Month: August 2023

IDIS remains committed to educating and supporting systems integrators and end-users on the importance of NDAA-compliance Increasing incidents of school violence are catalyzing school security teams to implement new, more innovative security technologies and solutions to elevate their security posture. The timing could not be better, because many legacy school surveillance systems are quickly becoming a costly liability due to non-compliance, and thousands of K-12 schools may not even realize it. Many school districts need more awareness of the full implications and details of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA 2019) that went into effect in August 2020 and how it can impact existing and future investment in the form of federal loans and funding. Continued use of banned products or their components leaves schools at risk for cyberattacks; the cyber vulnerabilities of many banned products mean they can be used by bad actors to view live or access recorded footage. The time is now for schools and universities to act and upgrade their video surveillance infrastructure to meet NDAA requirements and standards. For school security planners not familiar with the need for compliance, the ban included not only the ‘name brand’ products from these companies but also all their OEM brands, in essence, companies that out sourced their manufacturing to these Chinese firms. The regulation also went further to prohibit federal agencies or federal loan recipients from working with integrators and their subcontractors that market, sell, or install unlawful surveillance equipment. This means unless schools have upgraded cameras and other surveillance and associated hardware recently, chances are they aren’t NDAA-compliant. “From speaking to end-users and integrators at recent tradeshows and working with our partners, we’ve uncovered several reasons for the lack of understanding, particularly across the K-12 sector,” noted Jason Burrows, Sales Director, IDIS America, “Spotting non-compliant equipment is often difficult and many schools have well-functioning albeit non-compliant surveillance systems. It’s not until cameras need replacing or entire systems need an upgrade that security managers and associated stakeholders conduct due diligence.” “In addition, schools often use local systems integrators that aren’t involved in corporate or large scale federal projects where NDAA compliance is non-negotiable,” Burrows added, “As a result, many integrators aren’t yet familiar with the finer details of the NDAA. And they may not be aware that the NDAA extends to their subcontractors or that Section 889 not only applies to government facilities, but to any federally funded organization, and that includes a significant number of schools and universities.” As a result, IDIS America is leading the charge in educating and supporting systems integrators and end-users on the importance of NDAA compliance and implementing a multi-layered approach that balances a safe learning environment with security measures, and the cybersecurity of their video systems. Upgrading to the latest video surveillance solutions that now come with AI functionality not only strengthens security and safety, but it can also make busy school security teams and teaching staff more efficient. The IDIS America team will be exhibiting at several K-12 security events during the second half of 2023, as well as providing educational blogs and articles, and launching social media campaigns. “Non-compliance with NDAA regulations, as well as the more recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Secure Equipment Act of 2021 for surveillance cameras and recording equipment, can have some serious consequences,” cautioned Burrows, “It’s important for schools to take NDAA compliance seriously and ensure that their systems are secure, reliable, and in line with current regulations. IDIS is here to help them every step of the way.”  

Better insight for gaming departments thanks to video technology Dallmeier, a leading manufacturer of video technology for casinos, once again sponsored the European Dealer Championship 2023 which took place from 12 to 14 June in Brussels. The company was present with a stand featuring a live camera system with AI-video analytics on board. Casino managers were able to discuss with Dallmeier’s casino experts how they can better utilize their gaming floor and get a better insight into table games. Find the ‘person of interest’ in 3 minutes instead of 20 In the past, surveillance managers mainly used camera systems to secure different areas of the casino and to meet the requirements of the casino authorities such as table surveillance. However, state-of-the-art camera systems are now increasingly benefiting the gaming departments as well. At EDC 2023, Dallmeier casino experts Ep Smit and Reda Seiliute demonstrated how casinos can use a Dallmeier Panomera® W8 360° camera to monitor large indoor casino areas and track persons of interest in much less time. By using 8 lenses in one optical unit, the Panomera® W8 provides the operator with unlimited ‘virtual’ PTZ cameras and in many cases eliminates the need for PTZ cameras on the gaming floor. In short, by using the Panomera® W8, casinos have a better overview of the gaming floor and greatly save on infrastructure and operating costs. Fast adjustment to new table positions Visitors were also able to see Dallmeier Domera® cameras in action, monitoring the final dealer competitions in Blackjack and Roulette – which were even broadcast on the streaming platform Twitch. Casino operators were also able to see how Domera® cameras can be quickly adapted to new table positions on the gaming floor thanks to the ‘Remote Positioning Dome (RPod)’ feature. This benefits gaming departments as they can try out different positions of the tables without worrying about spending too much time for adjusting the cameras by climbing up a ladder and fiddling with the fine adjustments. Better utilization of the gaming floor Advanced AI video analytics, whether in the camera itself or via third-party analytics apps, enable other useful applications. One of these is AI-based people counting. This allows gaming managers to be automatically notified if there are too few or too many people in an area so they can open more tables or close tables if the occupancy of individual tables is not optimal. CAT: More insight and better monitoring of table games Gaming managers can also use Dallmeier’s Casino Automation Technology (CAT) to count chips and cards at tables and track their movement. By using cameras and AI analytics, this makes it easier for them to monitor chip inventory and prevent fraud. Another benefit of CAT is that casinos can monitor payouts or detect errors to ensure that players receive fair and accurate payouts. “We’re very pleased with the response to our smart casino solutions we got at this year’s European Dealer Championship in Brussels. In many conversations, visitors to our stand realized that they can use video cameras for so much more than just for receiving high-resolution images,” explained Ep Smit, Senior Enterprise Solutions Manager at Dallmeier, “The benefits range from being able to track a person on the gaming floor much faster to quickly adapt to table positions on the floor, to using AI video analytics to make casino operations much more efficient.”  

