Sony Electronics’ Security Systems Division - Experts & Thought Leaders

e-con Systems™, a globally renowned embedded camera company, launches RouteCAM_CU20, an HDR GigE ultra-low light camera with network synchronisation capability. RouteCAM_CU20 RouteCAM_CU20 is the first product launched in the RouteCAM series – a portfolio of best-in-class GigE cameras from e-con Systems. RouteCAM_CU20 is an OEM HDR camera based on the Sony STARVIS IMX462 sensor that comes with excellent low light and NIR (Near InfraRed) performance. The camera can be easily integrated with all image processing platforms, including X86 processors and ARM processors. PoE with GigE interface This is also a PoE camera that offers the ability to transmit power as well as data over a single GigE interface The GigE interface of this camera ensures reliable transfer of data up to a distance of 100m. This is also a PoE camera that offers the ability to transmit power as well as data over a single GigE interface. Also, it comes with the ONVIF protocol support which allows the integration of this camera with any ONVIF-based system easily. Reliable connection, long-distance support RanjithKumar Muthurajan, BU Head- Retail at e-con Systems™, said “e-con Systems being a pioneer of GMSL, MIPI, and USB cameras has now forayed into Gigabit Ethernet cameras with the new 'RouteCAM series'. We see a high demand for OEM cameras with a reliable connection, and long-distance support, and at the same time customers want to use the existing infrastructure to lower their product development cost.” He adds, “To address these needs, we have now launched RouteCAM_CU20, a full HD, HDR camera based on Sony STARVIS sensor. With these features, we aim to serve various markets with applications, such as Autonomous Mobile Robots, Smart Farming, Patient monitoring, Smart traffic & parking lot management, Autonomous shopping, and Telepresence robots." Key features of RouteCAM_CU20 Network synchronisation - To provide synchronised multi-camera streaming. Customisation - Can be customised including optics, form factor, etc. to meet customers’ unique requirements. Sony STARVIS IMX462 - HDR, NIR, and ultra-low light capabilities. PoE - Ensure power supply for the camera through the data cable itself. GigE interface - Ensures reliable connection to transfer video data up to a distance of 100m. 264/H.265 encoding - Ensures high-quality video transmission with minimal bandwidth. ONVIF protocol support – Allows integration of this camera with any ONVIF-based system easily. Availability Customers interested in evaluating RouteCAM_CU20 can visit the online web store and purchase the product. Customisation and integration support e-con Systems with its deep expertise and knowledge in various camera interfaces and embedded vision applications provides necessary customisation services and end-to-end integration support for RouteCAM_CU20 to meet your application’s unique requirements. 

Immervision, the developer of advanced vision systems combining optics, image processing, and sensor fusion technology, announces the availability of its UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) low-light navigation camera module designed for autonomous and semi-autonomous navigation in all environments, with high performance in low-light conditions. Designed to satisfy the demanding requirements of total situational awareness (or 360° surround machine perception) operating in low-light conditions, this plug-and-play solution gives access to Immervision’s advanced wide-angle camera module and image processing software. Challenging indoor environment Its compact design fits easily in different types of UAV/UAS/drones while its lightweight has a small impact on power consumption. The rugged design is well suited for a wide range of applications, including robots, land vehicles, and water vessels. To conduct these operations properly, autonomous navigation capability is essential" “UAVs are becoming increasingly used in industrial inspection, remote sensing for mapping and surveying, rescuing and more,” explains Patrice Roulet, Vice President, Technology, and Co-Founder at Immervision. “To conduct these operations