Industry Thought Leadership

The 5th generation of wireless connectivity, aka 5G, is not just a mere advancement over 4G mobile technology. With speed 100x that of 4G networks, 5G cellular network has the ability to connect all intelligent man and machines. Ubiquitous wireless connectivity of the fifth generation of the network brings more than just speed to the table – ultra-reliable low latency, multi-access edge computing, network slicing, and more. Promising high performance and efficiencies, 5G is set to break new ground, transform the user experience, and enable innovative business solutions. Safety and security are of the top concerns globally, for both public and enterprises. 5G will add tremendous value to camera-based analytical solutions.

The global video surveillance market was valued at $42.94 Bn in 2019 and is projected to reach $144.85 Bn in 2027. Global video analytics is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 18% during 2020-2025.

According to industry research, the GCC security and surveillance mar-ket is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% during 2019-25. Government initiatives, such as Qatar National Vision 2030, Saudi Vision 2030 and Dubai Vision 2021, are slated to boost the growth of non-oil economy of many countries in the GCC region during the forecast period. Such enhanced social infrastructural developments in these countries would create more opportunities for the implementation of security and surveillance systems. It further states that the government and transportation vertical held the majority of the revenue share in the GCC security and surveillance market over the past years and this will continue during the forecast period due to wide usage of these systems in the defence sector as well as across government offices and buildings.

The United Arab Emirates, as a case in point, already has a well-developed infrastructure, and envisions to expanding its role as a hub for wholesale and retail trade, tourism, and as a real estate destination. This growth in various sectors augments the need for security advancements, thereby providing tremendous opportunities for the growth of the video analytics solutions. Additionally, the government's efforts to promote smart city projects focus on transforming services across various sectors, such as transportation, infrastructure, communication, and others. This will also offer a fillip to the video analytics market in the country. As per a report, it is estimated that video surveillance is witnessing fast-paced growth by outpacing the total commercial security market in the region. The industrial and commercial sectors will hold close to 50% of the share in the total video surveillance market.

5G & VIDEO ANALYTICS
Before getting into the intricate details of 5G’s influence on video analytics, let us check some interesting facts. 5G download speeds range from around 50 Mbps to 1.8 Gbps or more, which varies as per the network conditions. To give you an example, a 3GB movie that took almost half an hour to download via 4G would only take around 30 seconds on 5G networks. Having said that, latency can also disrupt streaming content and cause a slight delay when sensor networks take in data, transmit it somewhere else for processing, and then respond. With IoT applications like autonomous vehicles, fast response times with low latency connections are essential. Current 4G networks generally have latency rates between 50-100 milliseconds, but 5G could potentially reduce that rate to 1-4 milliseconds, creating incredibly reliable and high-performance networks. When such stats are presented before the consumers, one would really not need any further reason to shift to 5G. Isn’t it!

Camera-based solutions require to stream HD quality images/videos to the data centres. With the enhancement in analytical capability, end-users have started demanding insights to be derived out of these huge data getting generated continuously. A 4K HD quality camera guzzle out 25 Mbps. This data needs to be analysed in near-real to real-time.

Data says human reference time is 200-300 ms. 4G technology operates ~ 100-200ms and 5G claims 1ms latency. With a traffic capacity of 10Mbps per square metre in hotspot area and user experienced data transfer rates up to 1Gbps, 5G is thus becoming a game-changer in the world of safety & security surveillance.

With 5G‘s capability of Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and Ultra-reliable Low Latency (uRLLC) services coupled with Multi-Access Edge Compute (MEC), near-elimination of responsiveness (aka latency) will be a boost to the video surveillance application. Not to mention the quantum leap of the image quality as 5G promises to support 4k /8K HD quality video streaming.

5G-enabled CCTV cameras are being used in face recognition, object recognition, event recognition, intelligent image processing, remote asset management, behavioural detection, and analytics, thereby offering whole new possibilities of video analytics. Going ahead, we will witness video surveillance systems being powered by AI (Artificial Intelligence), machine learning and deep learning algorithm as these video analytics solutions can detect objects or events of interest, by analysing and monitoring live video streams or recorded images from the surveillance cameras.

VIDEO ANALYTICS: SOME USE-CASES
There is no doubt that every industry, private, public, or government will stand to be benefitted from the rollout of 5G intelligent network. The technology will impact any solutions under the ambit of camera-based real-time video analytics. Tech Mahindra along with one of its partners Deep Sight AI Labs present to the world a plethora of use cases critical for the safety & security of personnel & assets under consideration. A few of them are:

• COVID protocol adherence
• Workplace safety adherence
• Fire hazard alert
• Visual quality inspection
• Perimeter surveillance and intrusion detection

The integration of IoT devices in video and data analytics provides us with massive amounts of data that can be leveraged to draw actionable insights.

FUTURE OF VIDEO ANALYTICS WITH 5G
5G's high speed, ultra-low latency, and secure connectivity will enable the widespread adoption of video analytics solutions – Implementation of an intelligent network would help in the modernization of legacy video surveillance systems, real-time data processing, the shift to edge /cloud, uninterrupted streaming on devices, and more.

Opportunities are endless. As the world has begun shifting towards the concept of 'smart cities’, ‘intelligent devices’, and ‘smart manufacturing’, camera-based analytical solutions are already experiencing a rise in demand in the global market. Pandemic has provided the much-needed boost to the industry to deliver touchless innovative solutions. 5G would act as an enabler to the ever-increasing population's requirement of safety & security. Additionally, the wireless network will make CCTV installations quicker and economical. The cameras will move away from the need for traditional cabling. Drone-mounted and Unmanned Vehicle-Mounted (UAV) cameras app-lications are increasingly being adopted by governments and enterprises alike. With real-time data processing capability over MEC, ultra-low latency 5G services are poised to take the world by storm.

Shaping the Future Cities
By 2025, as per estimates, there could be over 75 billion connected devices around the world. Security surveillance systems ought to ensure the highest level of availability, reliability, and speed, which ultimately warrants the deployment of a 5G network for IP camera-based remote video surveillance systems. Around 56 cities worldwide have already deployed surveillance technologies powered by automatic data mining, facial recognition, and other forms of artificial intelligence.

With the assimilation of 5G, cameras, and analytics all get together, the result can be anybody’s guess. We would be able to live in a world where walking on the roads will be safer and driving will be easier, all thanks to 5 G-powered video surveillance. Needless to say, that the possibilities of using technology to enhance the quality of life are beyond imagination, and 5G just empowers us to realize the dream of a SMART & SECURE CITY!