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Developing a Security Platform for a Major U.S. International Airport
Emerline developed a PoC for a web and mobile solution designed for airport security. This solution empowers security personnel to define “safety zones,” monitor visitor movement, and respond swiftly to incidents by leveraging the airport’s existing infrastructure, such as Wi-Fi and surveillance cameras.
Background
Our client, a USA-based technology company, specializes in enhancing public safety through innovative software solutions. Their tools detect security risks, streamline asset management, and reinforce health and safety protocols in high-traffic environments, such as airports, hospitals, schools, and business centers. The client approached us with a strategic vision: to design a customized SaaS platform adapted for airport security operations.
The goal was to create a compelling PoC to showcase the platform's capabilities and attract interest from public-sector organizations that manage large venues. To test the solution's performance and demonstrate its capabilities under high load and heavy traffic, a major US international airport was chosen for the test. Following the successful PoC demonstration, the plan was to refine the solution to meet market needs and for other facilities to ensure its full functionality.
Challenge
Airports are dynamic, high-traffic environments where rapid and precise incident response is crucial. The client had an idea of developing a system capable of:
Real-time Visitor Tracking
This function is essential for understanding the current location and flow of individuals within the airport, which is critical for security. Such tracking allows security personnel to make swift and accurate decisions in the event of an incident.
Travel Path Mapping
Visualizing historical movement helps in incident investigation and understanding typical traffic patterns. This historical data is invaluable for conducting thorough investigations, as the system can reconstruct the complete travel path of a tracked device over a specific period. It also helps to identify unusual or suspicious patterns of behavior that may require additional attention.
Security Alerts & Zone Control
The system needed to provide timely notification of suspicious activity or breaches within specific areas, enabling targeted and efficient security responses. Security personnel can easily define and manage various "safety zones" within the airport, allowing for granular control and targeted monitoring in critical areas. Alerts are delivered instantly, ensuring security teams are immediately aware of potential issues.
However, there was one key constraint: the solution had to be built with cost-efficiency in mind by utilizing the airport’s existing infrastructure. This meant working exclusively with existing standard components, such as Wi-Fi access points, surveillance cameras, and other commonly available systems. No additional sensors, beacons, or proprietary tracking hardware could be introduced.
Emerline Approach
Our approach began with developing a solution concept specifically tailored for a major international airport. To validate this concept, we created a PoC in a real, high-traffic environment.
According to our concept, the system was designed to integrate seamlessly with the airport’s existing infrastructure, particularly leveraging Cisco software that was already in use. With Wi-Fi triangulation, the platform was capable of precise location tracking. Our team developed a custom back-end engine to process these location events, reconstruct visitor movement over time and space, and link that data with corresponding surveillance footage.
Bringing this functionality to life required deep-level integration with third-party technologies, including proprietary APIs from routers and camera systems. Our engineering team overcame key technical challenges, such as maintaining data accuracy, synchronizing inputs from multiple sources, and handling large-scale data streams.
To stay flexible and accelerate development, we adopted an Agile workflow rooted in Scrum methodology. This allowed us to rapidly test ideas, respond to evolving requirements, and deliver tangible results in regular two-week sprints.
Solution
As the initial step of the launch, Emerline developed a PoC for a security platform. This comprehensive solution was specifically adapted for use in airport environments and included a web-based administrator portal as well as a native iPad application. The system provides security teams with real-time insights and control by utilizing existing Wi-Fi and surveillance infrastructure.
Precise tracking of visitor movement via Wi-Fi triangulation
The system uses existing Wi-Fi routers to track connected devices, capturing their coordinates and MAC addresses. This data allows for highly accurate reconstruction of any device's movement history within the network, providing granular insights into visitor flow.
Utilization of existing infrastructure (CCTV cameras, routers, and Wi-Fi access points)
A core strength of the solution is its ability to operate without requiring any new hardware. It intelligently integrates with the airport's current setup, maximizing cost-efficiency and minimizing deployment complexity.
Device tracking by their MAC addresses through specialized custom APIs
By leveraging proprietary APIs, the platform can precisely track individual devices via their unique MAC addresses, offering a robust method for monitoring specific points of interest.
Configuration and management of security zones
Security personnel can easily define and manage various "safety zones" within the airport, allowing for granular control and targeted monitoring in critical areas.
Route mapping across space and time
The system can reconstruct and visualize the complete travel paths of tracked devices across the airport layout over specific periods. This historical data is invaluable for incident investigation and understanding typical traffic patterns.
Seamless integration with CCTV for synchronized video tracking
The platform directly links location data with corresponding surveillance footage. This means security teams can instantly view video evidence related to a specific movement or alert.
Automatic camera switching based on detected movement
When a tracked device moves between areas covered by different cameras, the system automatically switches the view in the security console, providing an uninterrupted visual stream of the target.
Real-time alerts and notifications for security personnel
The platform delivers immediate alerts for predefined suspicious activities or breaches within designated zones, ensuring security teams are instantly aware of potential issues.
iPad-native mobile app for on-the-go response and monitoring
The dedicated iPad application provides security personnel with full mobility, allowing them to monitor movements, receive alerts, and respond to incidents directly from their mobile devices.
Comprehensive web dashboard for administration and detailed investigations
The web-based portal offers a robust interface for administrators to configure settings, manage zones, and conduct in-depth historical investigations using detailed maps and synchronized video playback.
Tech Stack
Project Results
We validated the client's concept by developing a successful PoC in a real, high-traffic environment. The solution was compliant with all the client's requirements and was presented to airport operators. The system effectively handled real-time visitor movement tracking without relying on any additional infrastructure.
The successful PoC showed that the platform could help airports by providing the following benefits:
- Decreasing incident response time: the platform helps to decrease incident response time, which is critical in a dynamic airport environment.
- Making case investigations more accurate: the platform makes investigations more accurate, as it can reconstruct complete travel paths across space and time and directly link location data with corresponding surveillance footage. This historical data is invaluable for incident investigation.
- Monitoring potential suspects or witnesses: the system allows for the monitoring of potential suspects or witnesses with the available data. It precisely tracks individual devices via their unique MAC addresses.
- Cutting costs: the platform helps to cut costs on additional hardware, software, and heavy IT support. Its core strength is the ability to operate without new hardware, which maximizes cost-efficiency and minimizes deployment complexity.
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