properly, autonomous navigation capability is essential, especially in complex environments where other sensors are inefficient or battery hungry. Our camera module provides fast high precision input for navigation systems in various challenging outdoor and indoor environment.” Typical fisheye lens The camera module includes the lens assembly, a 5MP sensor, and a MIPI interface, weighing only 4.7 grams. Unlike a typical fisheye lens, this camera module uses a panomorph lens combining an ultra-wide-angle Field of View (190° FoV) with a unique distortion profile and a large aperture (F#1.8). It is crafted to maximise the light sensitivity of pixels and optimise the image quality from edge to edge, for use by human operators and/or artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems. Key Features: Wide-angle panomorph lens with smart pixel management provides enhanced image quality The lens small F# and high relative illumination, combined with the high sensitivity of the Sony sensor, ensures exceptional performances in a variety of low light conditions IP67 rating and front lens element in glass for usage in various environments, outdoors and indoors Small footprint and lightweight Off-the-self solution, available and ready for implementation Easily customisable to various platforms and flight controllers

Embedded vision components are ever-popular and being incorporated into a plethora of applications. What all these applications have in common is the need to pack more functionality into tight spaces. Often, it is advantageous for these systems to make decisions on the edge. To enable such systems, including the ability to prototype quickly, Teledyne FLIR has introduced the Quartet Embedded Solution for TX2 module. This customised carrier board enables easy integration of up to 4 x USB3 machine vision cameras at full bandwidth. Quartet Embedded Solution for TX2 module It includes the NVidia Jetson deep learning hardware accelerator and comes pre-integrated with Teledyne FLIR’s Spinnaker SDK. Often, it is also very advantageous for these systems to make decision on the edge especially in inspection, mobile robotics, traffic systems, and various types of unmanned vehicles. To highlight what the Quartet with Spinnaker SDK pre-installed can enable, Teledyne FLIR has explained steps taken in developing an ITS (traffic systems) inspired prototype, running four simultaneous applications, three of which use deep learning for: Application 1: Licence plate recognition using deep learning. Application 2: Vehicle type categorisation using deep learning. Application 3: Vehicle colour classification using deep learning. Application 4: See through windshield (past reflection & glare). Hardware & Software Components SOM for processing: New Teledyne FLIR Quartet carrier board for TX2 includes: 4x TF38 connectors with dedicated USB3 controllers. Nvidia Jetson TX2 module. Pre-installed with Teledyne FLIR’s powerful and easy-to-use Spinnaker SDK, to ensure plug and play compatibility with Teledyne FLIR Blackfly S board-level cameras. Nvidia Jetson deep learning hardware accelerator allows for complete decision-making systems on a single compact board. Cameras & Cables: 3x standard Teledyne FLIR Blackfly S USB3 board-level cameras utilising the same rich feature set as the cased version applied to the latest CMOS sensors and for seamless integration with Quartet. 1x custom camera: Blackfly S USB3 board level camera with Sony IMX250MZR polarised sensor. Cables: TF38 FPC cables allowing power and data to be transmitted over a single cable to save on space. Lighting: LED lights to provide sufficient illumination to avoid motion blur for the licence plates. Licence plate recognition using deep learning Teledyne FLIR deployed an off-the-shelf Licence Plate Detection (LPDNet) deep learning model from Nvidia For licence plate recognition, Teledyne FLIR deployed an off-the-shelf Licence Plate Detection (LPDNet) deep learning model from Nvidia, in order to detect the location of the licence plates. To recognise the letter & numbers, they used the Tesseract open-source OCR engine. The camera is a Blackfly S board level 8.9 MP colour camera (BFS-U3-88S6C-BD) with