Chapter 9. Calculators

Interactive engineering calculators for road video surveillance system design — real-time results with visual feedback

The following five calculators cover the most critical quantitative design decisions in a road video surveillance system: storage capacity planning, network bandwidth sizing, camera coverage geometry, PoE power budget, and cable run length estimation. Each calculator provides real-time results as you adjust the input parameters, with visual indicators to help identify whether the design is within acceptable limits. The results are engineering estimates and should be validated against the specific equipment datasheets and site conditions before finalizing the design.

Storage Capacity

Network Bandwidth

Camera Coverage

PoE Power Budget

Cable Run Length

Calculate the total storage capacity required for your road surveillance system based on the number of cameras, video resolution, frame rate, compression codec, and retention period. Results update in real time as you adjust the sliders.

Input Parameters

Number of Cameras (total in system) 20

Video Resolution

Codec Efficiency

Recording Hours per Day (hours) 24 hrs/day

Retention Period (days) 30 days

Redundancy Overhead (%) 20%

Storage = Cameras × Bitrate × Hours × 3600 × Days × Overhead / 8 / 1024³

Results

Total Storage Required

—

Per Camera Storage

—

Daily Data Generated

—

Recommended HDD Configuration

—

Storage Utilization 0%

Video Data

Overhead & Metadata

Reserved Spare

Calculate the aggregate network bandwidth required for your surveillance system, including main streams, sub-streams, and management traffic. The calculator checks whether the selected network infrastructure can handle the load.

Input Parameters

Number of Cameras per Ring Node 8

Main Stream Bitrate per Camera (Mbps) 4 Mbps

Sub-Stream Bitrate per Camera (Mbps) 0.5 Mbps

Number of Nodes on Ring 8

Network Uplink Capacity

Protocol Overhead Factor (%) 20%

Node BW = Cameras × (Main + Sub) × (1 + Overhead%)
Ring BW = Sum of all upstream nodes

Results

Bandwidth per Node

—

Total Ring Bandwidth

—

Uplink Utilization

—

Network Status

—

Uplink Utilization 0%

Ring Segment Utilization 0%

Calculate the camera coverage area, detection range, and minimum pixel density for a given camera and lens configuration. This calculator helps verify that the selected camera and lens will achieve the required image quality at the target distance.

Input Parameters

Camera Mounting Height (m) 6 m

Camera Tilt Angle (degrees from horizontal) 20°

Lens Focal Length (mm)

Sensor Size

Image Resolution (horizontal pixels)

HFOV = 2 × atan(SensorW / (2 × FocalLen))
Coverage Width = 2 × Distance × tan(HFOV/2)
PPM = Resolution / Coverage Width

Results

Horizontal Field of View

—

Ground Coverage at Nadir

—

Target Distance (along road)

—

Pixel Density at Target

—

Camera coverage geometry diagram

Calculate the total PoE power budget required for a roadside cabinet, and verify that the selected PoE switch can supply sufficient power to all connected cameras and devices. The calculator accounts for cable resistance losses on long PoE runs.

Input Parameters

ANPR Cameras (PoE+ 802.3at) ~25W each 2

PTZ Speed Dome Cameras ~30W each 1

Fixed Bullet Cameras ~15W each 4

IR Illuminators (PoE) ~20W each 2

Average Cable Run Length (m) 30 m

Cable Type

Cable Loss = I² × R × 2L (both conductors)
I = PD Power / 48V
Total Budget = Σ(Device Power + Cable Loss)

Results

Total Device Power

—

Estimated Cable Losses

—

Total PoE Budget Required

—

Recommended PoE Switch

—

Power Budget Utilization 0%

Power breakdown by device type

Estimate the total cable quantities required for a road surveillance project, including Cat6 for PoE camera connections, fiber optic for the ring network, and power cable for AC supply. Results include a 15% waste/contingency allowance.

Input Parameters

Number of Surveillance Points 10

Cameras per Point 4

Avg Camera-to-Cabinet Distance (m) 30 m

Avg Cabinet-to-Cabinet Distance (m) 200 m

Fiber Cores per Span

Contingency Allowance (%) 15%

Cat6 = Points × Cameras × Dist × (1 + Contingency)
Fiber = Points × Cabinet-Dist × (1 + Contingency)
Power = Points × Cabinet-Dist × (1 + Contingency)

Results

Cat6 Cable Required

—

Fiber Optic Cable Required

—

AC Power Cable Required

—

Cable Conduit (25mm) Required

—

Cable quantity comparison chart