SubscribeIntegrating security systems lowers infrastructure costs and brings about faster reaction times
Honeywell is responsible for the access control system at Dubai International's new Terminal 3, one of several contracts for security equipment secured by the company for Middle East airports. Honeywell supplies perimeter security, access control, fire control and CCTV, and has installations at European airports as well as in the Asia-Pacific region.
 Honeywell has worked with airports across Europe, including Brussels (illustrated), Madrid, Munich and BAA's sevenUK airports. |
In terms of the type of products that it is selling to airports, Derek Harrington, director of Honeywell Building Solutions' Airports business, observes a growing need in the industry to bring these elements together under a centralised operations system.
"The project we undertook at Sydney airport is a classic example of how an integrated system can successfully bring down security infrastructure costs and build life-cycle cost savings," he says. "Honeywell set up a solution based around a high-speed digital backbone and worked with the client to integrate the surveillance system and various access controls. This integrated approach resulted in a faster reaction time, which enhanced the security infrastructure of the airport."
Enterprise Buildings Integrator
Honeywell's own Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI) is the type of platform that the company markets to airports, since it makes it possible to manage many security subsystems, such as radar, video surveillance, emergency communication, perimeter protection, access control, biometrics and explosive detection through the use of a PC-based control room environment.
Honeywell's Enterprise Buildings Integrator is the type of platform that the company markets to airports because it makes it possible to manage many security subsystems.
It is an open and scaleable platform, which Harrington explains increases the efficiency of the overall security monitoring, and its distributed architecture supports onsite and offsite crisis management. "It's a question of integrating systems so that assets can be deployed more effectively," he adds.
In a scenario involving a large passenger terminal, for example, a fire alarm could be triggered in a specific area. Senior management and fire personnel can be notified and briefed before assessing whether evacuation is required. "If an incident does take place and CCTV footage of it is available, this can be sent through to individual members of the airport's management team wherever they might be located. Similarly, they can be summoned to a particular location by having the system send out a simultaneous message on their mobile phones, radios or PDAs," says Harrington.
Honeywell's integrated solution is based on a high-speed digital backbone that links the client's various security systems.
Integrated solutions for airport security can also include perimeter surveillance. Honeywell has developed both seismic and millimetre-wave radar-based perimeter security systems for airports. The company's Radar Video Surveillance (RVS) technology uses radar to detect moving targets at a larger range, even in adverse weather conditions, and can be used in conjunction with a digital video management (DVM) system for greater accuracy. The company has sold such packages to Houston's International and Hobby airports for monitoring a perimeter of more than 20 miles (32 km).
CCTV an unrealistic alternative
Harrington believes that CCTV, often flagged as the natural choice for large airports wishing to monitor incursions, is not a realistic alternative. For example, deploying standard overlapping PTZ cameras, each covering an area of 200 m, with a 12 km boundary, would require a minimum of 60 units to cover the entire perimeter. Even if they are Internet Protocol (IP)-based, the size of the network required would be prohibitively expensive for most commercial airports to consider. As a result, CCTV usage tends to be concentrated on sensitive zones, where there is a significant movement of both vehicles and people into and out of the airport.
"We also believe that any CCTV network has to be deployed in conjunction with video analytics capabilities that provide intelligent monitoring," says Harrington. "Security personnel don't have the time to trawl through endless streams of mundane images if an incident does occur. Using an intelligent video management system, the camera which detected the extraneous movement can be singled out, and the feed from that camera can be filtered through a device such as our Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI), which allows it to be viewed and transferred, as necessary, around the network."
Video networks work well in zones of concentrated activity.
In terms of access control systems, Harrington notes that various biometric devices have been evaluated and deployed in airports. While fingerprint-based systems have become established, they are not entirely suitable for use in airports in their current form, he believes. This is because a certain percentage of the population has unreadable fingerprints, while those that can usually be read can also easily become damaged or worn. This means that a registered individual can no longer be verified by fingerprints alone.
However, alternatives are coming onto the market. Developments in finger and palm vein verification systems are under way, while face recognition technology, often hampered by poor ambient lighting, is also on the verge of becoming accept- able to the industry thanks to better reliability.
Honeywell supplies perimeter security, access control, fire control and CCTV.
Iris recognition is a more promising alternative in light of current developments. "The problem with iris recognition is that it has to take place in close proximity to a scanner. This is OK if you want to restrict access to highly sensitive areas such as an airport control tower, but this would be entirely impractical to use for passengers", says Harrington.
Continuing progress in iris-scanning technology will eventually allow for passengers to be screened at a close proximity of up to 5 m. The use of iris biometrics is currently being evaluated by the Department of Homeland
Security in the US for its 'registered travellers' initiative, which will pilot the biometric using a small number of frequent travellers.
Harrington believes t hat in t he future a fusion of two or more biometrics will be incorporated into a single smart card so that iris and fingerprint recognition can work in conjunction to achieve higher levels of accurate verification.
Related articles
● Systems link futuristic hub, JAR, 5 September 2006
● Airports act on access control, JAR, 27 June 2005
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