Taiwan's Tajen University has deployed a WiFi mesh network that doubles as campus surveillance system.
The first phase of the Tajen campus deployment is composed of nine mesh nodes and 19 access points from US equipment supplier Firetide.
Aside from providing free Internet access to a population of about 12,000 students, the network supports 25 IP video surveillance cameras, operating at 20 to 25 frames per second.
A second phase will extend coverage by installing nodes in two police cars for mobile access to real-time video streaming.
Dr. Lu Ching Song, professor and network project leader, said the system can be reconfigured to address changes in security needs or campus topography, such as the addition of new buildings.
Tajen University is being studied as a model to evaluate video surveillance and WiFi capabilities for larger deployments, according to Firetide.
Challenges often encountered in city-wide wireless deployments- buildings of random heights, numerous trees, and challenging lighting conditions in remote locations - were all present in Tajen, the company said.