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Sony keeps track of the longest underground railway in Europe with major networked surveillance system for Barcelona's Line 9

Sony recently revealed how it has met one of Europe's most complicated security challenges by creating and delivering an intelligent and efficient security system for Spain's Line 9.  The system will provide reassurance and protection for the 90 million passengers that use Line 9 every year by connecting more cameras than the rest of the Barcelona's underground lines put together, to guarantee constant, blanket surveillance.  Altogether, 2937 SNC-CS50P IP network cameras are installed across 50 stations and 48km of track.

"Line 9 will be the most advanced underground railway line in Europe," said Simon Nash, Senior European Marketing Manager, NVM/CCTV.  "Its exceptional length and vast number of stations, some of which are 60 metres below street level, meant our technology had to combine total reliability with the flexibility to adapt to changes on the line's complicated infrastructure.  Sony's integrated solution uses an intelligent networked surveillance system that is working seamlessly with UTE Energia Lenea 9's existing telecommunications system, providing unbeatable live and recorded image quality." 

The artificial intelligence of Sony's SNC-CS50P camera means that hazardous situations occurring along Line 9 can be detected in real time.  Dangers such as overcrowding on platforms, disruptions to the flow of pedestrian traffic, or abandoned bags, and any associated threats these situations create can be communicated as a warning to the control centre.  This system automatically monitors risk situations; the network allows the control centre to receive pictures from each camera simultaneously with visibility to each location at virtually the same time regardless of the number of cameras operators have on screen.

Sony's DEPA (Distributed Enhanced Processing Architecture) system heightens the accuracy of the identification of potential threats by explaining the scenes captured by each camera.  Sony's DEPA technology forms the backbone of the Line 9 surveillance network, enabling the cameras to capture images, process data and transmit it as metadata to the control room for intelligent analysis.  This overcomes the problems associated with traditional analogue systems such as false alarms, limited scalability, the necessity for real-time processing and high network bandwidth requirements.

As the Head of Communications of UTE Energia Linea 9, Eduard Xucia Ververa, explained, "Sony's solution fulfils Line 9's requirements perfectly: resolution, image quality, intelligent capture and IP connectivity.  By providing an integrated, expert and professional solution, Sony represents the future in IP camera-based monitoring systems."

Sony's SNC-CS50P cameras feature a highly sensitive 1/3" SuperExwave CCD, a high-capacity varifocal lens and support a range of compression formats.  The SNC-CS50P cameras are run through recording software platform, which minimises the threat of sabotage to the network and makes the expansion process of adding cameras and file servers simple.