The Verint system will allow Metro surveillance officers to monitor passenger platforms and parts of the track from the central operations center. Verint’s system networks video across multiple locations and applies content analytics in order to take intelligence from live and stored video.

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The Montreal Metro system averages about 800,000 passenger trips every weekday.

Dan Bodner, President and CEO of Verint says, “We have significant experience working with transportation authorities and are committed to delivering innovative networked video solutions.”

Airships – known today mainly for advertising flyovers at football games – are the core of a new coastal surveillance system in development for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) of the U.S. Department of Defense.

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But the new models will bear little resemblance to their predecessors. These High Altitude Stratospheric Airships (HASAs) will be unmanned, stationary platforms 14 to 16 miles above the ground. At 500 feet long and 150 feet in diameter with a volume of 5 million cubic feet, the HASAs will be 25 times the size of a Goodyear blimp.

The airships will be equipped with an array of cutting-edge equipment for remote sensing, communications, and risk analysis of suspected threats — and that’s where NJIT comes in. The university is partnering with StratCom International LLC to serve as the academic research and development base for the project.

NJIT’s component of the project is under the direction of Donald H. Sebastian, PhD, vice president of research and development and director of the university’s <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />HomelandSecurityTechnologyCenter. Sebastian says the project is a natural fit for NJIT.

“We have expertise in the whole range of applicable technologies — terahertz imaging, advanced materials technology for the airship skin, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), intermodal freight transportation through our transportation centers, wireless telecommunications, and information-assurance systems. We’re also an agile university with a strong entrepreneurial character that allows us to respond quickly to an emerging need such as homeland security.”

While the airship technology is driven by important defense applications, the impact on civilian life may be far greater. When production can be scaled to meet the need of widespread deployment, the airships will become an important layer of our telecommunications infrastructure.

They’ll empower a wide variety of applications based on mobile, bi-directional exchange of voice, video and data — broadband access anywhere at any time. Closer in time, homeland-security applications ranging from first-responder communications for emergency response and command through border security and surveillance systems will be important markets for HASA technology.

One area of development that has been proposed to the federal Transportation Security Administration concerns “maritime domain awareness” – pushing the national boundaries out to sea where problem cargo can be identified and handled far from populated port cities. The primary focus of the project is shipping containers, considered to be among the most serious potential threats to homeland security.

More than half of all U.S. trade travels in sealed containers 20 to 40 feet long, piled by the thousands onto ships for delivery to ports, where they are often transferred, unopened, to trucks and trains for shipping to secondary destinations. Some six to eight million containers arrive in U.S. ports annually, and fewer than four percent are ever inspected for contraband or dangerous materials.

“The threat is a serious one, but container traffic is also one of the keystones of the global economy,” Sebastian says. According to recent statistics, $728 billion in goods were shipped in containers, accounting for nearly seven percent of the gross domestic product. Many American businesses are dependent on materials and components shipped from other nations. Equipped to scan quickly and remotely, the airships won’t disrupt commerce.”

At an altitude of 70,000 feet, a HASA’s advanced radar would provide surveillance coverage over a surface area of 500,000 square miles. Advanced sensory technology in each cargo container would be in communication with the airship to ensure the integrity of the ship’s contents during transit.

Unmanned air and sea craft would be controlled from the airship to provide additional surveillance and interdiction capabilities. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has recommended the stationing of 10 HASAs to cover all the continental borders of the United States.

Spearheading the airship project is Lieutenant General James A. Abrahamson, USAF-Retired, chairman and CEO of StratCom International LLC, who directed both the Space Shuttle program and “Star Wars” Strategic Defense Initiative. He founded StratCom in 1998 and partnered with Lockheed Martin to develop HASAs for the telecommunications industry. But after 9/11, defense agencies took an interest in stratospheric airships.

Last September, Team Lockheed Martin, which includes StratCom, won an exclusive $40 million contract with the Missile Defense Agency for HASA design. Detailed plans will be submitted to MDA in June 2004 and, upon approval, the project will receive an additional $50 million to build and launch a prototype airship by July 2006. The final phase of testing and evaluation through July 2008 will receive another $9 million in funding.

