A FREE TOPOLOGY SAFEGUARDS NETWORK

A free-topology networking approach embodies the application of safeguards systems at dramatically reduced costs while increasing robustness in tamper indication and maintainability. As the entire network is digital, all forms of networkable communications are available and offer \"media-hop\" communication capabilities between nodes and local servers over the existing electrical infrastructure. The free-topology network consists of nodes, each addressing sensors, seals, cameras, and surveillance units (i. e., Gemini control units). Addressable surveillance units are configurable locally or remotely. As the entire network is\" digital, all forms of networkable communications are available including, within the facility, existing twisted pair wiring, existing or new telephone circuitry, and the ability to \"media-hop\" communications between nodes and local servers over the existing electrical infrastructure. The application layer performs continuous automatic determination of the nodes on the network via a polling protocol. This function provides the ability to add network nodes by simply plugging them into electric wall outlets without changing configuration files or manually defining node addresses. Automated topology configuration makes this a true FREE-topology capability. A representative system is shown in the figure below, consisting of a series of nodes supporting seals, digital video surveillance cameras, and sensors, virtually networked to local on-site servers. The servers are then accessible over wide area phone and satellite to regional or international inspection facilities.