A physical access control system on the cloud

Abstract

We present an automated Physical Access Control System (PACS) as a cloud service for controlling users’ activity, navigation and access in large residential infrastructures (e.g. apartment buildings, shopping malls). The main idea is to install on buildings beacon Bluetooth radio transmitters that broadcast an identifier to nearby devices (e.g. users’ mobile phones) and from there, together with users’ information, to transmit this information safely to a private cloud. The service monitors peoples’ movements and overall traffic in buildings and public facilities and offers prompt response on cases of critical events (i.e. overcrowding, health incidents, attacks etc.). PACS provides a variety of services aiming to inform the infrastructure manager for possible increase of users’ activities or access requests that require permission based on subscriptions or authorization criteria. These services are deployed over secure private clouds capable of dealing safely with sensitive information while ensuring users’ privacy. Collectively, anonymous history (log) data are sent to a public cloud for analysis.