Ubicquia’s UbiHub leverages streetlights to support video, broadband, IoT-based initiatives

Ubicquia has expanded its family of streetlight-mounted platforms with UbiHub, an easily deployed solution that integrates smart-lighting functionality and wireless broadband access and can support video-based applications with built-in cameras and optional artificial-intelligence (AI) edge processing in an unobtrusive package.

Ubicquia CEO Ian Aaron cited UbiHub’s versatility, describing the platform as the “Swiss Army knife of intelligent infrastructure for cities and utilities” and an ideal component for IoT-based smart-cities and smart-grid initiatives, as well multiple enterprise use cases.

Both initial UbiHub offerings include all of the light controls featured in Ubicquia’s popular UbiCell product being used for smart lighting, and they also integrate a Qualcomm-based Wi-Fi 6 access point to support public Wi-Fi or other broadband wireless connectivity in street areas.

“The unit starts as a Wi-Fi 6 access point—it’s a tri-band access point, which means you can bring fiber [or other backhaul] into one, and it can mesh up to four units together,” Aaron said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “If you think of a commercial area where fiber’s difficult to get or in a park where you want to extend connectivity, it’s super easy to do.

“It’s pretty efficient when you can bring fiber into one [access point] and then you can mesh four units all together.”

With the UbiHub AP6, these core features are augmented by integrated Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) capability, which allow support for third-party devices like camera and license-plate readers.

Entities preferring more functionality may want to consider the UbiHub AP/AI, which supports all AP6 features while also integrating dual 4K cameras, directional microphones and significant edge-compute and storage capabilities, according to Aaron.

“Inside the unit—when you get the AI version—it has an 8-core neural AI processor and 15 days of video storage,” he said. In this configuration, “we do everything from traffic optimization, public safety, integrating video into real-time crime centers.”

This capability can be leveraged in a variety of use cases for cities, potentially playing key roles in traffic optimization, bicycle-lane planning and pedestrian-safety efforts, Aaron said. It also can be used by public safety in a manner that adheres to chain-of-evidence rules.

“If there’s an accident, our product can automatically give notification to the police, because it’s doing that AI—audio and video,” Aaron said. “Then, the police can look at that video instance and use that to prosecute the case.”

Aaron also outlined a non-public-safety use case that showcases how a UbiHub deployment could be used to help officials make data-driven decisions about how to best allocate resources to an area of town—in this case, local parks.

“Cities want to be able to count how many people are going in and out of the park,” Aaron said. “When are the busy hours of the park? What’s going on with parking—is there enough in the park? How many cars and bicycles are coming into the park? This is all stuff that’s done out of the box with UbiHub.”

Similarly, traffic patterns of all types—pedestrian, cyclists or vehicular—also can be measured with the capabilities provided by UbiHub, according to Aaron.

“We’ve got areas in cities where they say, ‘We’ve got a commercial area where there’s retail, and we want to provide Wi-Fi,’” he said. “But what’s important is how many pedestrians go by an area. The cities want that [data], so they understand the value of the real estate and retail locations.”

“These are all things we do out of the box.”

This approach already is being used in West Hollywood, Calif., where the UbiHub platform was installed by Yunex Traffic, a Siemens company.

“We have deployed the UbiHub on streetlights in West Hollywood to benefit from the smart-city traffic and curb management capabilities the platform provides,” Deputy City Manager Jackie Rocco said in a prepared statement. “Intelligent data on traffic, bicycle, and pedestrian management supports public-safety measures and our future planning development needs for our residents and visitors.”

Data from Ubicquia solutions like UbiHub can be accessed through the company’s UbiVu software platform, although Ubicquia also partners with other vendors in certain cases—for example, integrations with Motorola Solutions are supported for license-plate-reader data and other public-safety information, Aaron said.

Like other Ubicquia products, all UbiHub configurations plug into the photocell interface on existing streetlights, enabling rapid and scalable deployment, Aaron said.

“What’s exciting about the product is that it can be installed literally in minutes,” Aaron said. “There are other [companies] who install cameras. When you install a camera [from other vendors], you have to … put in a box, and inside the box, there’s a modem. They have to wire it from the AC with a breaker and convert it to DC, and then connect it to the modem. Then they use PoE [power over Ethernet] to the camera.

“We install literally in 30 seconds. We plug into the photocell socket, and the LTE automatically connects to the network and starts delivering in seconds.”

In addition to its rapid physical installation, UbiHub and Ubicquia’s other streetlight-photocell products promise significant time-saving advantages prior to the actual installation stage.

Deploying cameras and wireless broadband to support a variety of “smart” initiatives is not a new concept, but implementation can be very expensive and time consuming, particularly when the solutions require a lot of infrastructure—equipment and wiring—that requires significant extra work and could be deemed to be an eyesore.

In contrast, Ubicquia’s portfolio leverages assets already in streetlights—power and, in some cases, fiber connectivity—and plugs into the streetlight’s existing photocell socket. UbiHub and other Ubicquia offerings also are small enough to meet wind-loading requirements and often are not even noticed from the ground level, according to Aaron.

“Planning commissions love us,” he said.

Because it is certified as a revenue-grade meter, UbiHub and other Ubicquia products typically do not have to endure as many levels of administrative oversight as other camera and connectivity solutions, Aaron said.

“We need approvals, not permits,” Aaron said. “Things that plug into the photo cell are already permitted. The issue is, ‘Who owns the streetlights?’

“We see something that literally can get approved in weeks and deployed in days, with proximity to fiber. Fiber is typically running down the streets near the streetlights, so it minimizes construction. It’s a much more elegant and efficient solution.”

With all of these characteristics in mind, Aaron said he believes the UbiHub platform has an opportunity of “really disrupting the way camera are deployed” and outlined a comparison to traditional fixed-video deployments.

“When you look at that camera in the box, you’ve got to get a permit. You’ve got to get a certified electrician to go do it. You’ve got to get another permit from the utility, if it’s a utility-owned pole,” Aaron said. “Then, they’ve got to put the box up on the pole.”

“Instead of having to hire an electrician to wire this all up and get the permit from the utility, this [UbiHub] is something that literally can be approved in days and deployed in minutes.”

And time is money, particularly when expensive legal or engineering expertise is involved simply to get to the installation phase—factors that should be considered when entities make total-cost-of-ownership comparisons between Ubicquia solutions and other options, Aaron said.

Aside from the money calculations, Aaron said he believes the UbiHub should be attractive to cities, utilities and enterprises because its straightforward deployment process means potentially critical capabilities can be leveraged sooner to provide benefits to the entities and the people they serve.

“What’s really exciting about this is that’s you’ve got police departments that have needs today,” Aaron said. “This can be gotten through these planning commissions and they can install quickly, which is really important.”