Development and use of a method to commission a perimeter intrusion detection system to a performance standard

This paper describes the commissioning of a fence-mounted microphonic Perimeter Intrusion Detection Systems (PIDS) to an agreed performance standard. The performance requirements are expressed in terms of a minimum probability of detection and expected false/nuisance alarm rate under different weather conditions. The requirements were developed from both experimental evaluations and computer simulations. This paper gives details of how the PDS 100 PIDS was set up to meet these requirements at an operational site with 30 detection zones. The procedures used were designed to be rigorous enough to ensure that the performance was acceptable, yet quick enough to minimise the time spent commissioning. The tests are based on a calibrated, nondestructive fence tester used to simulate real cutting attacks on the fence. Data from attack trials were used to correlate the signals from real attacks and the fence tester. The commissioning procedure involved one person striking each fence panel, while the generated signals were automatically recorded on a portable computer. This data was used to determine the minimum sensitivity needed for each zone that would have met the required detection rate