AutomatedBuildings.com Review

Every month there is a blizzard of information contained in the emails and newsletters that cross my desk on their way to AutomatedBuildings.com. Some of this information is not in the form of any type of content we can publish but I feel I should share with you these snippets, blog bits, and url links that are about to fall off my desktop.

Technology retrospective: celebrating Ethernet According to an internal memo at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), it was May 22, 1973 when the idea of using the integrated bus system in copying systems, which came to be known as Ethernet, as the basis for LANs was first put forward. This date therefore marks the birth of the Ethernet technology.

George: I always thought you invented Ethernet in your garage in 1970? You and Metcalfe got the same hair and stern look….big smile from Ken

Reply: It was actually my basement in 1975. Bill Hewlett and David Packer started out in a garage. No, I did not invent Ethernet but we were evaluating the Ethernet chip sets in the early 80s before we decided on ARCNET. The ARCNET chip sets were cheaper. They supported both bus and star topology while Ethernet only had bus. We felt that the token-passing protocol of ARCNET was superior to the CSMA/CD protocol of Ethernet. Ethernet was faster (10Mbps) than ARCNET (2.5Mbps) but that was still much faster than the CPUs at the time. ARCNET was backed by Datapoint who allowed SMC to sell the chip sets. Ethernet was backed by DIX (DEC, Intel and Xerox) and Metcalf allowed it to go to the IEEE committee (802.3). The ARCNET crowd was willing to do the same but IEEE wanted too many changes and there was already working silicon. Do not assume the 802.3 committee is a-political. Instead they chose to go the ANSI/ISO route. What really helped Ethernet was when the technology went to star topology and eventually full-duplex using switches (ARCNET was half-duplex). This eliminated the confusing CSMA rules and boosted throughput. With an open standard like 802.3 (that does not even mention the word Ethernet) there was a great following of Ethernet development that Datapoint and SMC could not match. That is the end of my bedtime story.

OK were done this ethenet stuff is likely to catch on......big smile. But you heard on AB first.

Those that attended Light+Building will know it was a very busy event, and the organiser, Messe Frankfurt, has announced that the 2014 fair set a new record with 211,500 visitors from 161 countries. Our congratulations go to the KNX Association team who did a great job of making sure KNX was everywhere, and to the exhibitor members for a wide range of new products. You can find all our event coverage on the KNXtoday Spotlight on Light+Building 2014 page.

smart-building technologies is expected to triple between now and 2018, according to a new report from IDC Energy Insights. The “Global Smart Buildings Forecast 2013-2018″ predicts that spending in the sector will grow from $7.3 billion in 2014 to $21.9 billion in 2018.The predicted rapid expansion follows several years of slower-than-expected growth for the market, according to IDC.

The ecosystem under Internet of Things offers many opportunities for players including but not limited to Chip manufacturers, Network operators, M2M service providers, Cloud computing, Data analytics and App developers. According to Gartner Internet of things will result in $1.9 trillion in global economic value add on by 2020, through sales into diverse end markets. Orchestrating all the varied aspects in Internet of Things to communicate and work together requires deploying software that enables varied devices to communicate with each other and the system they are part of. Software plays a compelling role in enabling the features and capabilities required to support IoT. Thus for IoT to be commercially viable and conform to its expectations, a convergence of Mobility, Big data and Cloud technologies is essential.

Visions of wireless sensors have been in abundant supply for several years now. Deployment, however, has been slower than expected due to a wide range of technical constraints and commercial limitations that have inhibited integrating devices at the edge of networks... what we like to call the “last inch” of intelligent device integration.

The pressure is on for building managers to make significant operational changes; in essence, making a building more efficient, often with little budget. One of the biggest problems when it comes to actually doing this is having access to the right information at the right time. Schneider Electric discusses how advances in software can help create a ‘window to your world’; a holistic view of how a building is functioning, how much energy it is using, and importantly, where savings can be made.

Wireless sensor networking (WSN) has created a multi-billion dollar Smart Energy market, according to global technology research firm ON World. Annual revenues from WSN related products and services for energy management, smart lighting and advanced metering will reach $20 billion worldwide within the next five years. Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1856704#ixzz30I7QNmrS

California’s New Building Code: A Grid-Smart Thermostat in Every Facility Mandated OpenADR enabled thermostats, lights, and buildings create new opportunities. Jeff St. John April 3, 2014

April 2014 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has added significant new features and updates to EnergyIQ, its free, web-based, action-oriented benchmarking tool for non-residential buildings. These improvements help new and current users speed and simplify energy benchmarking against a growing database of buildings.

The Ivanpah solar site outside Las Vegas --- and that is something amazing to see. http://ivanpahsolar.com/ Evidence that the world really is changing. It is a gigantic installation and the light from the mirrors is surreal --- looks like a science fiction setting in the middle of the desert.

White Papers; Multi-touch Technology: Intuitive Functionality Advances Automation Multi-touch Technology: Intuitive Functionality Advances Automation Multi-touch HMI takes HMI visualization to the next level to improve performance, enhance safety and cut costs.

Echelon Corp., www.echelon.com, shed some light on plans for building automation systems of the future. The results indicate that a majority of planners intend to integrate multiple systems onto a common platform, and that almost half of building-automation projects involve the use of legacy systems running multiple protocols from different vendors. The conclusion is that multiprotocol and converged solutions will be key to extracting optimal benefit from the emerging IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things).

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