A terahertz (THz) detection system that can be deployed inside cargo containers is central to the project. Already under study at NJIT, THz electromagnetic radiation can be used to detect and identify explosives and biological agents even concealed in sealed packages, since THz radiation is readily transmitted through plastics, clothing and other non-metals.

The team – John Federici, PhD, and Dale Gary, PhD, professors of physics, and Robert Barat, PhD, professor of chemical engineering – has developed imaging tools designed to provide wide-area surveillance for concealed explosives. They recently received a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research grant with their industrial collaborators, Picometrix, Inc., of Ann Arbor, Michigan, for commercial development of the terahertz detection system.

For the airship project, they will develop miniaturized systems that can be deployed inside cargo containers, as well as artificial neural network algorithms to analyze the THz images for the presence of explosives. Various types of explosive agents will be studied to develop recognition of their THz signature.

“Although the THz system would not be able to determine the contents of a sealed metallic container, it will be able to detect the presence and size of a metal container inside the cargo container,” Federici says. “Comparing images over time could suggest that a suspicious container had been placed on board.”

NJIT will consult with partner, Secure Asset Reporting Services (SARS), on the development and installation of advanced in-container sensors. The team will expand upon the GPS-system developed by SARS for tracking maritime and other mobile assets with additional sensor technology to detect door openings, the breaking of container seals, movement inside containers, and chemical, biological and explosive threats.

“We plan to see tracking and sensor arrays in every container entering or leaving U.S. waterways and on virtually all road and rail systems in the United States,” Sebastian says.

Although by far the largest research initiative related to homeland security, the HASA project is one of some two dozen studies coordinated by NJIT’s HomelandSecurityTechnologyCenter. Sebastian says that a public technological university has an important role in homeland security.

“We ran a survey last year in the New York Metropolitan area and found that nearly two out of three adults think it is likely that another act of terrorism will occur within this area,” says Sebastian. “The vast majority expect information and protection to come from the government, especially from scientists and technology experts in public institutions. We saw this as a mandate for NJIT to apply its resources and expertise to New Jersey’s homeland security.”

Up to 16 full-frame, real-time video feeds can be distributed simultaneously across a network.  Audio and data can also be transmitted across the same network in conjunction with video or separately.      

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The <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Phoenix system uses just two fibers to transport 16 channels each of bi-directional (duplex) video, audio and data. It uses proven GE fiber standards to create transmission solutions for a wide variety of applications from small but complex to medium-sized implementations in high rise buildings, city center surveillance, business and education campuses, and transportation facilities such as airports, rail stations, marinas and ports. It is also ideal for traffic surveillance, including on/off ramp monitoring.

“As the security market increasingly moves to digital solutions, it is imperative that transport systems are available to handle the increased, required bandwidth of video images,” said Darren Nicholson, Marketing Vice President in Security’s Commercial Solutions business.

“Leveraging our other fiber offerings, the Phoenix fiber transport system is one of many new products we are introducing that will help integrators and users migrate to the benefits of digital.”

For ultimate installation flexibilities, Phoenix is the only transport system leveraging Multiple Topography Deployment (MTD) so that integrators and users can specify drop/repeat/insert, point-to-point, linear, split linear, star or self-healing ring configurations.

Whatever the system, Phoenix works with it.  Phoenix includes Multi-Standard Digital Video (MSDV), High Quality Audio (HQA) and Multi-Protocol Data (MPD).  MSDV lets Phoenix accommodate real time, full-frame digital video in either NTSC/EIA or PAL/CCIR.

By not using video compression, Phoenix provides everything the camera captures, losing no information.  HQA allows the system to accept a wide range of audio levels while MPD permits Phoenix to accept most data protocols.

