AMG Secure UK Wind Farm

The unique problem-solving capabilities of the AMG MSES range are illustrated in a new Application Solution published by AMG. How a UK wind farm with 14 turbines, each equipped with IP PoE+ CCTV HD cameras and Galaxy Dimension Intruder RIOs (remote input/output), is now connected over a resilient converged IP network with a single fibre ring to a main Galaxy panel and NVR workstations at the control room.

Wind farms are normally remote and can cover a very large area. Standing over 100m tall and delivering up to 2 megawatts of power, each wind-turbine is a building in its own right. Requiring an intruder system to detect unauthorised entry and surveillance (CCTV) to monitor equipment and provide visual verification for staff health and safety.

A green field site, each of the 14 newly constructed normally unmanned wind turbines required intrusion detection for unauthorised entry and 3-5 internal IP high definition CCTV cameras to monitor equipment and provide visual verification for staff and contractors who could be working on the turbine.

The brief was to:

•  Connect all 14 turbines over a single converged IP fibre network
•  Transmit over 60 HD IP PoE CCTV cameras back to the centralised CCTV Network Video Recorders & workstations
•  Transmit multiple Honeywell Galaxy RS485 data bus lines to/from the 20 RIOs (remote I/O) and keypads at the 14 wind turbines back to the Galaxy main panel in the control room
•  Provide PoE+ (up 30W) for all connected cameras from the Ethernet switch equipment
•  Compact single box solution to transmit video, Galaxy RS485 and PoE+ power to all cameras
•  Ensure network equipment could withstand wide ranging temperatures: -40°C to 75°C.
•  Provide a unified management interface for maintenance and diagnostics of the network and RS485 i/o
•  DIN rail mountable

To provide an Ethernet over a single converged fibre transmission solution capable of transparently transmitting the high speed Galaxy Dimension RS485 data protocol across a resilient Ethernet ring (Rapid Spanning Tree) to all RIOs and keypads whilst simultaneously transmitting video from over 60 cameras. The Galaxy protocol requires very fast and near lagless reliable communication to and from connected bus devices across 3 RS485 lines in order to operate to the required standards.

By using the AMG MSES (Multi-Service Ethernet Service) range, all of the customer’s requirements could be met in a one-box product solution. The MSES is a fully managed layer 2 Ethernet switch with High Speed serial data (RS232/RS485), switched inputs and outputs (closed contact/alarms) integrated in one compact product. Combined with Gigabit PoE+ Ethernet ports and multiple Gigabit fibre port connectivity, all aspects of the communication could be monitored and configured though a single interface. With only one box required at each site and with PoE+ support, only the addition of a single power supply (with dual redundant PSU connected for additional protection) was necessary. AMG’s High Speed RS485 data technology ensured Galaxy send/receive data requests were below 4ms (round trip), significantly well within the operational requirements of the panel’s communication protocol. Enabling Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) in the MSES switch provided Ethernet ring resilience and <75ms healing time should a break in the network occur.

Site Schematic MSES supports both X-Ring and Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) to provide redundancy and fast convergence, thus ensuring resilient operation in the case of a fibre break. MSES’s IGMP snooping allows multicast UDP video support from the IP cameras, minimising latency whilst reducing unnecessary data and potential data storms across the network.

•  Fully integrated compact single box design
•  Integrates IP video, RS232, RS485 & alarm i/o
•  Optimised for security applications
•  Low latency for video transmission and data
•  Redundancy and fast recovery time in event of fibre failure
•  A single management interface for product support
•  Industrial design with passive cooling to cope with up to -40°C to 75°C
•  Extended warranty and repair support
•  System design support

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