The transformative effect of 5G mmWave on Public Safety and Perimeter Security networks

5G wireless networks is having a transformative effect on public safety and security applications. With camera density in urban areas on the rise, and innovative, high-resolution CCTV camera technology becoming more common place, 5G wireless networks will become crucial for enabling the increasing data demand of applications across 4K/8K CCTV surveillance, biometrics, border security, control rooms and emergency services.

As technology evolves and becomes more digitalised, the traditional perimeter is being replaced with a network of endpoints that can often be moved to accommodate evolving requirements. This network will need to provide high bandwidth connectivity in order to support emerging and sophisticated surveillance and security equipment. Innovative technologies such as mmWave equipment deliver the level of resilience, flexibility, range, and bandwidth needed to future proof modern public safety and perimeter security operations.

Enterprises and manufacturing facilities that require high-bandwidth networks, such as industrial plants, ports, and airports, need to have a high level of control over the security, management, data traffic and operations of their networks. In the past, they have relied on fixed networks, which have worked well for the application requirements at the time. However, with the increased demand for video and connected devices, higher bandwidth and more flexibility is needed. 5G brings a significantly increased level of private network control and capabilities. 5G mmWave networks for example have enhanced security features and offer high performance, network resilience, flexibility, and technological innovation to support perimeter security applications reliably and securely across public safety, traffic control, crowd management, and intruder detection.

Why ease of deployment and interoperability matter

The protocols and system architecture of 5G technology integrates more effectively with fibre networks. They also enable the use of standard computer networking protocols (IPv6) and interfaces (Ethernet), thus boosting interoperability and collaboration across vendors.

Utilising mmWave for link aggregation, private networks can easily be deployed and connected back to the Internet. Removing the need for large, disruptive masts and base stations with fixed point to point links, Blu Wireless’s networking equipment enables customers to attach distribution nodes to existing site and 5G surveillance infrastructure, or install mobile base stations that can be easily placed and moved around as needed.

This approach significantly increases the flexibility of implementation for perimeter security and public safety applications. Critical information will be shared quickly across the network enabling authorities and emergency services to react instantly to incidents and undertake the necessary action.

The radio spectrum range of 5G frequencies has also been extended considerably compared to 4G, opening up new opportunities for private networks that don’t have to exclusively rely on the licensed spectrum. Blu Wireless’s mmWave equipment for example operates in the unlicensed band, between 57-71 GHz .These mmWave frequencies enable wireless connections to perform at a fibre-grade level, without the hassle of having to lay fibre.

Low latency, high bandwidth and ultra-reliability

Latency is now easily tackled with 5G mmWave network speeds of 3+ gigabits per second per link, enabling the future of perimeter security industry through the provision of ultra-reliable, low latency and high bandwidth connectivity, which offers security leaders real-time, actionable insights. For example, high resolution 4K/8K CCTV and video cameras require a high bandwidth, low latency network that reliably and securely transfers large amounts of data from cameras to the control centre. 5G mmWave equipment offers the technical innovation needed to deploy these high-performance networks rapidly and flexibly.

The ability of 5G networks to connect millions of devices per square mile as opposed to a few thousand for 4G, is particularly relevant to the perimeter security industry and will drive further innovation in this sector. This will mean that autonomous vehicles, CCTV surveillance, and other IoT applications can run on separate private networks without interruption or overloading existing public networks.

 Innovation led by Machine Learning and AI

As 5G private networks have increasing capacity, this will enhance the development of cutting-edge technologies in perimeter security. Technologies such as Machine Learning and deep learning algorithms to develop advanced video analytics solutions will benefit surveillance and monitoring scenarios. 5G mmWave connectivity is also set to increase the intelligence of surveillance systems and enable Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS), where video is uploaded to a centralised cloud platform rather than being saved via local systems.

5G furthermore enables near real-time analysis using Artificial Intelligence that opens up new and interesting use cases for the perimeter security and public safety industry. By automating access control, intrusion detection, motion detection and behaviour detection, organisations can improve security, while reducing the requirement of deploying a large number of physical security personnel.

If you are interested in learning more about high-speed, multi-gigabit mmWave 5G technology and how our networking equipment can be applied to meet your connectivity needs for perimeter security and public safety applications, get in touch with us today.