Phoenix’s solution, however, doesn’t just reside in its features. In order to make configuration of different topologies and projects easy and convenient for installers, architects and end-users, GE has created a custom configuration utility called PSP2 (Phoenix System & Platform Planner), which guides the user through a simple process of creating a complete Phoenix system. The PSP2 application CD is available free by calling GE at 800-469-1676.

“With Phoenix, we want our customers to feel comfortable with the platform, not only from the installation and use standpoint, but also in the way they learn about and configure Phoenix platforms,” said Nicholson.

“From simple single-node configurations to complex enterprise projects, PSP2 is easy to use and even offers a printed ‘shopping list’ of all necessary part numbers, price estimates and node configurations to make bidding a project easier than ever.”

Phoenix fits in just two rack units (2RU) and is easy to set up and use.  The system is also scaleable to grow and change with future applications and needs.

The technique uses two methods to trace a document: first, by analyzing a document to identify characteristics that are unique for each printer, and second by designing printers to purposely embed individualized characteristics in documents.

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The technique currently focuses on laser printers but eventually will be expanded to inkjet printers, said Edward J. Delp, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue.

Findings of the research, funded by the National Science Foundation, will be detailed in three papers to be presented on Nov. 5 during the International

Conference on Digital Printing Technologies in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Salt Lake City.

The papers were written by Delp; Jan Allebach, a professor of electrical and computer engineering; George Chiu, a professor of mechanical engineering; and engineering doctoral students Pei-Ju Chiang, Gazi N. Ali and Aravind K. Mikkilineni.

Counterfeiters often digitally scan currency and then use color laser and inkjet printers to produce bogus bills. Forgers use the same methods to make fake passports and other documents.

“Investigators want to be able to determine that a fake bill or document was created on a certain brand and model of printer,” Delp said.

So far, the researchers have been able to successfully identify which model of printers was used to create certain documents in 11 out of 12 models tested, according to data to be released during the conference.

“We also believe that we will be able to identify not only which model printer was used but specifically which printer was used,” Delp said. “That means we will be able to tell the difference between counterfeit bills created on specific printers even if they are the same model.”

Officials also would be able to use the method to determine the authenticity of documents, such as airline boarding passes and passports. Such information would enable homeland security investigators to determine from what country or regions of the world certain printed documents originated, which could help trace the location of potential terrorists and their collaborators.

The technique uses specialized software to detect slight variations, or “intrinsic signatures,” of printed characters, revealing subtle differences from one printer to another. Even printers that are the same model have slight flaws and variations in their mechanical systems. These variations result in subtly different characters.

“We have observed variability from printer to printer within a single model, ” Allebach said. “That’s because for a company to make printers all behave exactly the same way would require tightening the manufacturing tolerances to the point where each printer would be too expensive for consumers.

“This is a very competitive market right now. You can buy a color laser printer for less than $500. One of the ways in which manufacturers are able to make printers so affordable is by cutting corners. The gears are made of plastic, and they are not made extremely accurately. There also is variability from toner cartridge to toner cartridge.

“We are able to determine this intrinsic signature based on knowledge of the physical characteristics of the printer mechanisms.”

Allebach and Chiu have been working with printer companies for more than five years to reduce a phenomenon called “banding,” which are horizontal imperfections in the print quality of documents.

“Banding arises whenever you have a print mechanism that uses rotating components,” Chiu said. “What happens is the components don’t necessarily rotate at an exactly constant speed.”

Inside of a laser printer’s cartridge is a “photoconductor drum,” which rotates as a laser beam scans back and forth along the drum. The drum is coated with a charged material that releases its charge when exposed to light. The laser turns on and off rapidly, selectively removing the charge in certain areas. Toner is attracted to those areas that no longer have a charge, forming letters or features of an image, which are then transferred onto sheets of paper.

“This process is called development,” Allebach said. “Because of variability in printers, the drum does not rotate at a constant speed. If the drum slows down a little bit as it is rotating, you get excessive development, so the print will look a little dark. And where the drum speeds up, you get too little development and the print will look a little bit light.”

