Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Mobile/Wireless Computing
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Bay area goes wireless to secure bridges, tunnels

December 16, 2002 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - In a homeland security project, the California Department of Transportation is using multiple wireless systems to transmit surveillance data from seven bridges and three tunnels in the San Francisco Bay area to a command center in Oakland.
The department, known as Caltrans, has completed the first phase of the $20 million Bay Area Surveillance Enhancement project. BASE includes installation of up to 15 point-to-point wireless links spanning distances of as much as 16 miles each and transmitting data at 90M bit/sec., according to IT industry executives involved in the project. The wireless technology is being tied to 250 video cameras that will use video-over-IP technology to transmit images to the command center.
Caltrans activated the BASE system at two bridges and a tunnel in the South Bay area last month and plans to turn on the rest of the technology in February. Some details of the project are due to be announced this week by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Proxim Corp., which is supplying all of the wireless equipment.
Greg Bayol, a spokesman for Caltrans, said the BASE system was designed to help the agency and the California Highway Patrol monitor bridges and tunnels for potential security problems. The cameras are being deployed to "watch for anyone who should not be there," Bayol said.
He added that Caltrans chose wireless links instead of fiber-optic cable because of cost issues and the vast distances that the network needs to span in order to reach all the bridges and tunnels.
David Brown, a division manager at Sacramento, Calif.-based Royal Electric Co., the prime contractor on the BASE project, agreed that cost was a decisive factor in prompting Caltrans to opt for wireless links.
In an unrelated project, Royal Electric recently installed a 3-mile fiber link across one Bay area bridge at a cost of about $3 million, Brown said. He estimated that it would cost $30 million to $40 million just to put fiber-optic cables on all the bridges and tunnels that will be covered by the BASE wireless system.
Layers of Complexity
Open Computing Platforms Inc. in Moorpark, Calif., handled the wireless systems integration work for Caltrans. CEO Steve Williams described the BASE project as one of the most complex that Open Computing has ever done.
The complexity resulted from factors such as the size of the network and the need to install numerous links that cross water, which can cause multipath distortion of wireless signals, Williams said. He added that the project also required extensive frequency coordination to ensure that there won't



Jump to comments

Wireless Technologies

Additional Resources

EFD vs. HDD - What You Need to Know
WHITE PAPER
Enterprise flash drives provide a new Tier 0 storage layer capable of delivering high I/O performance at a very low latency. Proper use of EFDs in an Oracle environment can deliver increased performance compared to fibre channel drives. Read the recommendations for identification of the best DB components for EFDs.
Gartner Research Report: Magic Quadrant for Application Delivery Controllers, 2009
WHITE PAPER
The market for products to improve the delivery of application software over networks remains dynamic and innovative. Vendors focused on solving enterprises' most-pressing application problems have become the top players.
Eight Criteria for Server Load Balancing
WHITE PAPER
Server load balancers are a simple yet highly effective means to scale an application environment while ensuring its availability. Today's solutions should also address application performance and security. Read about the top eight criteria you should consider when choosing a server load balancer and how Citrix NetScaler meets those requirements.

White Papers & Webcasts

Streamline Your Business with Innovative Tools
Download This White Paper Now!  

Inquiry Insights: Enterprise Mobility, Q1 2009
Learn what Forrester has uncovered in their latest report on Enteprise Mobility trends.  

Comparing Research In Motion and Microsoft Mobile Solutions
This paper compares the Research In Motion BlackBerry solution with the Microsoft® mobile solution by analyzing features of the user experience and the...  

The Workday User Experience Video
Watch Workday's Creative Director, Scott Lietzke, discuss the business-centered design philosophy at Workday.

Managing Mobility: An IT Perspective
Download this white paper, free, compliments of Nokia.  

Business Process Framework Demo
Learn about Configurable Business Processes and Calculated Fields. Watch Now!

Demonstrating the Business Value of Mobile Device Management in the Enterprise
Download this white paper, free, compliments of Nokia.  

Manager Experience Demo
Go beyond self-service solutions to perform more effectively. Watch Now.


IT Jobs