Anomaly Detection Is the Next Big Thing in Smart Hotels

Written by John Wojnicki

In a hospitality environment, anomaly detection can support optimal operation in many ways—from reservation systems to potential cybersecurity threats. Learn more about why it’s the next big thing in smart buildings.

 

A smart building is a self-sufficient, data-driven building—all about connecting the physical world to the digital world. It generates its own performance data using sensors, devices, systems and detectors. That information can be used to continuously improve efficiency, comfort and safety.

 

In gaming and leisure environments specifically, data gives owners the insights they need to empower staff, wow travelers and add value to the right guest touchpoints—all while driving down costs and optimizing maintenance.

 

When anomalies are detected within the data—inconsistencies that don’t align with normal data patterns or that deviate from established baselines—they can be signs of a potential problem.

 

Anomaly detection is a way to monitor network and system performance, pinpoint data variability and alert the right person when something falls outside normal operating parameters.

 

In hospitality facilities, creating a fabulous guest experience is no longer only about excellent service, impressive amenities or state-of-the-art technology. It’s about preventing situations that may negatively impact guests.

 

Because data anomaly detection uncovers inconsistencies in network and system performance, your team can work behind the scenes to address issues and make sure they don’t turn into larger, more costly problems.

 

The value of anomaly detection in hospitality

When real-time data from smart building devices and sensors is consistently evaluated, anomaly detection can perceive something as simple as a malfunctioning wireless access point or as complex as an entire system malfunctioning.

 

If a wireless access point that supports maintenance activity uses the same channel as your hotel’s videoconferencing platform, for example, this could introduce additional network traffic that causes buffering and jitter.

 

Before users notice these network issues, anomaly detection can identify when network traffic begins to change—by pinpointing an increase in channel utilization on an access point by a certain percentage, for example—and notifies the right people so corrective actions can be taken, if needed.

 

Machine learning can take anomaly detection to the next level by removing manual work from the equation completely. Performance thresholds can be adjusted based on network activity over a period of time. Based on what’s happening, the network can learn to self-heal without anyone stepping in.

 

The real world: anomaly detection in action

In a hospitality environment, anomaly detection can support optimal operation in many ways.

  • Reservation Systems: Anomaly detection algorithms can analyze reservation data to identify irregular booking patterns, such as a sudden influx of bookings from unusual sources or an abnormal number of cancellations. This helps prevent fraudulent activities and protects against reservation system abuse.
  • Employee Activities: Anomaly detection can be used to monitor the flow of employee data. For instance, if an employee accesses sensitive guest information outside their regular work hours or attempts to extract large amounts of data from the system, then this could indicate unauthorized access or data theft.
  • Potential Cybersecurity Threats: Monitoring network traffic within the hospitality space is essential to identify any abnormal activities that may indicate cyberattacks or data breaches. Anomaly detection algorithms can analyze network traffic patterns, detect unusual data transfers or communication patterns and raise alerts for potential security threats.

 

Improve the guest experience in new ways

By identifying and addressing anomalies promptly, gaming and leisure organizations can safeguard operations, protect customer data and maintain a high level of trust and satisfaction. This allows you to prevent problems and improve the guest experience in ways never possible before.

 

Belden can help you create high-quality data acquisition, transmission, orchestration and management solutions that support your innovative hospitality technology initiatives—including anomaly detection.

 

Learn more about how we can help you integrate technology and anomaly detection into the guest experience.

 

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To Dress or Not to Dress: Cable Combing for Category 6A Cabling

Written by Henry Franc

Cable combing or dressing creates neat, organized cables with parallel runs, while also reducing installation time. But find out how it impacts the performance of Category 6A cables.

When your cable installation is exposed and visible, such as in open, overhead cable trays or racks and cabinets, you want it to look professional and pristine. Tangled and misaligned cables are not only unsightly, but also can lead to performance issues if they’re kinked or bent.

That’s where cable combing or dressing comes in. It helps create neat, organized cables with parallel runs. It also reduces labor costs and installation time when multiple cables must be untangled and bundled during a project.

When it comes to lower grades of copper cabling, such as Category 5e and Category 6, combing has always been a regular and recommended practice during installation. But the introduction of Category 6A changed that.

 

How did Category 6A cables change combing practices?

While Category 6A cabling was being developed prior to approval in 2008, it brought with it higher levels of frequency and noise to support 500 MHz of data transmission bandwidth.

