Leveraging IP protocols
One of the obstacles to the adoption of IP media devices for physical security is the complexity of IP networking. A primary objective for a standard would be to reduce this complexity so that any user would be able to install a device, and have it recognized and operational without compromising network security. The challenges for implementing IP media devices in managed corporate networks where expertise may be readily available are different from those for small businesses or ad hoc networks.

An effort to reduce the complexity of IP networking for ad hoc or unmanaged networks was initiated through the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The Zero Network Configuration, or Zeroconf, simplifies networking by allowing devices to:

• obtain IP addresses without a DHCP server
• resolve network names without a DNS server
• discover what services are available on a network

Apple's Bonjour is an implementation of Zeroconf that allows users to connect seamlessly to each other at a conference, for example, without the help of network administrators. In the home or small business, it allows users to add network devices, get a unique local network name assigned and discover all available services automatically. In a managed network environment, Bonjour could be used to discover available devices. Many network printers support Bonjour and by installing the Bonjour plug-in for Windows, these devices can be easily detected and used for printing. Similarly, IP cameras supporting Bonjour can be added to a network and auto-discovered.

The Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), from the UPnP Forum, provides some similar capabilities and uses the same method for automatically obtaining IP addresses. One of the key benefits of UPnP is that the use of common protocols removes the need for custom drivers and is OS and programming language independent.

As in the cases above, an IP media device standard should support device and service discovery protocols to allow devices to be discovered automatically. IP media devices provide audio and video streaming, event notification and camera position control capabilities. To optimize the benefits offered by these devices, they must be properly configured and managed. We'll look at each of these capabilities in more detail and identify the areas that a standard should address for optimal configuration and management.