Category: IoT

COVID-19 Lockdown Leaves Empty Smart Buildings to Ponder Their Failings

By on • ( Leave a comment )

To date, the smart building’s health applications have focused on maintaining the best indoor temperature for occupants, developing lighting in tune with the human circadian rhythm, or improving air quality with sensors-enabled ventilation. While all these systems do support general health and, therefore, an improved ability to fight disease, they do not help control the spread of coronavirus. With many experts claiming that this kind of pandemic may become more common in the decades ahead, the smart building may need to start looking into its in-depth toolkit to see how it can help.

Financing smart buildings: contributing to your core business

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Conversion to smart buildings turns a former cost into an enabler of business. Digitally enabled office space can be personalized, so the profile of the person working in a given area — immediately on login — dictates information access, security protocols, climate control preferences, room automation and services access/charging and much more. The building effectively becomes a multi-faceted administrative assistant, automatically managed and controlled through digital transformation. Everyone benefits — owner/landlord, operator, tenant and user.

Coronavirus: Will offices be safe for a return to work?

By on • ( Leave a comment )

As lockdowns start to ease in many countries, so the tentative return to work begins, leaving people understandably concerned about how safe a space an office will be in the middle of a global pandemic. There is likely to be an increase in the amount of technology used to monitor employees. From thermal cameras taking your temperature when you enter the building to apps or wearables to alert you if you get too close to colleagues, work could soon have the feel of the Minority Report movie.

FCC approves unlicensed use of 6 GHz band to boost Wi-Fi 6, IoT

By on • ( Leave a comment )

The FCC has adopted rules that make 1,200 megahertz of spectrum in the 6 GHz band (5.925–7.125 GHz) available for unlicensed use. The new rules are intended to usher in Wi-Fi 6, the next generation of Wi-Fi, and to play a crucial role in the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT). Wi-Fi 6 will be over two-and-a-half times faster than the current standard and will offer better performance for American consumers. Opening the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use will also increase the amount of spectrum available for Wi-Fi by nearly a factor of five and help improve rural connectivity.

Single Pair Ethernet in Building Cabling

By on • ( Leave a comment )

The Single-Pair-Ethernet (SPE) concept comes from the automotive industry which required lean Ethernet cabling for vehicles. On the basis of xBASE-T1 protocols, SPE can also be used in building cabling and factory automation. SPE requires – as the name suggests – just a single twisted pair for data transmission. A thin two-core cable and a compact connector are sufficient for the cabling. In comparison to classic Ethernet cabling, the number of possible connection points is multiplied. The connection to the Local Area Network (LAN) takes place using switches either centrally in the floor distributor or distributed in the zone at the service outlets.

IoT offers a way to track COVID-19 via connected thermometers

By on • ( Leave a comment )

A company called Kinsa is leveraging IoT tech to create a network of connected thermometers, collecting a huge amount of anonymous health data that could offer insights into the current and future pandemics. The ability to track fever levels across the U.S. in close to real time could be a crucial piece of information for both the public at large and for decision-makers in the healthcare sector and government.

HARTING Americas announces launch of breakthrough Single Pair Ethernet technology

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Harting Americas has launched their Single Pair Ethernet technologies.SPE communicates across the common industrial Ethernet protocols available today but instead of using 4 or 8 total wires, it accomplishes communication across just two wires, a single twisted pair. It uses Power over Data Line technology to bring communication to the device along with the voltage and amperage needed to power the device. This is hugely beneficial for three reasons:. First, space and number of connections are reduced on the device. Second, the need for an external power supply is eliminated. Finally, devices on the plant floor that have traditionally communicated over Fieldbus protocols can now join the same IP-based network that the rest of the devices on the network are using. This enables peer-to-peer communication, open-loop feedback of all devices, and smart functionality all the way from the main control room down to the individual device.