Cobham Surveillance Domo Products 11 Manor Court, Barnes Wallis Road, Segensworth, Hampshire, PO15 5TH England T: +44

(0)1489 566 750 F: +44 (0)1489 880 538

The Use of MESH Technology in Outside Broadcast

Mesh for Wireless Cameras and ENG Links

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Background
The purpose of this document is to describe how the MESH Radio system from Cobham (known as NETNode) can be used to revolutionise Electronic News Gathering (ENG). Traditionally the ENG market has been satisfied by the use of many separate radio links. These links included the following elements. 1) Camera Back Solutions, wirelessly connecting the camera to the News truck. 2) Talk back radios, allowing the truck to wirelessly communicate with the camera man. 3) Camera control radios, wirelessly allowing the truck to control the news camera. 4) ENG links, connecting the feed from the news truck wirelessly to the studio. 5) ENG return links, wirelessly allowing the studio to communicate with the truck. Traditionally all of the above have been separate RF links, on separate frequencies. In this document it will be demonstrated how all of these links can be replaced by a single microwave system known as NETNode.

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Introduction to NETNode
Cobham has developed a revolutionary IP MESH Radio System known as NETNode. The NETNode system allows up to 8 individual Nodes to share a single common frequency for bidirectional communication. Data can be IP, video, audio or RS232 comms. These radios offer a MESH with capacity of 4Mb/s which will be upgraded to 8 12Mb/s (due in 2010).

Cobham NETNode IP mesh radios are the latest innovations in the expanding range of Cobham Surveillance solutions that feature domo technology at their core. NETNode IP radios can be combined in a fluid self forming, self healing mesh containing up to eight radios. The NETNode radios within the mesh exchange data on a single frequency, simplifying frequency management. The entire mesh occupies just 2.5MHz of bandwidth (3 and 3.5MHz also available). The NETNode radios employ the unique Cobham COFDM modulation scheme and therefore offer excellent RF penetration and performance in the presence of multipath. The NETNode mesh radios can provide up to 3.5Mb/s of IP data (data rate depends on mode, number of nodes and range between nodes). This available IP data rate can be used to exchange IP data traffic between nodes. The highly flexible mesh topology means that data can be exchanged between nodes in a point to point or multi-point fashion; range can be extended by using nodes as repeaters. The self forming, self healing mesh architecture makes the NETNode product ideal for use in mobile surveillance applications, command and control, or advanced robotics.

The NETNode can be connected to third party cameras using the NETAV option. Alternatively, there are two dedicated PTZ camera solutions available for direct connection to the NETNode: NETPTZ* is a high performance, high quality day/night PTZ camera for long range and overt surveillance; NETuPT is a miniature pan and tilt camera suitable for up-close surveillance. The NETuPT and NETPTZ* options require the NETAV option to be fitted. Security of the entire mesh network can be ensured by the use of the optional AES128 or AES256 encryption. Control of the deployed mesh is achieved using the inbuilt web browser or comprehensive Mesh Commander* PC application. This software suite, based around a mapping display, is used to configure and monitor the mesh, and to control its nodes and cameras. Video can be viewed on the PC device using the Mesh Commander* software or, if IP Hardware Decoder devices are employed, video can be viewed on conventional monitors and recorded on conventional recorders. Remote users simply wishing to monitor the network, control cameras or view video, can make use of the Mesh Viewer* application available for smaller hand held devices such as PDAs.

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Specification:
Interfaces RF Interfaces (Antenna 1 and 2) Power Ethernet 1 Ethernet 2 Control and misc I/O Camera Typical range NETNode-P-217250 (1W) 700m Non Line of Sight Light urban 500Line of Sight 40km+ Data interface RS232/RS485 data input (shared with user camera control) 1K2 to 115K2 baud switchable With UDP and TCP routing protocol SMA Lemo RJ45 RJ45 DType Lemo GPS Dedicated GPS interface RS232 Open Audio comms channel (shared voice channel) Multi-user audio comms channel Compression Encryption Type AES128 or AES256 (both optional) Interface microphone level/headphone o/p G726 32kbit audio

RF Interfaces Antenna 1 Antenna 2 RF and modulation Output frequency Switched transmit receive antenna Receive only antenna 340 to 470MHz, 1000 to 1500MHz, 2170 to 2500MHz, 4500 to 5000MHz*, or 5500 to 6000MHz* 125kHz step +30 to 0dBm in 0.25dB steps 2.5, 3 or 3.5MHz Up to 3.5Mb/s COFDM 360 carrier modulation BPSK, QPSK or 16QAM (adaptive) FEC1/2 Maximum Ratio Combining -98dBm for most robust mode

