Manufacturers of security products have employed wireless communication for some time—typically using short-range low-rate RF devices from proximity sensors (notification of an open door or window, for example). There has been a lot of interest to expand this to longer range runs, where cabling can be quite costly and often prohibitive (such as freeways that can't be trenched or buildings that can't be retrofitted). Yet the cost, power consumption or complexity of most RF technologies on the market has hindered the possibilities of wireless integration into this industry. That's where AeroComm comes in...

The Benefits of RF

• Lowers cost, time and effort of installation.
• Ideal for retrofits in buildings not wired for electronic access.
• Proprietary protocol & FHSS for security & interference rejection.
• 2.4GHz, 900MHz and 868MHz for virtually worldwide suitability.
• Isolated collocated networks.
• Small enough to fit into virtually any enclosure.
• Low power consumption.
• Industry standard interfaces.
• Seamless integration as direct cable replacement.

Typical Security Systems

Access Control—companies need to locate devices at the perimeter to check for authorized access. Devices include numeric keypads, magnetic-stripe readers, fingerprint sensors, biometrics sensors, etc. AeroComm's radio eliminates the need for cabling from the central PC to the access point.

Site Monitoring—transmit digital image from the camera to the central PC. Cameras are mounted on poles, walls, entryways, fences, and elevators. There are two ways communication might occur: a) from the central PC to the camera with pan tilt or zoom functions; b) from the camera, to transmit images to the viewing monitor. Lowers cost, time and effort of installation.

RF Recommendations

For low data rate, simple applications such as remote keyboard or mag-stripe readers, AeroComm's 868 / 900MHz transceivers are ideal. They transmit up to 500 feet indoors through walls or a couple of miles line-of-sight. Key benefits for access control are long ranges achievable from 868 and 900MHz, and incredible cost efficiency for a radio with the excellent protocol. Also includes key protocol features such as programmable number of times to broadcast or ACK and retries, features typically not found in the radios used for security, and hence the manufacturer of security equipment must write that in their own software.

For higher data rate applications, or those where a fully-featured radio is desired, the AC4424 in streaming mode is a ready-to-use radio with sophisticated software to allow OEMs to configure to unique needs. Applications include camera control or camera image transfer and biometrics devices transmitting larger files. Key benefit of the 4424 for cameras is its streaming mode -- it sends data at a high 192Kbps rate without any error detection so that the OEM can get all available raw data and filter out occasional bad data without losing the 'good part' of a RF packet. Also able to send data in one direction and reply back with camera control such as pan, tilt and zoom from the control to the camera.