S News meets Per Björkdahl, Chairman of the Steering Committee of ONVIF.
Mr. Björkdahl, standards have become a central part of the discussion around IP technology in the industry over the past few years. What role has ONVIF played in that debate?
When we first started this initiative on behalf of a handful of companies, the industry was on the verge of beginning the transition to IP and that, of course, has had a huge impact on the efforts of ONVIF over the past few years. Now the industry is moving more rapidly toward standardisation as it looks to take advantage of the opportunity to integrate with the multitude of products coming on the market. This adoption of standards, and the growth of ONVIF, has happened very quickly. From just a few companies, ONVIF now has nearly 450 members.
How deep can ONVIF go productwise to achieve standardisation?
By their very nature, standards specify minimum operation requirements so the conforming devices can guarantee interoperability at the most fundamental level. As more functions are considered “basic,” ONVIF will evolve to include interface specifications for these functions as part of the specification.Q. How does the addition of Profile S for video streaming simplify and improve the conformance process?
The primary benefit of Profile S is knowing that when two products bear the Profile S mark, they will work together. Rather than trying to figure out whether one version of the ONVIF specification is compatible with another, or which features of the product might interfere with interoperability, seeing the Profile S mark ensures a successful interface. And this will be true going forward with our subsequent profile releases, such as Profile G, published on the 14th August, for recording and storage products and Profile C, published on the 27th August, for physical access control and video integration.
What are the next planned activities for ONVIF?
After the expected release of the fundamental access control specification and test tools this year, ONVIF will decide on its next area of concentration. This could include new advances in physical access control or intruder alarms — both of which seem to be the next natural step — but it’s up to our members to decide the course.
From the beginning, ONVIF’s focus was video because we knew we could get the proper feedback from the marketplace and because the need for standards and interoperability on the network video side was so acute. But ONVIF has also recognised from the start the need for specifications in other industry segments, so we prepared for that by creating the underlying architecture of ONVIF.
What should we expect to see within the standardisation realm in the near future?
Although standardisation is typically a more gradual, evolutionary process, ONVIF has grown in size and strength quite rapidly over its first four years. Not surprisingly, this has resulted in some growing pains between the market’s expectations for the specification and the technical limitations for standards based on the current maturity level of IP technology. Both ONVIF and IP have experienced rapid deployment. With that in mind, the next few years will be focused not only on moving forward into new technical areas, but we will also concentrate on refining the overall process of standardisation. A strong focus on the conformance process will ensure the quality of the specification and its continuing acceptance in the market.
by Monica Bertolo
