Coverage optimization to support security monitoring

The placement of sensors to support security monitoring is obviously critical as it will directly impact the efficacy of allocated resources and system performance. It is critical to be able to observe and monitor the greatest total area possible. In addition, it is necessary to be able to spatially track the movement of people and activities in support of security. It is shown that important aspects of the security sensor placement problem can be modeled using the maximal covering location problem (MCLP) and/or the backup coverage location problem (BCLP) combined with visibility analysis. Thus, an approach is detailed for supporting security monitoring. The approach is applied in the context of video sensor placement in an urban area, illustrating the various tradeoffs that can be identified using optimization-based techniques.