CCTV Camera Reset Remotely by Outdoor UPS for CCTV
Preface
In many cases, CCTV camera problems such as video freeze can be corrected by resetting the CCTV camera. However, when CCTV cameras are deployed outdoors, if they need to be reset at the site every time such problems occur, the maintenance cost of the entire network will be very high. Based on this problem, Edgeware's outdoor UPS for CCTV can perform CCTV camera reset remotely, thereby helping customers to reset CCTV cameras in the central office, greatly reducing the operation and maintenance costs of the entire network.
Table of Contents
1.Why do we need CCTV Camera Reset Remotely
CCTV cameras can freeze the entire system in certain situations, such as unstable network environment. This situation is common and difficult to completely eliminate. Generally, if CCTV camera freezes, resetting it can restore it. However, resetting the camera is not so easy when the CCTV camera site is outdoors. We need to consider the following key points:
- There are a large number of CCTV camera sites deployed outdoors, and some of them are far away from the headquarters. It is not realistic to send engineers to the site to restart the CCTV camera by resetting the power supply.
- Although CCTV camera freeze is rare, the probability of occurrence will increase greatly when the number of sites is large enough. If engineers are sent to the site to solve the problem every time, it is conceivable that the operation and maintenance costs will increase significantly.
2.Possible Problems When Resetting the Camera Using the CCTV Software Platform
Some CCTV camera manufacturers have developed a remote CCTV camera reset function. They integrate this function into the central software platform to achieve remote reset of CCTV cameras. However, this solution often has weakness.
The above figure is a simplified topology of CCTV camera reset by central software platform. Ideally, CCTV camera reset can be achieved. However, we need to know that CCTV camera freeze is caused by the following situations:
- The software link between CCTV camera and software platform is offline.
- The underlying OS of CCTV camera is frozen.
When this happens, the connection between CCTV camera and central software platform is actually broken, and software platform cannot send reset command.
Therefore, this solution is not ideal and cannot solve all problems.
3.Four Ways to perform CCTV Camera Reset Remotely by Outdoor UPS for CCTV
3.1 Outdoor UPS for CCTV is Aggregation and Power Core of the Edge Network
The above figure shows the network topology formed by Edgeware outdoor UPS for CCTV as the edge aggregation node of CCTV site. We can see that CCTV camera is connected to outdoor UPS for CCTV via Ethernet cable. Edgeware’s outdoor UPS for CCTV integrates core components such as Layer 2 PoE switch, battery, UPS into an all-in-one system. At this time, outdoor UPS for CCTV naturally serves as the two cores of the edge network:
(1) The aggregation core of the Edge network
(2) The power core of the Edge network
Therefore, when we execute CCTV camera reset on the edge network node of outdoor UPS for CCTV, there will be multiple flexible methods.
3.2 CCTV Camera Reset by PoE Ports from Outdoor UPS for CCTV
CCTV cameras are powered by PoE in most scenarios. So when we find that CCTV camera freezes, we only need to reset the PoE power supply of the corresponding port to reset the CCTV camera.
Edgeware’s outdoor UPS for CCTV has this function, and this operation can be performed on Edgeware’s Convergence software platform.
3.2 CCTV Camera Reset by DC Power Providing from Outdoor UPS for CCTV
In CCTV camera deployment, you may occasionally encounter some legacy cameras that are powered directly by DC power, such as DC12V, DC24V, etc. For this scenario, Edgeware’s outdoor UPS for CCTV is designed with a UPS module restart function, which restarts the UPS and then the DC12V/DC24V power supply, thereby restarting the CCTV camera.
3.3 CCTV Camera Reset by PoE Ports Based on Port Traffic Monitoring
The CCTV camera reset solution described above is not perfect. For example, when the outdoor UPS site lost connection from the software platform, it is impossible to control the outdoor UPS to reset the camera. Based on this problem, our solution is to make good use of Edgeware’s management and monitoring functions.
The figure above is a simplified topology of the solution. When CCTV camera freezes, the corresponding PoE switch port will have no traffic. Therefore, the management and monitoring module embedded in the Edgeware outdoor UPS can be used to monitor the specific PoE switch port to monitor the CCT V camera freeze situation. If the traffic of the port is found to be zero for a period of time, the PoE of the port can be restarted to restart the CCTV camera. The advantage of this processing method is that all controls are completed locally at the edge site, and there is no need to rely on the communication between the outdoor UPS for CCTV and the software platform.
3.4 CCTV Camera Reset by DC Power Based on Port Traffic Monitoring
For the scenario of legacy camera, you can also use the management and monitoring module to monitor the traffic. As shown in the topology above, the CCTV camera must be connected to a switch. The management and monitoring module can be used to monitor the traffic of the corresponding port of the switch. If the port traffic is 0 for a period of time, the DC power is restarted to restart the CCTV camera. Of course, it should be noted that this solution requires the correspondence between the DC power port and the switch port. This solution also keeps all the control in the outdoor UPS for CCTV and does not rely on communication with the software platform.
4.Summary
In short, CCTV Camera Reset Remotely is a must-have feature when operating a large CCTV network. It can greatly help increase the availability of CCTV cameras and greatly reduce operating costs. Edgeware’s full range of products have these features, and if you have special needs, we can also help you develop them.
