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SMART BUILDINGS
making a building ‘smart’, it’s vital that all platforms and
components can communicate in a unified manner and act
as an integrated whole. That requires a common language
and an integrated approach to structured cabling.
By introducing a structured cabling system as a fully
integrated ‘central nervous system’ in a building, or even
between buildings, investment and operational costs can be
reduced and implementation and maintenance simplified.
The ‘nervous system’ connects data input devices – actuators,
switches, system controls and so on – to an intelligent system
(software) that can take action based on the inputs.
More and more systems currently run on or are being
adapted to an Ethernet network rather than remaining on a
proprietary system. Many different systems and services with
various bandwidth requirements and levels of power delivery,
especially PoE-powered devices, need to be supported, and
deployment of devices must be carefully planned.
"More and more systems currently run on or are
being adapted to an Ethernet network rather
than remaining on a proprietary system"
Intelligent building cabling best practices
It’s vital to plan for the longest possible useful life of the
intelligent building network infrastructure. Although IT device
technologies change every four years or so, building functions
and facilities usually change every ten years. BIoT cabling
infrastructure must support devices over a longer period of
time – that means the underlying infrastructure needs to stay
in place for longer than might be traditionally considered.
In the past, it would be clear where LAN-connected
telecom outlets for each work area would be in the pre-
planning phase. Today, we also need to add service outlets
for intelligent building devices that could be located
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