The resulting bands of light and dark cause imperfections in a text document or an image. Because every printer has its own unique pattern of banding, or intrinsic signature, the imperfections can be exploited to trace a document to the printer on which it was created, Chiu said.

“We extract mathematical features, or measurements, from printed letters, then we use image analysis and pattern-recognition techniques to identify the printer,” Delp said.

If, however, the printer cartridge is changed after a document is printed, the document no longer can be traced to that printer. The Purdue researchers are overcoming that problem with software that causes a printer to embed its own unique “extrinsic signature” in a printed document, regardless of which printer cartridge is in a machine.

“We will actually modify the way the printer puts marks on the paper,” Chiu said. “This method is very difficult to get around because information about the internal workings of specific printers is not commonly available, even on the Internet.”

Banding can be altered from one printer to another by adjusting the laser intensity, how long each laser pulse lasts and the precise positioning of a small motor that steers the laser beam inside the printer.

Chiu and Allebach have pioneered methods to reduce banding. The same methods they have developed to reduce banding also can be used to artificially embed bands that are too fine to be seen by the unaided eye but can be detected with image-analysis techniques.

“We need to understand the human visual threshold for the signatures we put in so that the features are strong enough to be detected with image analysis methods but not by the human eye,” Chiu said.

UTC has paid cash dividends on its common stock for 68 consecutive years. Based in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Hartford, Conn., the diversified company provides a broad range of high technology products and services to the building systems and aerospace industries. UTC’s seven businesses are: Otis Elevator, Carrier heating and cooling, Chubb security, UTC Power, Pratt & Whitney jet engines, Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems, and Sikorsky helicopters.

“We have to find explosives quickly, inexpensively and, particularly, reliably,” said Rolf Hummel, a UF professor emeritus of materials science and engineering who heads the lab where the method was invented.

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The development provides instantaneous results, gives no false positives, can be used remotely and is portable — attributes he says will make it indispensable at all levels of law enforcement, from local police to homeland security.

The method uses photoluminescence spectroscopy, a technique that casts light on a material and measures the range and intensity of the wavelengths of light the material produces in response. The wavelength of the emitted light varies depending on the chemical structure of the material.

Using photoluminescence to reveal the presence of TNT is similar to how “black light” uses ultraviolet radiation to make white clothes glow, but in this case the black light is a laser, Hummel said. “Once you shine a laser at the sample, the laser then re-emits (it) at specific wavelengths that are different for each material — it’s a kind of a fingerprint.”

TNT’s fingerprint is a sharp, distinct photoluminescent peak at a specific wavelength within the electromagnetic spectrum, the researchers discovered. The electromagnetic spectrum encompasses the entire range of electromagnetic waves, from long-wavelength radio waves to visible light to short-wavelength gamma rays.

The peak occurs just outside the longer-wavelength, or red, portion of the spectrum that includes visible light. TNT shares this characteristic peak with other explosive materials, such as plastic explosives and nitroglycerin, but not with safe materials.

The key to this common attribute, Hummel said, lies in the explosives’ chemical makeup — they all contain at least two “nitro groups,” molecules made up of one nitrogen atom bound to two oxygen atoms. The peak is a narrow spectral line and would be easy to miss if you don’t know where in the spectrum to search, Hummel said.

The UF discovery of TNT’s signal was prompted by a request from the U.S. Army Research Office that challenged universities to find a way to make inexpensive, quick and reliable explosive-detection systems. Out of curiosity, one of

Hummel’s graduate students tested TNT in the lab’s photoluminescence spectrometer. With its high resolution, the machine scanned across the entire light spectrum and caught the explosive’s elusive signal. “That’s why we detected it the first time,” Hummel said.

“This is a very complex phenomenon,” said Chuck Schau, a scientist at Raytheon Missile System’s Radiation Technology Laboratory who also was conducting experiments on explosive detection using photoluminescence but initially did not observe the TNT peak discovered by the UF team.

