Axis Communications
Encyclopedia
Axis Communications AB is a Swedish manufacturer of network cameras
for the physical security
and video surveillance industries. It focuses on the vertical market segments transport, infrastructure, retail, banking, education, government and industrial.
Axis Communications originally started out as an IT company selling print servers. It then applied its knowledge in networks and embedded computing to develop network cameras for the security industry. Most of its products contain an embedded computer with some flash memory
and run a custom version of Linux
. One of its major breakthroughs in technology was the development of JFFS
, which extended the lifetime of the devices' flash memory.
and printer interfaces for the connection of PC printers in IBM mainframe
and mini-computer environments. By the end of the 1980s, Axis Communications had opened its first U.S. sales office in Boston, Massachusetts and in the early 1990s started shifting its focus away from IBM mainframes towards networking and the TCP/IP protocol.
supporting both TCP/IP and NetWare. In 1995, the company introduced a file server independent, multi-protocol CD-ROM server, supporting TCP/IP (NFS) and Windows (SMB), for Ethernet networks, the AXIS 850. Also by 1995, Axis Communications had opened sales offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, Japan.
and Sony
that the companies will cooperate in order to standardize the interface of network video products and form a new industry standards body called ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum). Axis Communications introduced its first product with ONVIF support in 2009, the AXIS P3301. There are now over 600 ONVIF conformant products available.
IP camera
An Internet protocol camera, or IP camera, is a type of digital video camera commonly employed for surveillance, and which unlike analog closed circuit television cameras can send and receive data via a computer network and the Internet...
for the physical security
Physical security
Physical security describes measures that are designed to deny access to unauthorized personnel from physically accessing a building, facility, resource, or stored information; and guidance on how to design structures to resist potentially hostile acts...
and video surveillance industries. It focuses on the vertical market segments transport, infrastructure, retail, banking, education, government and industrial.
Axis Communications originally started out as an IT company selling print servers. It then applied its knowledge in networks and embedded computing to develop network cameras for the security industry. Most of its products contain an embedded computer with some flash memory
Flash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
and run a custom version of Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. One of its major breakthroughs in technology was the development of JFFS
JFFS
The Journaling Flash File System is a log-structured file system for use on NOR flash memory devices on the Linux operating system. It has been superseded by JFFS2.- Design :...
, which extended the lifetime of the devices' flash memory.
Origins
Axis Communications was founded in 1984 by Martin Gren and Mikael Karlsson in Lund, Sweden. The company developed and sold protocol convertersProtocol converter
A Protocol Converter is a device used to convert standard or proprietary protocol of one device to the protocol suitable for the other device or tools to achieve the interoperability...
and printer interfaces for the connection of PC printers in IBM mainframe
IBM mainframe
IBM mainframes are large computer systems produced by IBM from 1952 to the present. During the 1960s and 1970s, the term mainframe computer was almost synonymous with IBM products due to their marketshare...
and mini-computer environments. By the end of the 1980s, Axis Communications had opened its first U.S. sales office in Boston, Massachusetts and in the early 1990s started shifting its focus away from IBM mainframes towards networking and the TCP/IP protocol.
Expansion
In 1991, Axis Communications launched a multi-protocol print serverPrint server
A print server, or printer server, is a device that connects printers to client computers over a network. It can accept print jobs from the computers and send the jobs to the appropriate printers....
supporting both TCP/IP and NetWare. In 1995, the company introduced a file server independent, multi-protocol CD-ROM server, supporting TCP/IP (NFS) and Windows (SMB), for Ethernet networks, the AXIS 850. Also by 1995, Axis Communications had opened sales offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, Japan.
Focus on network cameras
In 1996, Axis Communications introduced the industry's first network camera, the AXIS NetEye 200. This was followed in 1999 by the AXIS 2100 which was the first volume product using an embedded Linux. In 2004, the company introduced the AXIS 206, the then smallest network camera.Founding of industry standards body
In 2008, Axis Communications announced together with BoschRobert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
and Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
that the companies will cooperate in order to standardize the interface of network video products and form a new industry standards body called ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum). Axis Communications introduced its first product with ONVIF support in 2009, the AXIS P3301. There are now over 600 ONVIF conformant products available.
Today
Axis Communications operates offices in more than 20 countries and employs 1000 people. According to a 2009 report by industry analyst house IMS Research, Axis Communications is the global market leader in the network video market with a market share of 31.2%.Network Cameras
Axis Communications develops and sells network cameras for many applications. The product portfolio includes outdoor, megapixel, thermal cameras, HDTV, etc. The company introduced the industry′s first thermal network camera, the AXIS Q1910, in January 2010 and the industry′s first HDTV network camera, the AXIS Q1755, in December 2008.External links
- Official web site
- Axis Developer site
- Original JFFS documentation
- Open Network Video Interface Forum
See also
- IP video surveillance
- Megapixel
- Image sensorImage sensorAn image sensor is a device that converts an optical image into an electronic signal. It is used mostly in digital cameras and other imaging devices...
- Professional video over IPProfessional video over IPProfessional video over IP systems use some existing standard video codec to reduce the program material to a bitstream , and then to use an Internet Protocol network to carry that bitstream encapsulated in a stream of IP packets...
- Closed-circuit television (CCTV)
- Closed-circuit television cameraClosed-circuit television cameraClosed-circuit television cameras can produce images or recordings for surveillance purposes, and can be either video cameras, or digital stills cameras...
- Video Analytics
- ONVIF
- Physical securityPhysical securityPhysical security describes measures that are designed to deny access to unauthorized personnel from physically accessing a building, facility, resource, or stored information; and guidance on how to design structures to resist potentially hostile acts...
- Depth of FieldDepth of fieldIn optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image...