Base Station Manchester

16 May 07

Over the years, the City of Manchester has been placed firmly on the UK’s cultural map by rock gods Oasis, The Stone Roses and The Smiths, long-running soap opera Coronation Street and, of course, the United and City football clubs. Now, though, the famous enclave on the M60 is gaining widespread notoriety for a very different reason – the installation of what is said to be “the most powerful urban Broadband wireless communications infrastructure in the world.”

The capability of Manchester’s wireless network is best demonstrated by its ability to support remote CCTV monitoring, an application that demands very high levels of bandwidth be available at all times to support two-way communications. Relaying ‘live’ CCTV video with acceptable quality and, at the same time, enabling reverse communications to control the cameras’ PTZ functionality has been a challenge beyond the capability of other wireless network operators – but not Manchester Metronet, it seems.

CCTV deployment is traditionally dependent on the availability of powerful fibre optic data communications circuits. These are inherently expensive to install and maintain, requiring cameras to be left in a fixed position for an extended period of time (typically five years). In certain cases, the installation of fibre optic cables just isn’t feasible.

A typical problem encountered by fixed wired CCTV cameras is that, once installed, the tricky issues they are intended to address often move on to another near-by location. With a wireless network, it’s possible to move cameras as appropriate – in turn addressing the Big Brother concerns often voiced by members of the public and the Information Commissioner.

Metronet: the early days

Manchester Metronet was formed using the assets originally installed by Atlantic Telecom – more than £10 million worth of network infrastructure, in fact. Having provided the wireless voice and data network Atlantic went bust. Under the stewardship of former Lucent Technologies engineer James McCall (who is now Metronet’s director in charge of operations), Metronet bought the infrastructure in 2003 and its engineers then redesigned and reconfigured the network to make it more resilient – and capable of supporting additional IP-related services throughout an area principally demarcated by the aforementioned M60 region.

Today’s Manchester Metronet, then, is a pure IP-based network providing industry standard IP connectivity for customers in that region. Working in partnership with TeleCity, Metronet offers a ubiquitous gateway to other networks, ISPs and the Internet. The wireless network itself comprises 15 Point of Presence sites (or base stations), each installed on top of high rise buildings (like a block of flats, for example) to ensure maximum coverage.

All network equipment is securely housed in state-of-the-art, purpose-built enclosures with full redundancy (including total battery back-up for seven days to accommodate mains failure). The enclosures have the capacity to host equipment locally, such as ISP and end user servers. The Manchester Metronet circuits are provisioned using a local loop delivered via a carrier-grade radio link to any site in the M60 region. As a result, the service represents the last mile alternative to BT and other so-called ‘independent network providers’ when provisioning data/voice circuits.

Point of Presence sites are linked using a fault-tolerant fibre optic ring. Should the fibre be damaged, no traffic will be lost because it will simply route the other way through the network. Metronet uses a combination of Cisco and Extreme routers and switches.

Real-time CCTV monitoring

Prior to the implementation and refurbishment of the wireless network, ‘live’ CCTV monitoring was only possible with the installation of fixed wire connections. The commercial requirement to commit to a long-term rental period rendered ‘live’ monitoring impractical. The problem for Councils is that off-line CCTV cameras recording images locally only allow incidents to be addressed after the event. They’re impractical for the covert monitoring of specific criminals as it would be necessary for a police officer to visit the site periodically in order to retrieve the necessary data.

In the past, Manchester’s customer base has been dependent on BT’s ability (and willingness) to install a dedicated private circuit. At best that would be a very expensive option, and often simply not feasible due to the geographic placement of BT exchanges. The Metronet network operates completely independently of BT, and has no inherent restrictions associated with legacy architecture. Without such restrictions, CCTV coverage can now be installed in previously unserviceable areas within five days of notification. Building sites, sports clubs and remote offices will all benefit.

“Using the wireless network,” comments Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) chief inspector John McNeil, “GMP no longer faces CCTV ‘blind spots’, enabling us to work in partnership with local communities in a concerted bid to suppress nuisance activity and criminal behaviour. We can also install cameras for temporary ‘live’ covert monitoring when we are fighting serious crime.” The fact that GMP can do so is largely due to Metronet’s engineers spending eight months of additional development time on the network such that it could support ‘live’ monitoring.

Close regulation and control

Operating in the 5.8 GHz frequency range, Metronet’s network requires Ofcom registration of each new installation to avoid poor spectrum usage and interference. Being closely regulated and controlled, the frequency range is not susceptible to third party interference in the same way that the popular 2.4 GHz frequency range (as employed by 802.11g/802.11b wireless LAN communications systems) would be.

Proprietary frequency hopping point-to-point solutions ensure that Metronet circuits are never compromised by third party radio interference. A central, automated management system monitors all circuits 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Adverse weather conditions have no impact on the service. If any faults should occur, engineers are able to respond extremely swiftly.

On that note, since Manchester Metronet engineers begin work immediately without third party encumbrance (which would not be the case with 99% of ‘independent operators’ dependent upon BT for last mile delivery), the company guarantees to address problems within three working hours.

That means the company’s total ‘up time’ exceeds 99.95% (excluding planned maintenance downtime). According to Metronet, no other network operator “even comes close” to this level of performance.

Success in the real world

“The Wilmslow Road corridor has always been a problem area in terms of business crime,” suggests James McCall, whose team have been using DVTel and Panasonic cameras for the Manchester installations topped off by a Synectics front end.

“The local businesses have funded the installation of cameras and they’re now helping to cut back on crime and vandalism.” Freshers’ Week at the Universities is also a prime time for the criminals to appear, with many students carrying lots of money and gadgets. Again, cameras can be deployed to ensure their safety. Cameras also monitor ‘hot spot’ areas including the notorious Odsall Estate and the Hope Hospital.

However, it’s not all been plain sailing. “IP surveillance represents such a huge leap forward for security installers,” adds McCall. “Councils have worked with their favoured CCTV suppliers and installers for years, but most of the latter don’t understand the new technology. They will stick with what they know. That is why it’s so difficult for Council CCTV managers to make the move towards the unknown. It’s pretty fair to say that IT integrators and traditional security installers are currently at loggerheads over this issue."

So how long will it be before IP surveillance really takes off in this country in a big way?

“It took the industry over a decade to establish voice-over-IP,” retorts McCall. “IP is still something of a Black Art to many. I suspect we’ll just have to wait and see.”

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