16 June 2016
A hybrid wireless network has been deployed across Bradford as part of an extensive smart city project that includes more than 300 surveillance cameras and 24 traffic management devices.
Israel-based Siklu has provided the wireless part of the network. For areas where noise from congested 5GHz networks is high, the city is using the company’s palm-sized EH-600 millimetre-wave (mmW) radio.
This operates at interference-free 60GHz spectrum, and is designed for implementations at street level to provide what’s claimed to be long-term gigabit capacity in a small unobtrusive size.
Installed by local integrator Net View Systems, the network connects a Bosch Video Management System to a mix of 300 surveillance cameras from Axis Communications, Bosch Security Systems and HikVision. Siklu’s mmW system is used to transmit data from hundreds of traffic junctions and 26 variable messaging signs that are used for traffic management.
The vendor’s EH-1200 80GHz (E-band) rooftop radios are also being used across the city to deliver a backhaul network with 1Gb full duplex capacity and 256-bit AES encryption.
Siklu says the E-band links replaced a citywide infrastructure that relied upon “expensive” leased lines. It claims the EH-1200 provides future proof capacity with a predictive performance aggregation layer to ensure interference-free transmission.
Net View Systems MD Marc Hancock adds that the product’s Extended Range feature has enabled the deployment of E-band hardware at link distances that would have never otherwise been possible.
He says: “This has resulted in a huge operating expense saving to Bradford City Council, as we can do away with licensed microwave links and their expensive annual Ofcom charges.”