The evolution of smart building devices continues to proliferate, resulting in an ever-increasing need to connect those devices further away from the network switch. Video security surveillance, access control systems, motion sensors, and wireless devices are located where practical, but those installations are often not within the 100-meter standard distance of the telco closet. Because of this reality, extended-reach ethernet solutions are needed to connect these remote devices to the network.
Optical cable, Power over Ethernet extenders, auxiliary power and media converters are all doing the job to various degrees, but lack standardization.
Single Pair Ethernet Provides the Solution
Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) offers standardized network equipment, cabling infrastructure, and field test equipment – at distances more than 10x the traditional range.
Within commercial smart buildings, SPE represents great promise. ANSI/TIA-568 provides the accepted guidance for telecommunications standards within buildings. One addendum to these guidelines standardizes balanced SPE – 10BASE-T1L Single Pair Ethernet – allowing for distances of 400 meters to 1,000 meters, facilitating the connection of remote sensors and devices.
One of the significant benefits of powering sensors and devices via Single Pair Ethernet is removing the requirement for sensor batteries. At any given time, battery-powered sensor networks are estimated to be experiencing 30 percent sensor failure, as it is difficult and work-intensive to continually and reliably replace batteries as they fail.
Single-pair ethernet can maintain the functionality of the sensor network, ensuring more affordable efficiency. While SPE is not yet being installed and utilized across the board, 10BASE-T1L adapters and switches are beginning to appear. Interest in utilizing these devices is quickly taking hold as organizations strive for healthier buildings.
Reliable, industry-standard SPE cabling and connectors can take the place of conventional building automation controls, delivering data and power to the outer edges of the connected network.
Single Pair Communications Networks
Testing single-pair networks offers many benefits to end users, whether building applications or industrial automation. All communication network applications – whether Ethernet, fieldbus, or analog – must utilize electrical signals transmitted across the cabling to reach the end user without degradation of signal strength or clarity. To achieve confidence that your network cabling will support SPE, experts use a standardized calibrated tester to characterize the cabling according to the link or channel specification needed for any specific application.
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Structured Cabling and Single Pair Ethernet
As innovative switches and adapters drive SPE more meaningfully into real applications, data, and power should be robustly delivered to more remote devices. This new capability will become a part of structured cabling services provided by managed services firms.
What is Structured Cabling? Structured cabling represents a system of cabling and connectivity products developed to support an organization’s communication infrastructure, that is computers, devices, security systems and other pieces of networked equipment.
Standardized cabling and connectivity tools are integrated into a dependable and efficient network that can support a vast array of devices and applications. The objective of structured cabling is to create a manageable, flexible, and scalable system that can evolve and adapt as organizational needs change. Today, the most utilized structured cabling utilizes Category 5 (CAT5) or Category 6 (CAT6) twisted-pair copper cables in various lengths, along with modular jacks and patch panels connected by ethernet cables.
Structured cabling is an essential element of any modern company, as it offers the basis for all communication and data transfer requirements and delivers a reliable and efficient network that suffers minimal disruption.
To learn more about structured cabling and the advent of SPE technology, call Alliance IT today. Our team of experts is uniquely qualified to assess your needs and recommend the right strategy for your operation.
