AT introduces media converter for IP surveillance
Allied Telesis introduces media converter specifically tailored for IP surveillance applications
AT-MC606 unmanaged Media Converter can transport Fast Ethernet on copper coax cable network
Singapore, 22 October 2010 – Allied Telesis Inc., a global provider of secure IP/Ethernet switching solutions and an industry leader in the deployment of IP Triple Play networks, has launched the ATMC606, an unmanaged media converter designed to offer Fast Ethernet speeds over a copper coaxial cable network. The product is targeted at installations where existing coaxial cable cannot be replaced with fiber or copper cabling due to cost or distance, yet still needs to transport data from high-bandwidth end points such as CCTV cameras.
The capabilities of the AT-MC606 are particularly suited to the IP surveillance market. This market has a large installed base of analog cameras, which heavily rely on a coax cable to connect the camera back to either the control center, or to an encoder that converts the analog signal to digital for backhaul transmission. However these are being replaced by digital cameras that offer higher image quality, no signal quality degradation and are easier to install and maintain. The issue with upgrading to digital cameras is that they require an Ethernet network, based on either twisted pair or fiber optic cable and, until now, this has required an upgrade to the network.
“The new era of IP surveillance is undoubtedly digital for a variety of cost, performance and convenience reasons,” said Jason Phoon, Deputy Director, Customer & Product Services, Allied Telesis Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. “However, the ‘hidden cost’ is that of connecting the camera endpoints back to the main network. Digital cameras do not allow connectivity over coax cables, so either the camera and cable needs to be upgraded, or a way needs to be found of making the digital camera’s signal appropriate for the coax cabling. The AT-MC606 does exactly this, and we believe that it will see widespread uptake in IP surveillance applications.”
The AT-MC606 is a standalone media converter of the standard form factor as other standalone Allied Telesis media converters, making installation and mounting, as well as power supply options simple to configure. It has two front panel connectors for easy installation and management, an RJ45 with 10/100T Fast Ethernet and a BNC Coax connector for connection to 50 or 75-ohm cable. It is simple to set up, works straight out of the box, and does not need any management setup via a Web GUI.
The AT-MC606 can deliver up to 100Mbps on asymmetrical mode and up to 85 Mbps in symmetrical mode over distances up to 200m. At cable lengths of 2km, the product can deliver up to 20 Mbps in symmetrical and 30 Mbps in asymmetrical mode.
Asymmetrical mode is particularly useful for IP surveillance, as it allows downstream information / instructions such as zooming and panning to be sent to the camera with the allocation of minimal bandwidth, whilst giving the maximum bandwidth to the upstream channel for video being sent to the servers. The AT-MC606 provides enough bandwidth to support multiple IP cameras over a single existing coax cable.
