Building Full‑Optical Networks, Safeguarding Operations! AINOPOL Empowers Ezhou Toll Station to Build a Smart‑Highway Network Foundation

As a key component of the reconstruction‑and‑expansion project for the Wuhan‑Huangshi section of the Shanghai‑Chongqing Expressway, Ezhou Putuan Toll Station has completed comprehensive upgrading and officially gone into operation.

Known as “the No. 1 Road of Chu‑Tian”, the Wuhan‑Huangshi Expressway has undergone a “4‑lane‑to‑8‑lane” upgrade. The project greatly boosts traffic capacity and throughput, effectively relieves regional traffic pressure, and raises the service standard of expressway operations.

Smart upgrading of expressway stations involves far more than iterating physical infrastructure such as road surfaces and toll lanes. It also relies on a stable, converged and integrated digital network foundation.

This reconstruction‑expansion project has delivered multi‑functional facilities including brand‑new office buildings, staff dormitories and public service zones. Diverse service scenarios and dense pedestrian flows impose higher‑standard, fine‑grained requirements for security monitoring, mobile office, internal collaboration, emergency command, logistical support and public‑access network services.

I. Real‑World Demands: From Legacy‑Mode Operation to Digital‑Intelligent Upgrade

Acting as a vital expressway‑service hub within Ezhou, Putuan Toll Station maintains efficient toll operations while facing multi‑dimensional upgrading requirements for network interconnection, security coordination, communication efficiency and emergency response in its drive toward intelligence, integration and safety.

Multi‑camera synchronous monitoring: The station covers dormitory blocks, service zones and office premises with numerous surveillance points. Under legacy workflows, duty staff manually switch between individual camera feeds and struggle to grasp site‑wide real‑time conditions. It is necessary to implement multi‑feed simultaneous display within a unified local‑area network, delivering integrated security monitoring for both the toll station and service zone and improving security‑management efficiency.

Seamless roaming with wired‑office support: Office personnel carry mobile phones and tablets for cross‑floor, cross‑area mobile work inside office buildings. Wi‑Fi must deliver zero‑perceptual handover across APs without signal drop‑off or re‑connection, while sustaining stable office‑network throughput.

Reduced internal‑communication costs: Frequent daily communication takes place among dormitories, monitoring rooms and offices. Conventional telephone calls incur tolls for external dialling. A zero‑cost internal‑call system is required, enabling direct extension‑number dialling to boost collaboration efficiency.

Enhanced emergency‑broadcasting capability: During emergencies such as accidents, severe weather or lane malfunctions, the monitoring room needs one‑touch triggering for site‑wide or zone‑specific emergency announcements and alerts. Emergency‑evacuation broadcast capability is critical given heavy pedestrian volumes within service zones.

Dormitory networks balancing recreation and learning: Staff move frequently across dormitory buildings. Wi‑Fi shall support seamless roaming across floors and rooms with full‑signal coverage in every unit. In addition to post‑work entertainment including live TV and on‑demand video, television terminals must also deliver political education, professional training and safety‑awareness content. Single‑endpoint dual‑scenario support is required.

Stable long‑distance transmission: The service zone sits far from office premises. The 100‑metre transmission limit of copper Ethernet cables creates bottlenecks. High‑speed long‑haul connectivity must be guaranteed. Public Wi‑Fi within the service zone shall cover buildings and outdoor areas, support high‑concurrency mass‑user access and enforce Portal‑based authentication.

II. One Optical Network Covering All Business Scenarios

Addressing core operational requirements across multiple zones, diverse workloads, high stability and tight collaboration at Putuan Toll Station, AINOPOL delivers a customised one‑stop full‑optical smart‑station solution.

Drawing on fully in‑house‑developed network hardware, the solution dismantles inter‑zone network silos and enables integrated upgrades for security surveillance, wireless office, internal telephony, emergency broadcasting, dormitory edutainment and long‑distance transmission. It builds an efficient, stable, intelligent, user‑friendly and cost‑saving digital‑operation system for the expressway toll station.

Integrated security monitoring: building a synchronised‑display smart nerve centre

Leveraging the unified optical network, all surveillance cameras in dormitory, service‑zone and office areas join one LAN for centralised management. Duty operators view multiple video streams simultaneously on a single screen for full‑site real‑time situational awareness, eliminating repetitive manual feed‑switching.

Site‑wide seamless‑roaming network: enabling stable mobile‑office connectivity

The ZH‑AC300R reliably connects to external networks and intelligently allocates internal bandwidth to prevent office‑network congestion. Deployed within office buildings, the ZH‑F4125W leverages intelligent seamless‑roaming technology to deliver zero‑interruption, zero‑reconnection and jitter‑free throughput for staff moving across floors and zones.

Zero‑cost integrated internal telephony: cutting daily station‑operating expenses

The built‑in telephony‑server function of the ZH‑A50 multi‑service comprehensive gateway provides site‑wide internal‑call coverage across offices, monitoring rooms and dormitories. On‑site staff communicate free‑of‑charge via direct extension dialling without external trunk lines. Internal‑communication fees are eliminated entirely, substantially improving collaboration for lane dispatching, duty reporting and logistical coordination.