Introduction Swiss Arabian is the pioneer of Arabian perfumes that spans over 40 years. Over the years, the Swiss Arabian Perfumes Group has grown from strength to strength. Today, it stands tall as the first perfume manufacturer in the UAE. They operate five modern manufacturing facilities spread across an area of 165,000sq.ft., producing more than 35 million perfumes annually and export the same to over 80 countries. Challenges Swiss Arabian has a prominent presence across several cities in the UAE. Considering this, centralized data management of the employee attendance details, from all the units was critical. Besides, overtime calculation and managing rollover shifts were tedious tasks as well. Furthermore, verifying the attendance data with detailed reports, bifurcated by locations was a part of their key requirements. Solution Matrix addressed these challenges by proposing a door controller at each location, connected via a centralized platform, COSEC CENTRA, to manage all the data, from one place. This Time-Attendance solution assists them in procuring accurate attendance details of an employee in no time! Through the web-based employee portal, the solution offers efficient leave and shift management. Furthermore, it helped the HR team to generate customized reports in the most efficient manner. Results Centralized and effortless attendance management of multiple locations. Streamlined shift allocation and automated shift correction. Customized attendance policy formation. Real-time alert on attendance event. Auto-scheduled reporting. Efficient employee database management. Improved productivity.  

Analog Devices, Inc., announced Apollo MxFE, its most advanced software-defined, direct RF-sampling, wideband mixed signal front end platform. Apollo MxFE enables next-generation applications such as phased array radar, electronic surveillance, test and measurement, and 6G communications in the aerospace & defense, instrumentation, and wireless communications industries. The growth of data intensive applications is increasing the need for wider bandwidths and more rapid processing and analysis of data for 5G, 6G, Wi-Fi 7 & 8, radar, signal intelligence, and other applications at the network edge. As a result, customers need a solution that enables higher-speed data conversion and processing capabilities, while reducing electronic testing complexity. Developed for application versatility and rapid customization, the Apollo MxFE offers instantaneous bandwidths as high as 10GHz while directly sampling and synthesizing frequencies up to 18GHz (Ku Band). This monolithic 16nm CMOS device utilizes state of the art high dynamic range RF Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) and RF Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) cores with the best spurious free dynamic range and noise spectral density available on the market today. As such, Apollo MxFE helps customers accelerate design cycles and bring new products to market faster and at lower cost, while future-proofing their product designs. “The flexibility and simplicity designed into the Apollo MxFE platform have the potential to transform future engineering design for Intelligent Edge devices,” said Bryan Goldstein, Vice President, Aerospace and Defense at ADI, “Demand for higher data rates with shorter latencies at lower overall system power is accelerating across industries. Apollo MxFE gives design engineers the flexibility to design for those requirements today, as well as an ability to enhance performance over time using simple, software-defined design changes.” Apollo MxFE Product Details Apollo MxFE’s 4T4R product offers four 12-bit RF ADCs with a sample rate up to 20GSPS, four 16- bit RF DACs with a sample rate up to 28GSPS, an RF input bandwidth from DC to 18GHz (Ku Band), and an instantaneous bandwidth up to 10GHz. Apollo MxFE is the industry’s first integrated radio that is capable of directly interfacing to the emerging 6G frequency bands from 7GHz to 15GHz. The on-chip digital signal processing (DSP) offers a real-time FFT Sniffer, a full-rate programmable FIR filter, a 128-tap complex FIR filter, fast-hopping NCOs, DDCs/ DUCs, and a fractional sample rate converter. The DSP is dynamically configurable, allowing for rapid changes between narrowband and wideband profiles without taking down the JESD link. Apollo MxFE supports JESD 204B/C and a very short reach (VSR) interface. Apollo MxFE’s 8T8R product offers eight RF ADCs with a sample rate up to 8GSPS, eight RF DACs with a sample rate up to 16GSPS, an RF input bandwidth up to 16GHz, and an instantaneous bandwidth up to 3GHz. The on-chip DSP offers similar features and functionality to the 4T4R device with double the number of digital blocks, all dynamically configurable. Apollo MxFE Ecosystem Apollo MxFE is at the heart of a larger ecosystem of new ADI hardware and software products, each offering complementary capabilities for optimal performance and ease of use. Apollo MxFE is augmented by high-performance variable gain amplifiers, ultralow noise LDO and Silent Switcher® regulators, clocking, and multichip synchronization, along with embedded digital and software technologies including algorithms and security. The Apollo MxFE ecosystem is comprised of the following products: A PLL/ VCO synthesizer with a fundamental frequency output of up to 22GHz, extraordinary noise performance, temperature stability (0.06ps/°C), and <1ps alignment resolution. A complete, high-performance power solution including the LTM4702 8A µModule regulator. It features Silent Switcher 3 technology, combining an ultralow noise reference with Silent Switcher architecture to achieve high efficiency, excellent wideband noise performance, and maximum overall Apollo MxFE ecosystem performance. A 10-channel precision synchronizer for time alignment of SYSREF signals to within 5ps for simultaneous sampling across multiple Apollo MxFE on the same card or across different chassis. It also has the ability to support two-dimensional system synchronization (fanout and/or daisy chain architectures) for very large systems. Companion TxVGA and RxVGA solutions provide Apollo MxFE with +15dB of gain and the transition from single-ended to differential on Rx as well as differential to single-ended on Tx. This simplifies the connection to the RF front end. Analog Devices, Inc. is a global semiconductor company that bridges the physical and digital worlds to enable breakthroughs at the Intelligent Edge. ADI combines analog, digital, and software technologies into solutions that help drive advancements in digitized factories, mobility, and digital healthcare, combat climate change, and reliably connect humans and the world. With revenue of more than $12 billion in FY22 and approximately 25,000 people globally working alongside 125,000 global customers, ADI ensures today’s innovators stay Ahead of What’s Possible.  