the Sony IMX267 sensor. Teledyne FLIR limited the region of interest for licence plate detection, in order to speed up performance and applied tracking to improve the robustness. The output includes bounding boxes of the licence plates together with the corresponding licence plate characters. Vehicle type categorisation using deep learning For vehicle type categorisation, using transfer learning, Teledyne FLIR trained their own deep learning object detection model for the three toy cars used, namely SUV, sedan and truck. They collected approximately 300 training images of the setup, taken at various distances and angles. The camera is a Blackfly S board level 5 MP colour camera (BFS-U3-51S5C-BD) with the Sony IMX250 sensor. Teledyne FLIR annotated the bounding boxes of the toy cars, which took approximately 3 hours. They also performed transfer learning to train their own SSD MobileNet object detection model, which took around half a day on an Nvidia GTX1080 Ti GPU. With the GPU hardware accelerator, the Jetson TX2 module can perform deep learning inference efficiently and output bounding boxes of the cars together with the corresponding vehicle types. Vehicle colour classification using deep learning For vehicle colour classification, Teledyne FLIR ran the same deep learning object detection model as above, to detect the cars, followed by image analysis on the bounding boxes to classify its colour. The output includes bounding boxes of the cars together with the corresponding vehicle colours. The camera is a Blackfly S board level 3 MP colour camera (BFS-U3-32S4C-BD) with the Sony IMX252 sensor. See-through windshield (past reflection & glare) Glare reduction is critical for traffic-related applications, such as seeing through a windshield to monitor HOV lanes Glare reduction is critical for traffic-related applications, such as seeing through a windshield to monitor HOV lanes, check for seatbelt compliance and even check for using their phones, while driving. For this purpose, Teledyne FLIR made a custom camera, by combining a Blackfly S USB3 board level camera with the 5MP polarisation Sony IMX250MZR sensor. This board-level polarisation camera is not a standard product, but Teledyne FLIR is able to swap in different sensors easily to offer custom camera options to showcase its glare removal functionality. They simply streamed the camera images via Teledyne FLIR’s SpinView GUI, which offers various ‘Polarisation Algorithm’ options, such as quad mode, glare reduction mode, to show the glare reduction on a stationary toy car. Overall system optimisation While each of the four prototypes worked well independently, Teledyne FLIR noticed that the overall performance was quite poor, when all the deep learning models were running simultaneously. Nvidia’s TensorRT SDK provides a deep learning inference optimiser and runtime for Nvidia hardware, such as the Jetson TX2 module. They optimised their deep learning models using the TensorRT SDK, resulting in around 10x performance improvement. On the hardware side, Teledyne FLIR attached a heat sink onto the TX2 module On the hardware side, Teledyne FLIR attached a heat sink onto the TX2 module, in order to avoid overheating, as it was quite hot with all the applications running. At the end, they managed to achieve good frame rates with all four applications running together - 14 fps for vehicle type identification, 9 fps for vehicle colour classification, 4 FPS for automatic number plate recognition and 8 FPS for the polarisation camera. Plug-and-play compatibility Teledyne FLIR developed this prototype within a relatively short period of time, thanks to the ease of use and reliability of the Quartet Embedded Solution and Blackfly S board-level cameras. The TX2 module with pre-installed Spinnaker SDK ensures plug-and-play compatibility with all the Blackfly S board-level cameras, which can stream reliably at full USB3 bandwidth via the TF38 connection. Nvidia provides many tools to facilitate development and optimisation on the TX2 module. The Quartet is now available for purchase online on the official company website, as well as through their offices and global distributor network.

