Dallas Police Department Anchors Innovative Video Surveillance System with BridgeWave's High-Capacity GigE Wireless Links for Backhauling IP Video to Municipal Mesh Network.

Public Safety Solution Integrates Advanced Sony Wireless IP Video Cameras, Firetide Multi-Service Mesh Network Nodes and BridgeWave's Leading Gigabit Ethernet and 100Mbps Links

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- BridgeWave Communications, the leading supplier of gigabit wireless solutions, today announced that the Dallas Police Department has deployed a state-of-the-art IP video surveillance system to aid the city in deterring, detecting and investigating crime in its central business district. The leading-edge public safety solution combines the latest wireless innovations, including 40 IP video cameras from Sony Security Group, 35 multi-radio mesh network nodes from Firetide Inc. as well as seven high-capacity, Gigabit Ethernet and 100Mbps backbone links from BridgeWave.

The Dallas Police Department, which includes approximately 3,000 police officers and 500 civilian employees, embraced the new video surveillance solution as part of an ongoing effort to reduce crime in "hot spot" areas within the downtown freeway loop where many business, tourist, residential and entertainment venues are located. The department sought the assistance of Bearcom, a nationwide integrator of wireless equipment and solutions, to evaluate and implement best-of-class wireless systems for delivering the highest quality IP video images over a high-performance scalable network that operates on the secure 4.9GHz frequency reserved for public safety use.

The wireless video cameras, mesh network nodes and backbone links have been installed on streetlight poles and buildings as "portable pods," which can be moved easily to increase monitoring capabilities at special events or other downtown areas experiencing high incidents of crime. The new video surveillance system covers approximately 30 percent of the downtown area with live, 24-hour monitoring from both City Hall and the Jack Evans police headquarters.

According to Tom Lawrence, deputy police chief for the Dallas Police Department, the ability to monitor real-time activity from a variety of remote locations provides a new dimension to the city's law enforcement efforts. "Our goal is to reduce crime in major downtown areas by 30 percent within the first six months of installing the new video surveillance system," he said. "The central business district is essential to the economic success of our city and the Dallas Police Department is committed to using advancements in wireless IP video and networking to make downtown safer for the residents, businesses and members of the community who live, work and visit here."

In evaluating wireless camera and networking technologies, Bearcom focused on IP video image quality and clarity, which led to the selection of Sony's multi-codec IP cameras with single- or dual-streaming codec modes, advanced motion detection and day/night functionality for the highest image quality in all conditions. The team also sought a scalable wireless networking infrastructure with substantial bandwidth since the police department's existing wired network infrastructure was insufficient for carrying a large amount of bandwidth-intensive video traffic. Firetide's fast and flexible mesh network nodes link the Sony cameras wirelessly, eliminating the exorbitant costs and difficulty of installing video cabling to each camera. The Firetide nodes are linked via seven mesh zones where video traffic is aggregated and then backhauled to the monitoring stations using BridgeWave's high-capacity 60GHz point-to-point Gigabit and 100Mbps wireless links. The BridgeWave radios also allow direct attachment of cameras through their additional "add/drop" copper Ethernet port.

"We selected BridgeWave because they are an innovator and leader in the gigabit wireless communications industry," said Jeff Murray, project manager for Bearcom. "BridgeWave's high-speed, secure wireless backbone links were critical in helping us develop a solution that was a perfect fit for the needs of the Dallas Police Department and the city of Dallas."

BridgeWave's compact 60GHz wireless links are ideally suited for a wide range of municipal and public safety applications where network throughput and compact, small form factors are top selection criteria. "Our Gigabit wireless links offer a 'future-proof' solution since ample bandwidth is available to meet both existing and growing networking needs," said Gregg Levin, senior vice president of product operations for BridgeWave. "For the Dallas Police Department, full GigE bandwidth provides a scalable, expandable backbone to support the plan to more than triple the number of cameras over time while ultra-low latency performance ensures real-time pan, tilt and zoom camera control."

Using BridgeWave's 60GHz and 80GHz links for the backhaul also conserves the low frequency spectrum for other public safety access applications. These high-speed wireless bridges offer 10 times the bandwidth of comparably priced 100Mbps Ethernet wireless links. In addition, the BridgeWave products provide superior interference immunity and enhanced data security resulting from their extremely narrow antenna beam widths.

The Dallas video surveillance system was funded in part by a grant from the Meadows Foundation. Plans are underway to expand the wireless video surveillance system to other areas of the city as additional funding becomes available.

About BridgeWave Communications

Founded in 1999, BridgeWave Communications is the leading supplier of Gigabit Ethernet outdoor wireless connectivity solutions. The company's exclusive AdaptRate[TM] technology and Forward Error Correction capabilities deliver the highest availability at the longest distances for full-rate GigE solutions. BridgeWave's point-to-point, fixed wireless solutions are ideally suited for a wide variety of enterprise, service provider, healthcare, education, public safety and government/military network applications. With more than 1,000 gigabit radios deployed worldwide, BridgeWave delivers the highest levels of product quality and reliability. For more information, visit www.bridgewave.com.