Raytheon is now interested in following up on this discovery, he said. That development may include a future for this detection technology that goes beyond airport lines and into uncovering dangerous materials on a much larger scale — though that technology may be years away.

“If I see a ship approaching, I’d like to know if it’s packed with explosives,” Schau said. It’s in the field of remote detection that this is exciting. This really looks like it may give us a leg up on that.”

Sample collection for explosives is familiar to anyone who has recently passed through an airport: a swab brushed across an object, such as a suitcase, clothing or even a person, or puffs of air blasted across a filter that can trap tiny amounts of airborne explosives.

The advantage of photoluminescence-based explosive detection is that it can be remotely applied, and requires neither time-consuming and expensive machines nor trained dogs, said Hummel, who has applied for a patent on the technique.

“My major aim is that I would like to help and make a contribution towards secure life, airports and transportation,” he said. “Just shine a laser on a car, ship or person and see if that specific wavelength comes back — that’s my goal.”

XSi is an advanced, remote video network security solution designed to monitor and protect critical assets across wide areas and/or in multiple locations. XSi develops complete end-to-end scalable solutions that can be deployed rapidly, operated cost-effectively and integrated seamlessly into most legacy infrastructures.

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The solution provides an advanced defensive architecture against intrusion by using sophisticated technologies that detect, identify, communicate and respond to any breaches in security.

XSi can be used by law enforcement to monitor beaches, harbors, airports and government facilities over a private network to quickly assess and monitor situations as they arise during a breach in security.

XSi’s latest innovations in security are designed to help keep government officials abreast of the critical assets we don’t have the man power to protect. With XSi, emergency personnel, both locally and remotely, can view live video with Microsoft’s Windows Media 9/10 and control cameras via an Internet connection and immediately respond in a collaborative effort, across multiple jurisdictions, as a crisis unfolds.

“In New Mexico, Seno J Inc. and XSi will analyze the current infrastructure for weaknesses. We will place smart robotic camera systems throughout schools, train stations and tracks, courts and government buildings, highways, and state festivals and fairs to strengthen the overall feeling of security for the citizens,” said Franklin Jones of Seno J Inc.

“Within a few short years the camera network will be accessed from a multitude of devices for a myriad of reasons. If parents want to see what their children study at school, it can be available.”

“After extensive R&D, we have designed a solution that we feel integrates the latest technology across the board,” said Director <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Chris Carmichael. Infrared cameras have the ability to display vivid high-contrast video in absolute darkness, through fog and smoke and operate under extreme weather conditions. XSi uses highly sensitive IP-networked cameras made by Sony as well as other specialized camera manufacturers.

The company is also working to incorporate Sony’s new Blu-ray optical camera recording technology that uses a short-wavelength blue-violet laser instead of the red laser technology used in current optical drives.

Blu-ray will enable XSi to record camera feeds in high-definition for some of the company’s broadcast initiatives. Blu-ray Disc technology allows for 27GB storage capacities on a single-sided 12cm disc compared to 4.7GB of storage on a DVD.

XSi envisions thousands of robotic cameras enhancing security efforts traditionally limited by cost and the resources of human beings. These cameras that can all communicate with XSi’s command center have advanced sensors that can provide the ability to detect specified potential threats, depict visual alerts on 3-D models and instantly alert forces via wireless devices. Based on the national security threat level, we have the ability to enhance the sensitivity of the detection equipment.

An “immediate goal for the department (of Homeland Security) is to streamline and strengthen information sharing,” said Ridge. XSi allows authorities to share information and respond at the same time over secure connections that are all managed by a central command center.

XSi provides the software platform for managing radar, GPS and access control sensors. With this platform, security administrators can set rules on detection where the system automatically alerts corresponding authorities based on defined events. This next-generation system provides unparalleled advantages such as automated early warning, faster and more efficient decision making, operational procedures and dramatic security cost savings.

XSi can also be connected to the latest biometric technology that can match up the face or fingerprint of a suspect in real time to a database of known assailants and share the information simultaneously to multiple law enforcement agencies.