RAD’s Airmux Mobility Solution Enables Real-Time Video Streaming for Police Boats on the Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is a beautiful and invaluable resource to the region and beyond. It is host to a fantastic variety of uses that include numerous active seaports, recreational and commercial fishing pursuits, a destination for millions of annual visitors, a strategic gateway for maritime traffic seeking access to U.S. shores, and home to the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, to name just a few.

The Maryland Natural Resource Police (MNRP), the enforcement arm of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), is tasked with the solemn responsibility to provide for the safety and security of the bay itself and all that is contained within. These responsibilities include, among others, homeland security operations, search and rescue teams, emergency medical services, education, information and communications services - all on a round-the-clock basis

Can I Get It In Real-Time?
With a fleet of approximately 140 vessels to cover the Chesapeake Bay’s sprawling 64,000 square miles, the MNRP relies heavily on technology to help it successfully perform its duties. In particular, the MNRP has employed craft-mounted video surveillance for many years, but until recently, a significant limitation was that the video feed could only be stored locally and downloaded once the boat was docked. For optimal operational efficiency and safety, they needed to find a solution to enable realtime video streaming.

The DNR searched for more than four years to find an acceptable solution. Their search spanned a slew of different vendors, and the gamut of technologies, including WiFi mesh, WiMax, LTE cellular, and a number of proprietary point-to-multipoint wireless solutions. Still, none of these met their baseline requirements of delivering up to 3 Mbps throughput at up to seven miles off-shore while traveling at up to 20 knots. Finally, acting on a recommendation from a trusted wireless technology integrator, they identified RAD’s Airmux Mobility wireless solution as a viable candidate. Certainly, the Airmux Mobility solution’s documented capability to support up to 100 Mbps throughput on an unlicensed frequency seemed promising. The next step was to put it to the test.