Education institutions need to maximize time and resources available for teaching and supporting students, while minimizing their administrative workloads and costs. The latest digital solutions can support this critical goal based on process automation and tools that help students, teachers, administrative staff, and IT managers to work more effectively and productively For education institutions of all types and sizes, helping students achieve their learning potential is the top priority. However, a wide range of administrative functions and processes are needed to support this core mission – placing significant demand on staff members’ time and increasing operating costs. To maximize time and resources available for teaching and student support, many educational institutions are implementing a range of new digital technologies. These can help by automating routine processes, speeding up staff and student management based on real-time data insights, and helping teachers to plan classes and deliver learning materials to students more quickly and effectively. 4 important ways digital education solutions can help education institutions maximize operating efficiency: Saving time for teachers and students: With the latest digital classroom technologies, including interactive digital displays, teachers can share learning resources with students with a finger stroke. The best solutions of this type allow teachers to download all kinds of third-party teaching applications, allowing them to integrate a variety of valuable learning tools and materials into their lesson plans. These kinds of solutions also support convenient writing, erasing, recording, preparing, and instruction via the interactive display panel. Local and USB files can also be auto-classified for easy management and quick searches – allowing teachers to enhance their lessons in an easy and agile way. In addition to these key features, which save time for teachers and help students learn faster, interactive digital displays reduce reliance on textbooks and printed teaching materials. As well as reducing costs, this helps to save natural resources and minimize negative environmental impacts. Increasing efficiency for school administrators: The latest digital technologies use video data captured by cameras to automate attendance management, with no need to take roll calls manually. This is achieved using AI-powered technology, which – with consent given by parents and students themselves – identifies students who are present and those who are absent, and records the roll-call information for later use. By viewing attendance data recorded by this kind of system, administrators can understand attendance trends centrally via a dashboard interface, aiding reporting and supporting initiatives to ensure that as many students as possible attend classes. Attendance data can also be viewed for each individual student, helping schools to identify class members who are struggling, and to provide the support they need to improve their attendance records. Making school information more accessible: Digital education solutions can assign each classroom with its own, unique, information panel. Called ‘digital signage,’ these panels can display information such as class schedules, daily activities, class videos, class photos, and so on. School managers can use them to deliv er campus information to all panels such as campus notices, campus activities and campus videos, as well as urgent notices. Students and teachers can use these panels to maintain and monitor attendance records, screen for high temperatures, as well as checking individual attendance reports, and other academic information. Helping IT staff do more with less: Some digital education solutions now provide a single dashboard view of all devices connected to the network – with simple tools that speed up IT configuration, management, and troubleshooting. This helps to improve the quality of IT services for staff and students, helping to optimize teaching and learning experiences. Discover how with Hikvision Hikvision digital education solutions streamline and automate a wide range of tasks and processes, helping education institutions to increase their operating efficiency and reduce costs. Their interactive digital displays, for example, make it faster and easier to share critical information and learning resources with students, improving education efficiency and quality. At the same time, their attendance management solution allows roll call to be automated and provides a centralized view of attendance information – down to individual student level. Finally, Hikvision supports centralized management for all connected devices via their HikConnect software platform. This gives IT staff a real-time view of device status across the network, with highly efficient tools for configuring and troubleshooting devices remotely. Devices can also be turned off automatically when they are not in use, further increasing efficiency and sustainability and delivering major cost savings to the institution.