Siklu Inc. announced that its MultiHaul auto-aligned radios were selected by the City of Wichita to provide the wireless connectivity for 72 fixed bullet, dome and PTZ cameras from Axis Communications that make up the surveillance network deployed in the city’s Old Town district.

The City of Wichita deployed Siklu MultiHaul radios instead of running fiber throughout the city, which would have been cost prohibitive. Community Improvement Project funds were received to implement a security system that would provide coverage throughout the entire Old Town district, which is now a popular entertainment area. Previously, the city relied on video footage collected from private businesses. The new system is now monitored through its recently opened crime monitoring center built using the Genetec Security Center unified security platform.

“One of the heavy burdens we uncovered during our initial data collection is that we spend a lot of police resources in Old Town,” said Denise Peters, program manager, city manager’s office, for the City of Wichita. “Our new wireless security network now enables us to utilize our officers more strategically and to provide better response in the event of an incident.”

In addition to the MultiHaul, the wireless network uses Siklu’s EtherHaul mmWave radios for longer-range backhaul connecting cameras to the new command and control center. Thanks to the multi-gigabit capacity of the network, the city can run multiple applications on the same wireless network simultaneously and is looking at using Siklu mmWave wireless radios for other applications, such as local area network connectivity to city buildings.

By using the MultiHaul, Siklu’s newest mmWave radio technology, security integrator Sandifer Engineering & Controls Inc., was able to significantly reduce the amount of time it took to install and configure the wireless system. “With the MultiHaul, one of the biggest positives was obtaining complete network reliability while achieving the high throughput and speeding up installation times,” said Jeremy Long, security project manager, Sandifer Engineering & Controls Inc.

The MultiHaul uses beamforming technology within a point-to-multipoint network topology that makes installation by a single person a reality for systems integrators. The solution’s 90-degree scanning antenna auto-aligns multiple terminal units from a single base unit, serving multiple locations while reducing installation times and the total cost of ownership for end users.

Siklu radios leverage narrow beams in the 60, 70-80 GHz millimeter wave spectrum to transmit information across security networks, providing interference-free communication infrastructure, making it ideal for mission critical and smart cities deployments that demand secured always-on connectivity.