The Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Air Show in San Diego is the largest military air show in the United States, held over three days with more than 700,000 attendees.
The Tech Decision
The MCAS Miramar Air Show is an event held over three days at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. First opened in 1955, the air show takes place every year as a part of Fleet Week in San Diego. The event is the largest military air show held in the United States with an attendance of more than 700,000 guests. In addition to the temporary camera system to monitor parking areas, wireless connectivity was required at multiple stations to allow staff to view live camera footage on mobile devices.
TRENDnet was already in contact with US Customers and Border Protection (CBP Tech), having just completed the vetted process for several TRENDnet products to be added to the approved equipment list. Around the same time, CBP Tech partnered with the US Marine Corps, and was tasked to setup a temporary camera system to monitor parking areas in and around the Miramar Air Show. Because CBP Tech was impressed with TRENDnet’s surveillance and networking products during the vetting process, the team reached out to the company for assistance with the air show.
The CBP Tech team conducted the initial research for the Miramar Air Show, including the initial design plan for the camera system’s physical layout, and conducting a wireless site survey onsite at the military base. Once more details and the plan were decided by the CBP Tech team, TRENDnet’s pre-sales engineering team worked with them on finalizing details and confirming technology expectations. TRENDnet’s team assisted with network design questions and ensure they had the correct hardware for the project.
The Solution
A combination of TRENDnet IP cameras, indoor and outdoor wireless access points, PoE switches, and a hardware controller were implemented in key points throughout the air show parking areas. TRENDnet solutions were utilized not only to build the camera system, but also to provide outdoor wireless access, allowing parking enforcement members to view live camera video on their mobile devices.
There were multiple entry points onto the military base, as well as multiple locations where air show attendees were directed to park. The CBP Tech team determined the need to create a private wireless network, isolated only for the parking areas. TRENDnet’s outdoor access points, supporting 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands respectively, were utilized to reduce the amount of interference from other communication devices on base. Preconfigured point-to-point outdoor bridge kits helped to reduce the amount of setup time required from one parking lot to another.
At each camera installation point, a TRENDnet 8-Port Gigabit PoE+ Switch was used in conjunction with TRENDnet PoE cameras to allow multiple cameras to each receive both power and data from a single cable source. TRENDnet’s weatherproof, 4-megapixel cameras were used to ensure the highest quality image suitable for the unpredictable weather. Live day and night video footage was then streamed to a command center via outdoor wireless bridges.
All camera footage was managed by TRENDView Evo camera management software. CBP Tech integrated TRENDnet equipment with custom third-party access points, using an unlicensed wireless frequency, for the backbone. Outdoor access points supporting the 5GHz band were configured to bridge and branch out between locations. Dual band indoor access points were strategically placed throughout parking areas, allowing parking enforcement members to view live camera footage remotely on mobile devices.
(Note: Due to the temporary nature of this project, this setup is not recommended as a permanent solution. However, the indoor access points did withstand some rain and continued to function with just the plastic covers for protection.)
For live remote video on mobile devices, dual band access points were deployed to accommodate mobile devices operating on different bands. Utilizing different wireless bands helped to reduce interference from devices on base, as well as mobile devices brought in by air show guests. Multiple access points were installed near each parking enforcement checkpoint. A wireless controller was used to install and configure each indoor access point. The wireless controller helped to reduce configuration and setup time.
The Impact
Product safety was the number one priority for the project. However, the available budget was another concern. With a very limited budget for equipment, CBP Tech needed equipment that was both reliable and affordable. Although the setup was temporary, the project still needed durable equipment that could handle unpredictable weather conditions for three days straight.
Having successfully used TRENDnet products previously, CBP Tech chose TRENDnet’s surveillance and networking equipment hardware for the bulk of the project. The hardware was both simple to install and easy to use. It allowed the team to get the equipment up within a very tight deadline. Due to the nature of the location, a military base, limited time was available for setup.
Setting up TRENDnet products was extremely easy. The video stream came in very clear, and at no time did we experience any downtime to the network. The access points throughout the parking lots also function without any issues, providing enough bandwidth for parking enforcement members to view live video streams from different areas of the parking lot without lag.
With the help of temporary parking lot camera system and the parking enforcement staff, the event took place over three days without incident.
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