Qumulex is a new startup with a mission to provide physical security integrators a transition path to embrace the technology of the cloud and a subscription-based business model. Qumulex’s products seek to provide capabilities to embrace the cloud without an integrator having to turn their back completely on the ‘transactional revenue’ of installing new systems. As the transition happens, Qumulex offers a product line that supports any mix of systems from on-premises to the cloud. The flexible deployment model – enabling a cloud installation, an on-premise installation or any combination – is one of the ways Qumulex seeks to differentiate itself in the market. Installing fully on-premise system The Qumulex cloud-based platform uses a gateway device located on-premises to which local cameras are connected The system is designed so that an integrator can install a fully on-premise system and then later ‘flip a switch’ and transition to a cloud model, says Tom Buckley, VP Sales and Marketing. The Qumulex initial 1.0 system launch is currently entering its final beta test. Full commercial availability is expected in the first quarter of 2020, which the company will highlight in a bigger 20x20 booth at ISC West next year. The Qumulex cloud-based platform uses a gateway device located on-premises to which local cameras are connected. Ensuring cybersecurity, the gateway provides a ‘firewall’ of sorts to avoid any cybersecurity threat from entering an enterprise through a vulnerable IP camera. The system is designed to be ‘cloud-agnostic’ and to work with any public or private cloud, using Docker software and ‘containers,’ a standard unit of software that packages code and all its dependencies so an application runs quickly and reliably from one computing environment to another. At launch, the Qumulex system will use the Google cloud. Greater situational awareness The open platform approach will enable users to assemble best-of-breed solutions Another point of differentiation for the new platform is a unified access control and video surveillance environment – both are part of the same program. Access control can drive video events and vice versa for greater situational awareness. A unified system avoids having to integrate separate systems. A big emphasis for Qumulex is ease of use. They have designed the user interface to be as simple and intuitive as possible, using consumer-oriented systems such as Nest and the Ring Doorbell as a model of simplicity. Finally, the open platform approach will enable users to assemble best-of-breed solutions. Keeping it simple, the system offers native integration with only the major camera manufacturers that represent most of the market: Axis, Hanwha, Arecont, Panasonic, Vivotek and Sony. Longer-term storage Other cameras can be included using the ONVIF interface. On the access control side, the system will initially be compatible with Axis door controllers, Allegion wireless door locks and ASSA ABLOY Aperio wireless door locks. Future versions of the software will seek to integrate HID Edge and Vertx and eventually Mercury panels. The gateway device may incorporate only a solid-state drive (SSD) for buffering Qumulex is taking a ‘mobile-first’ approach. The software is designed as a ‘progressive web app,’ which means is it is adaptable to – and fully functioning in – any smart phone, mobile device, laptop, or on a desktop computer with multiple monitors. The gateway device may incorporate only a solid-state drive (SSD) for buffering, or as many hard drives as the customer wants for storage. Short-term storage is available in the cloud, but local hard drives may be used for longer-term storage which can get expensive given the monthly fees of cloud storage. Using third-party server To manage the variety of scenarios, Qumulex will offer a line of gateways and recorders, or a customer can use a third-party server along with Qumulex, which is an open system. Qumulex will use a manufacturer’s representative sales model and has already signed up 11 rep firms covering the United States (the initial target of the launch). The company has been spreading the word among integrators, too, first at the ISC West show last spring, when 98 integrators saw demonstrations of the system at a suite in the Palazzo. Another 48 integrators saw the system at ESX in Indianapolis in June. At the recent GSX show in Chicago, Qumulex had a booth on the show floor, where they scanned 450 badges that yielded 176 unique integrators. Entering the physical security market Qumulex just closed a second round of funding, which does not include any ‘institutional’ money Buckley estimates there are around 10,000 total security integrators in the United States that sell products similar to theirs at their price point. They are working to build their database to reach out to those integrators. (Exacq had more than 4,500 dealer/integrators before it was sold to Tyco/Johnson Controls.) Qumulex is the third company to enter the physical security market by the same team that launched two other successful startups in the last 20 years: Exacq Technologies (sold to Tyco in 2013) and Integral Technologies (sold to Andover Controls in 2000). Both previous companies were built around a need to help the integrator community transition to newer technologies. Qumulex just closed a second round of funding, which does not include any ‘institutional’ money. The first round of investment involved only the founders, and the second round added some ‘angel’ investors to the mix. The funding allows more flexibility and control over the company’s timeline and the evolution of the product’s feature set, free of outside mandates, says Buckley.