PTZ camera interface (with AVI fitted) User camera type PAL or NTSC User camera control From Mesh Commander* PC application using VISCA, PELCOD or PELCOP From any user supplied desk controller Requires RS232 interface NETPTZ long range PTZ NETuPT short range pan tilt

Tuning step size Output power Bandwidth Mesh capacity Modulation Carrier Modulation FEC rate Receive diversity Receive sensitivity IP interface Primary and secondary Ethernet electrical IP address allocation Video and audio streaming format A/V input option Video input Video format Video encoding Quality Video bit-rate Resolution Frame rate Stills capture feature Audio input Audio sample frequency Audio encoding Audio bit-rate Store and forward options* Storage format Record options Files download Video and audio clip size

NETNode bespoke cameras

Triggers* Trigger source Third party equipment remote trigger (e.g. ANRP, PIR, etc) User pre-set time trigger General purpose trigger input Video motion detection (NETAV option) Audio level (NETAV) Start to transmit (silence mode) Activate video stream (NETAV option) Activate audio stream (NETAV option) Move camera to preset position General purpose trigger output Activate local store feature

Trigger action

100BaseT Ethernet DHCP dynamic IP addressing Multicast VLC compatible RTSP Support Control Local control Remote control Composite or SDI (selectable) 525 or 625 (PAL or NTSC) MPEG4 User selectable quality level 2.4Mb/s to 50kb/s (variable) 704, 576, 480 or 352 Self selecting 30 to 2F/s HiRes JPEG file Line level or microphone level 48KHz MPEG audio layer 1 G726 384 to 64kb/s

LEDs power and mesh status Mesh Commander* PC application Full control of all parameters in a map based application

Physical Sealing Dimensions Mounting options base unit Weight Power DC input Power consumed 1W Environment

No IP rating - splash proof H 155mm, W 153mm, D 45mm Through hole screws 1.24kg (including heat sink)

12-14V 14W

SD card interface (Secure Digital card) Continuous or triggered From web browser interface 30 seconds

Temperature range

-10 to 50 deg C

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Camera to News Truck Links

The NETNode IP MESH Radio can be used as a link from the camera to the news truck as shown below.

News Truck with NetNode

Bi-directional, single frequency communication. Typical Range 350m - 800m non line of sight, or > 5km Line of Sight

Camera with NetNode

With a NETNode unit mounted on the camera, and a second unit mounted on the truck, a non line of sight Bi-directional camera connection can be achieved. The NETNode has excellent non line of sight propagation characteristics, and can achieve links across a range of 350m to 800m non line of sight. This link can be used as shown below.

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NETNode in Truck

Video

Audio

Single Frequency Bi-directional COFDM Communications

IP Video Editing

Audio Comms Camera Control

NETNode on camera

Audio Comms Camera Control Video and Audio

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Advantages of NETNode MESH as a Camera to News Truck Link

Using NETNode MESH radios as camera to truck links has the following advantages 1) Single frequency replaces, video link, audio talk back, and camera control, which are currently managed by three separate links. 2) Simplified frequency management, improved spectrum efficiency. 3) Range can be extended by simply dropping additional links. 4) Low delay video. 5) Excellent non-line of sight performance. 6) Direct connection of IP to IP editing suites improves quality. 7) Simplified (IP) connectivity to satellite links for SNG.

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Onwards from News Truck to Studio

In applications where the News Truck is transmitting directly to a TV station (ENG), then the NETNode system can be used to extend the reach of the studio directly into the News Truck and even onto the camera itself.

Single Frequency Network Operating between camera, News truck and News Studio

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Advantages of NETNode MESH as a Camera to News Studio Link

Using NETNode MESH radios as a single frequency network from the camera to the studio has the following advantages 1) Extends studio network to the truck, enabling shared IT infrastructure. 2) Enables edited file management from the truck. 3) Saves cost by enabling management of contribution direct from the studio, including camera control and talk back. 4) Single frequency replaces, video link, audio talk back, and camera control, which are currently managed by three separate links. 5) Simplified frequency management, improved spectrum efficiency. 6) Range can be extended by simply dropping additional links. 7) Low delay video. 8) Excellent non-line of sight performance. 9) Direct connection of IP to IP editing suites improves quality

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