Zoned site‑wide emergency broadcasting: reinforcing station‑safety dispatching defences

In routine operation, the ZH‑A50 multi‑service comprehensive gateway supports scheduled public‑announcement playback. For urgent events including accidents, extreme weather and lane faults, the monitoring room triggers one‑touch zoned or full‑site broadcasts to push early‑warning and evacuation instructions. The system supports high‑crowd emergency dispatching inside service zones and strengthens overall station safety.

Dormitory edutainment‑converged terminals: balancing staff recreation and educational outreach

ZH‑F4125W multi‑service optical APs are deployed throughout dormitory buildings, delivering seamless roaming across rooms and floors together with full‑strength stable connectivity. Multimedia capabilities from the ZH‑A50 multi‑service comprehensive gateway enable dual‑purpose terminals: supporting live‑TV and video‑on‑demand for staff leisure, while regularly playing political‑education materials, vocational training and safety‑promotion content to satisfy both learning and recreational needs.

Ultra‑long‑haul fibre‑optic transmission: removing distance‑related networking bottlenecks

The project adopts an all‑fibre architecture that bypasses the 100‑metre copper‑cable limit. Taking advantage of low signal attenuation and EMI immunity of optical fibre, it achieves loss‑free, high‑speed and stable long‑distance links between office buildings and service zones, sustaining reliable cross‑zone service delivery.

High‑concurrency wireless coverage with smart authentication: improving public‑service user experience

Tailored for dense‑population, high‑endpoint‑count scenarios inside expressway service zones, ZH‑AP30006S‑M units eliminate signal congestion, throughput degradation and disconnections under heavy‑load conditions. Mature Portal‑authentication supports one‑click visitor internet access, real‑name‑based admission and permission control. The hardware handles massive‑volume concurrent endpoint connections during holiday peaks, balancing satisfactory public Wi‑Fi experience with disciplined network‑access governance and upgrading digital public‑service capabilities for the expressway station.

III. Bill of Materials

The following core hardware is deployed for the integrated full‑optical‑network and smart‑station construction at Ezhou Putuan Toll Station:

Equipment Model Qty Unit Price (CNY) Subtotal (CNY)

Egress Router AINOPOL ZH‑AC300R 4 40,990 163,960

Optical‑Access OLT AINOPOL ZH‑1GS 4 21,140 84,560

Optical‑Access OLT AINOPOL ZH‑4E 4 52,000 208,000

24‑Port Switch AINOPOL ZH‑CS5228P‑LI 9 6,897 62,073

ONU AINOPOL ZH‑F8P 17 3,430 58,310

ONU AINOPOL ZH‑F4125W 134 1,618 216,812

Optical Splitter AINOPOL ZH‑1X8 4 210 840

Optical Splitter AINOPOL ZH‑1X16 12 280 3,360

Optical Splitter AINOPOL ZH‑1X32 3 430 1,290

ONU AINOPOL ZH‑F4P 1 2,136 2,136

TV‑Service Server AINOPOL ZH‑A50 1 21,560 21,560

Total investment for all core equipment: 822,901 CNY (193 units in total).

All hardware and matching licences come with standard‑term warranty. Custom‑tailored operation‑maintenance and capacity‑expansion upgrade solutions are available for future station reconstruction‑and‑expansion.

IV. Comprehensive Renewal: Setting a Benchmark for Smart Expressway‑Station Operation

Upon completion of the integrated full‑optical deployment, Putuan Toll Station achieves comprehensive upgrades across six dimensions: management, office work, communications, emergency response, staff‑living services and data transmission.

Security management delivers visualised site‑wide synchronous monitoring, substantially accelerating hazard identification and emergency‑incident handling. Smooth stable roaming frees mobile‑office workflows from geographic constraints. Zero‑cost internal calls generate long‑term operational savings. One‑touch zoned emergency broadcasting shortens emergency‑response timelines. Full‑coverage dormitory networks with combined audio‑video‑and‑education functions enrich staff leisure life. Fibre‑optic long‑haul connectivity solves service‑zone networking challenges. Controlled public Wi‑Fi balances user experience and internal‑network security.

This transformation resolves long‑standing pain points of legacy toll‑station networking. With a streamlined, stable and multi‑service‑converged full‑optical architecture, it realises intelligent station‑site operation, efficient office workflows, lower operating expenditure and diversified service scenarios, building a solid network foundation for smart expressway‑station management.

Smart expressway development extends beyond main‑road traffic improvements to fine‑grained, standardised digital infrastructure for auxiliary station facilities. Independent secure network architecture, consistent site‑wide wireless coverage and dependable security‑dispatching systems form critical underpinnings for stable, high‑performance expressway logistical and public services.

By accurately addressing construction pain points and operational requirements of diverse expressway‑site premises, AINOPOL has successfully delivered the informatisation project for Putuan Toll Station auxiliary zones through full‑optical solutions featuring physical dual‑network isolation and scenario‑specific customisation. Secure, stable and easy‑to‑operate digital infrastructure improves service quality and operational efficiency across the expressway network.

Going forward, AINOPOL will continue to refine high‑security, high‑adaptability and high‑reliability networking and security solutions, empowering long‑term intelligent‑transformation for infrastructure across multiple industries.