Security is more-than-ever linked to consumer electronics, especially in the residential/smart home market. CES 2018 in Las Vegas is therefore brimming with news that will have a direct impact on the security market, today and especially looking into the future. Products for the future of security   CES is a giant trade show for consumer electronics with 2.75 million net square feet of exhibitor space and featuring more than 3,900 exhibitors, including 900 startups - in contrast, ISC West has some 1,000 exhibitors. During the week-long show welcoming 170,000-plus attendees from 150 countries, more than 20,000 new products are being launched. The products incorporate ingredient technologies such as artificial intelligence and 5G that will also be familiar elements as the future of the security industry unfolds. Familiar players at security shows also have a presence at CES, and many consumer technologies on display offer a glimpse of what’s ahead for security The areas of consumer electronics and security are closely intertwined. For example, Apple recently expanded near-field communication (NFC) support to include the NDEF (NFC Data Exchange Format), which will likely accelerate the adoption of smartphones for access control credentialing. In another recent development, Amazon acquired Blink, a home security camera startup that offers wireless home security systems. The acquisition aligns with Amazon’s effort to offer more home devices. Key security technologies at CES 2018 Familiar players at security shows also have a presence at CES. For example, Bosch is highlighting its “Simply. Connected” portfolio of smart city technology to transform security as well as urban mobility, air quality and energy efficiency. Many consumer technologies on display offer a glimpse of what’s ahead for security. Are Panasonic’s 4K OLEDs with HDR10+ format or Sony’s A8F OLED televisions a preview of the future of security control room monitors? At CES, Johnson Controls is announcing support for Apple HomeKit now offered in their DSC iotega wireless security and automation solution. Consumers can manage both their security system and also other home automation abilities using Apple’s Home app, or Siri on their iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch. Interlogix is announcing new features and components of its UltraSync SmartHome system, including hands-free voice control, high-definition cameras, an LTE cellular module and soon-to-be-released doorbell camera. The areas of consumer electronics and security are closely intertwined Developments in crime awareness ADT has a high profile at CES, including the launch of its ADT Go mobile app, equipped with 24/7 emergency response from ADT’s live monitoring agents and backed by Life360’s location technology, providing emergency response, family connectivity, safety assistance and crime awareness.  ADT is also unveiling a video doorbell and expanding its monitoring to cybersecurity. IC Realtime is introducing Ella, a cloud-based deep-learning search engine that augments surveillance systems with natural language search capabilities across recorded video footage. Ella enables any surveillance or security cameras to recognise objects, colours, people, vehicles and animals. Ella was designed using the technology backbone of Camio, a startup founded by ex-Googlers who designed a simpler way to apply searching to streaming video feeds. It’s a “Google for video:” Users can type in queries such as “white truck” to find every relevant video clip. Smarter homes and smarter computers Do-it-yourself smart home security company Abode Systems announces iota, an all-in-one system giving customers more freedom and flexibility to build out and monitor their smart home. The new form factor has a built-in full-HD resolution camera enabling customers to see and hear what’s going on in their home 24/7 while a built-in gateway supports hundreds of devices to make homes more convenient, safer and more secure. There is also support for Apple HomeKit. Highly programmable and high-performance platforms will no doubt play a role in the future of video surveillance systems in our market  The Z-Wave Alliance will host 30-plus leading smart home brands in the Z-Wave pavilion at CES. A full walk-through home will demonstrate different brands working together to create one cohesive smart home experience. Sigma Designs unveils its 700-Series Z-Wave platform, including numerous performance and technology enhancements in energy-efficiency and RF performance. Personal protection in attendance Self-defence product company SABRE will debut a combination pepper spray with dual sound-effect personal alarm that “alternates between the traditional wailing sound and a primal scream, while a strobe blinks 19 times per second to disorient assailants.” SABRE’s Modern Fake Security Camera includes “sleek, realistic design to deter would-be thieves.” Chip maker Ambarella is introducing the CV1 4K Stereovision Processor with CFflow Computer Vision Architecture. The chip combines environmental perception with advances in deep neural network processing for a variety of applications, including video security cameras and fully autonomous drones. At CES, applications will focus on automotive uses, including advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), self-driving, electronic