talking about other applications for WiMAX/point-to-multipoint
technology in the coming weeks, too, to highlight the many market opportunities
for the technology. In the meantime, as you follow the media coverage of WiMAX
and its future prospects, just remember that it’s a big wide wireless world out
there, and last-mile BWA is not the only game in town for WiMAX.
Robb Henshaw is the Director of Marketing & Communications at
Proxim Wireless, a manufacturer of end-to-end broadband wireless systems, where he
oversees the company’s global marketing and communications efforts. For the last
8 years he has been dedicated to helping develop the wireless industry, with
expertise in technologies ranging from enterprise WLANs, to carrier-grade
wireless backhaul, to WiMAX and point-to-multipoint broadband wireless access (BWA)
solutions.
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