Greece stadiums protected by Dallmeier
From:
Regensburg, Germany
When it comes to video surveillance, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games and at the same time the cradle of sports, trusts in products and solutions from Dallmeier. And while excited fans watch what happens on the pitch in a total of 22 stadiums (among them the Olympic Stadium in Athens), high-resolution Dallmeier cameras keep an eye on everyone and everything and provide for the necessary security.
The Olympic Stadium in Athens, also referred to as the OAKA, was
completed in 1982 and bears the name of the Spyridon Louis, the winner
of the first Olympic marathon in modern times (1896). Ahead of the
Olympic Games the stadium was completely modernised and was given a
17,000 ton glass roof. With 25,000 sqm it is the largest glass roof in
the world. Furthermore, the Olympic Stadium has another highlight: a
network-based video security system by the Regensburg based specialist
Dallmeier.
In June 2006, the first proposals for the project
were drawn up and submitted. The Greek Ministry of Sports awarded the
contract to the Dallmeier partner Space Hellas. Dallmeier sales manager
Asad Asla recalls: "After months of intensive examinations, the
Ministry chose our proposal as the solution that offers the highest
quality, uses the most advanced technology and is most future-proof.
Although it took a while for those responsible to come to a decision,
we had been ahead of the game right from the start from a technical
point-of-view, simply because we demonstrated and offered the most
complete solution. The people at the ministry have repeatedly affirmed
that, which gave me great satisfaction as it clearly shows we offer
solutions for the future. And Dallmeier is the ideal partner for that."
In
mid-April 2007 Dallmeier was finally awarded the project. The
realisation phase of this great project was next and quickly it became
obvious that the tender specification by no means met the actual
requirements and the strict conditions of the UEFA. Consequently, a lot
of special programming was still necessary to achieve compliance with
the regulations. On top of that, the pressure to finish work was
enormous as time was running short. The system's first large-scale
operation, the final match of the Champions League, was just three
weeks away. In record time, all departments within Dallmeier, from
hardware and software development to the responsible projects and
applications team and the manufacturing department delivered a truly
Champions League-worthy performance.
In the end, the complete
CCTV system could be installed on time and so it was all clear for an
exciting evening for the fans. Also, if anything, the security
personnel had to worry about the score as the Dallmeier technology
operated smoothly and without any problems. The police, who were
operating the system, and the ministry officials were impressed by the
easy operation of the system as well as the high image quality system.
With
the OAKA project the foundations were laid for a continuing successful
cooperation. For Dallmeier not only equips the Olympic Stadium with its
solutions. The Regensburg based company has also been awarded the order
for the CCTV equipment of no less than 22 stadiums in Greece. After the
successful commissioning of the first stadium's CCTV system, the
surveillance systems in the other 21 stadiums will be gradually
implemented.
All in all approximately 850 analogue as well as IP cameras will eventually monitor the interior and exterior.
The
particularity about the Dallmeier cameras is their proprietary
Cam_inPIX technology. The basis for this development was the latest
Pixim DSP technology, which was further optimised and refined by
Dallmeier. With this camera technology it is now possible to solve
familiar problems of the video surveillance technology that have
previously been deemed unsolvable with CCD technology. The most
difficult lighting conditions, for instance rapid succession of light
and shadow as it occurs in sport stadiums, can be mastered without any
problems with the Cam_inPIX technology, according to Dallmeier. Apart
from that, the Olympic Stadium had one other, very special requirement.
It was necessary to ensure that faces could still be recognisable at
great distance and the cameras provide an optimal solution for this
application as well.
In order to guarantee a highest
availability of the recording, Dallmeier's approach to solution uses
the high-availability storage directly at the encoder. The device used
is a DIS-2/M, a modular recording and transmission system in slide-in
design for 19" racks (Blade system). Recording is thus
network-independent and therefore remains intact even in the case of
disturbances or a complete network failure. This storage concept
furthermore minimises network requirements such as bandwidth as
streaming is only carried out when needed.
In order to further
increase failure safety, the data are redundantly recorded on the
DIS-2/M. Moreover, the system uses the DAS-303 Dallmeier storage
system. Based on RAID-5 technology the highest degree of security is
ensured for the whole system.
Besides its reliability the
DIS-2/M also convinced the responsible ministry officials with its high
image quality as all channels are processed in real time and broadcast
quality (MPEG-2/MPEG-4) i.e. with 25 frames per second with PAL
resolution and 30 frames per second with NTSC.
Another criteria
for the decision: The user-friendliness of the system. However, if a
disruption occurs, the defective components can be replaced channel by
channel. The hot plug capability of the modules allows the exchange to
be made during operation. The downtime is thus reduced to a minimum.
Finally, an intuitive and clearly structured software allows for a
simply management and control of the system.
Given the size of
the project and the planned expansion phases it was very important to
the ministry to find a solution that could be adjusted to meet future
demands without any problems. Again the Dallmeier approach to solution
demonstrated one if its advantages: All Dallmeier systems are of
modular design. The high flexibility of this approach makes extensions
simple and straightforward. The digital IP-Matrix is designed so that
cascading of the system is not subject to restrictions. Unlike analogue
solutions whose expansions frequently incur high additional costs,
these do not apply to IP systems.
The control rooms of the
individual stadiums are equipped with a customised SeMSy (Security
Management System) which makes it easier for police on site to keep the
necessary overview and allows them to react immediately in an
emergency. Furthermore, workstations with PView and PGuard were already
set up in a separate control centre during the first stage of the
implementation. Initially, those workstations will be used for
additional surveillance of the OAKA soccer stadium and the entire
Olympic sporting complex in Athens, including the arenas for
basketball, track and field etc. Owing to the flexible IP solutions it
is no problem to work across-site so that existing localities can be
interconnected at a later date and controlled via one main central
control station. Using the video management system the control centre
can eventually serve as a supervisory surveillance centre for all 22
stadiums.
If the images from all stadiums converged at the
control centre, the necessary bandwidth would naturally be very high.
Again Dallmeier had a suitable solution: Dual Streaming. Thereby, the
images can be recorded in high quality at the recorder. For the
transmission of the images, however, a lower resolution is chosen in
order to reduce the network load. That procedure ensures that the
images can also be viewed without any problems by remote access, while
guaranteeing that important image details are still preserved.
The
responsible people at the Greek Ministry of Sports were so strongly
convinced by the Dallmeier solution that they not only ordered the
devices of the German company for the new installations but also
replaced existing systems with Dallmeier products. According to
statements by the ministry, Dallmeier was the only competitor able to
meet the expectations and requirements, thus ensuring the security of
the stadiums as well as the safety of the athletes and visitors from
all over the world.
Email: info@dallmeier-electronic.com
For more information: www.dallmeier-electronic.com