mirror and surround view systems. The highly programmable and high-performance platform will no doubt play a role in the future of video surveillance systems in our market. A full walk-through home will demonstrate different brands working together to create one cohesive smart home experience Extending home security and efficiency  The Ring whole-house security ecosystem creates a “Ring of Security” around homes and neighbourhoods. Products include “Stick Up” indoor/outdoor security cameras, integrated LED lighting, a “Ring Alarm” integrated bundle for $199 including a base station, keypad, contact sensor, and Z-Wave extender. “Ring Protect Plans” include 24/7 professional monitoring. The “Streety” phone app, from Vivint Smart Home, extends home security into the neighbourhood. Streety makes it easy for neighbours to monitor neighbourhood activity through a network of shared residential cameras. They can keep an eye on kids, cars and property through live video feeds and use recorded video clips to investigate incidents. A new device making its debut at CES is the Walker “commercialised biped robot,” from UBTECH Robotics, which provides a complete home butler service and is designed to ease the day-to-day operations of a busy home or office. The varied of functions includes video surveillance monitoring, security patrol monitoring, motion detection and “instant alarm,” as well as dancing and playing games with children. The company says Walker will “bridge the gap between technologies that were once only available in scientific research institutions and everyday people.”

Consumer electronics are closely related to physical security. For one thing, electronics consumers increasingly see security as one of the functions they want their smart home systems to perform. We have heard the Internet of Things (IoT) buzzword in our market, and it is also a major force in the changing consumer electronics arena. Because consumer electronics are increasingly tied in with security, many in our industry keep a close eye on developments at the huge Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that kicks off every new year in Las Vegas. There are more security-related announcements than ever at CES, and the show sometimes offers a preview of what’s to come in the world of video. The video technologies our industry uses are generally introduced first in the consumer electronics field, and then are adapted to the more specialised video surveillance market. Over the years, the CES show has provided us the first glimpse of high-profile technologies such as 4K video, and the 2017 show (5-8 January) was no exception. Intelligent home automation systems One of the biggest names in security – ADT – made news at this year’s CES. The provider of automation solutions for homes and businesses welcomed the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot products into its ADT Pulse ecosystem. Homeowners will now be able to arm and disarm their home security system with simple voice commands and a security PIN. It’s just one example of how the “smart home” trend (and IoT) is evolving in lockstep with security. Alarm.com is also promoting a drone that can respond to events around a home or business, providing video from “flying cameras” Vivint, a home security company, announced its new “Sky” smart home assistant product that employs artificial intelligence and manages connected devices. More intelligence was a big emphasis at CES, also including Alarm.com’s “Insights Engine.” It uses intelligence to analyse (and “learn” from) behaviour and activity patterns of connected devices in the home. Alarm.com is also promoting a drone that can respond to events around a home or business, providing video from “flying cameras.” Video wallpapers and 4K ultra-rich screens Also at CES 2017, NXT-ID demonstrated a miniature module within a wearable smart band that combines Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Near-Field Communication (NFC) to enable “intelligently-connected” devices. Which of the video introductions at CES 2017 offer hints of what’s ahead for the surveillance industry? How about a “minimalist” TV, essentially a 2.5mm-thick “video wallpaper” that includes an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display and attaches to the wall using magnets? (How might such a product impact what security control rooms of the future might look like?) Sony and Samsung unveiled “more realistic” displays including 4K “ultra-rich” screens. Futuristic technology Virtual reality was a big theme at CES, with companies coming out with new headsets and tools for creating better and more immersive experiences. The search is on for business applications – might security uses be among the possibilities? Increasingly sophisticated robots were featured at CES, including robots with realistic facial expressions that hold intelligent conversations. Robots have invaded the security market already, but how will new capabilities expand the ways they are used? (There were even cars that can read your lips – also among the highlights of CES 2017.) Looking ahead to the new year, technologies we use for security will continue to change in new and interesting ways. If CES 2017 offers an early clue, we will have plenty to talk about.