Air-tight Access Control at Airport - ST Electronics

projects
Air-tight Access
Control at Airport
As one of the world’s busiest airports, Singapore’s Changi Airport
serves more than 80 airlines flying to more than 180 cities in over 50
countries. Having accumulated over 250 awards, Changi Airport
is recognised as one of the best airports in the world, and has
established itself as a major aviation hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
When Terminal 3 begins operations in 2008, it will have an annual
handling capacity of more than 70 million passengers, a 100
percent increase from the 35 million handled in 2006.
One of the keys to the success of Changi Airport is its
ability to ensure security within the airport compounds
and on the aircrafts departing from the airport. Today, the
need for tighter security is even more pronounced than ever
before, with international airports being highly attractive targets
for terrorists who know that any disruption in the airports’
operations may paralyse governments and economies.
To guard against catastrophes of such a magnitude, Changi Airport
has embarked on implementing next-generation advanced technologies
to prevent new, unconventional forms of attack. One of the
initiatives is to upgrade its Airport Pass Computerised System (APCS)
from the current APCS2 to the more advanced APCS3.
ST Electronics’ Intelligent Building Business Unit (IBBU) has been
awarded the project to install APCS3. The project includes system
design, development, installation, testing and commissioning of an
access control and monitoring system at various access points in all
the buildings at the airport.
continued on page 11...
Photo courtesy of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore
10 electronics review

projects
...continued from page 10
APCS is a computerised system
that the Airport Police Division
(APD) uses to produce airport
security passes for
staff and visitors
to access restricted
areas in Changi
Airport. Currently,
APCS2 produces
a PVC access pass
showing the
photograph of the
pass holder and
the security zone(s) to which
he/she is allowed access. The
new APCS3 security pass will be
a dual-interface smartcard with
both fingerprint template and
facial image encoded for off-card
matching authentication process.
The Changi Airport APCS3
project will adhere strictly to
the Intelligent Nation Biometric
Access Controls (INBAC)
standards. INBAC is a set of
security standards for biometric
systems that control door access
for enhancing physical security
at Singapore’s sensitive installations
and government premises.
INBAC standards ensure that
access control systems are secured
with reliable forms of identification
based on the sound criteria
for verifying an individual’s
identity. The system must allow
rapid electronic authentication
and have strong resistance
to identity fraud, tampering,
counterfeiting and terrorist
exploitation.
The smartcard-based airport
security passes will employ
SmartVIP Lite specifications set
by INBAC. SmartVIP or ‘Smart
Visa for Identification with
Passport’ in short – an initiative
by the Ministry of Home Affairs’
Internal Security Department
– is a biometric-enabled smart
passport which has been presented
to the International Civil
Aviation Organisation (ICAO)
and the International Standards
Organisation (ISO).
It is a comprehensive
solution aimed
at providing an efficient,
effective and
seamlessly integrated
border management
solution to
further enhance
Singapore’s physical
security and security checks at
all border checkpoints. SmartVIP
complies with the ICAO guideline
for Logical Data Structure for
electronic machine-readable travel
documents. It supports both
passive and active authentication
mechanisms described by ICAO
for document verification. The
SmartVIP Lite is the light-weight
version designed for applications
requiring strong security but
without the advanced functions
and additional security features
of the full-fledged SmartVIP. The
SmartVIP Lite specification is
derived from SmartVIP and is
streamlined for optimal cost-performance
ratio without compromising
security for access control
systems. Only providers whose
reliability has been established by
an official accreditation process
can issue these security passes.
ST Electronics’ proposed solution
for APCS3 is anchored on IBBU’s
flagship product – Securnet
– which includes the following
components:
Card Enrolment,
Personalisation and
Issuance
a) Pass enrolment (photo &
fingerprint)
b) Pass printing and encoding
c) Pass verification and Issuing
d) Design and supply of preprinted
smartcards
Building Access Control
System
a) Access control panels
b) Door controllers
c) Embedded application
software for scanning and
matching of biometric data
d) EM locks and accessories like
break-glass, door sensor and
status indicators
Back-end Application System
a) Server for hosting of the application
software and database
b) Internet/Intranet application
software for registering,
filtering and approving of pass
application
c) Application software for
managing of movement
records and backlists
Real world mission-critical
installations showed Securnet to
be robust, easy to use and cost
effective. In addition to providing
user-friendly tools for pass application,
enrolment and personalisation,
Securnet will also be
key to manage access control and
track movements of personnel
entering sensitive areas.
Together with SmartVIP Lite,
Securnet will be tested under
the most demanding conditions
to ensure that Changi Airport’s
access control is air-tight, and that
Singapore’s national security is
not compromised.
For more information, please contact
Desmond Tan at (65) 6413 1815 or
email: tanhs@stee.stengg.com
volume 20 no. 3 11