But noise sensitivity increases at higher frequencies. As bandwidth increased, so did the importance of controlling cable noise to ensure proper data transmission. First-generation 10GBASE-T systems were so sensitive to noise, in fact, that engineers had to take cell phones out of their pockets before entering lab spaces.

It was also discovered that running Category 6A cables and connectors in parallel was a main contributor to noise—a type of interference we now call “alien crosstalk.”

With lower grades of Category cable and connectors like Category 5e and Category 6, alien crosstalk wasn’t a problem—because it didn’t exist.

Alien crosstalk occurs when a signal on one cable (the “aggressor”) induces noise to the signal of an adjacent cable (the “victim”). Victim and aggressor signals impact each other the most when in parallel. This is why a cable’s copper wires are twisted into pairs: to balance the conductors of a pair and ensure that the differential signal remains equal and opposite. Alien crosstalk must be managed so it doesn’t cause performance issues.

It’s also different from near-end crosstalk (NEXT) and far-end crosstalk (FEXT), which occur within a single cable. Because NEXT and FEXT can be measured and predicted, they can be remediated through digital signal processing. But alien crosstalk is unpredictable interference that comes from outside the cable.

To address this noise-sensitivity issue, manufacturers tried all types of solutions and designs. They did everything from creating cables with very large ODs to using spacers that coiled around the four pairs in an attempt to separate and randomize interfering signals.

Still, due to this level of interference, many manufacturers advised against cable combing for Category 6A—and they still do today.

 

Cable Combing for Category 6A: yes or no?

Today, we often receive questions about cable combing. It was such a common practice with Category 5e and Category 6, but should it be done with Category 6A, given what we learned above? What do best practices dictate?

Here’s our answer: If you use Category 6A solutions from Belden, then cable combing is still fine.

These cables feature our EquiBlock™ design, which provides an equal potential barrier to minimize alien crosstalk to adjacent cables.

We also test our cables to worst-case conditions, using a combed, six-around-one configuration. Six outer cables are laid around a center cable, and cables are tied every 6 to 8 inches along the full length of the channel, bringing connectors closer together as well. Many manufacturers can’t pass six-around-one configuration with four connectors in a shortened (24 m) channel.

Belden passes this testing because its cables and connectors are designed with the best possible balance to exceed all performance characteristics and parameters specified in the Category 6A standard, including alien crosstalk, insertion loss and return loss. And our REVConnect® Connectors provide the best controlled electrical performance possible.

So go ahead—be proud of your installation work and comb your Category 6A cables from Belden if you want. In fact, we encourage it!

It’s important to note, however, that it may be problematic to comb Category 6A cables from other vendors. If another cable manufacturer advises against combing or dressing, then it’s probably wise to listen. Their Category 6A cables likely require randomization (a less tidy installation) to eliminate the potential for alien crosstalk and degraded performance.

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LEMO – Connecting The Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen

Written by LEMO

Developing and operating Formula One cars is a mission under very high pressure. For sure, Sauber Motorsport knows something about this: it designs and manufactures the C42 of the Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN. Every component is well thought, analyzed and tested. But also the electric and electronic parts, including connectors.

 

“The space available on a Formula One car is reduced to a minimum, every square centimeter counts” explains Davide Spagnol, Head of Systems Engineering at Sauber Motorsport. “So does every gramme, since performance depends greatly on the weight of the car. Like all the rest, connectors need to be as small and as lightweight as possible.” They must also be very robust. “In order to withstand extreme conditions during races and the handling by mechanics who connect and disconnect them often under stressful conditions!”

 

Formula One is one of the extreme environments that LEMO perfectly masters. LEMO has even developed dedicated solutions, the F Series launched in 1995 and the M Series in 2006. They have been rather successful since both series have been adopted by the FIA and are on board all Formula One cars. The M Series equip even a crucial part, the ECU (electronic control unit), which controls, among other systems, the engine, the throttle pedal, the gear box or even the energy recovery system – in addition to the transmission of masses of data to the team.

 

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN uses no fewer than twenty different types of LEMO connectors. “Those on the systems which are common to all cars, as well as the ECU and the HIU (hub interface unit), but also on some sensors” explains Davide Spagnol. Others connect the teams communication equipment – “you can find them under the control screens and portable radios.” The drivers even wear them: “The interface to the drivers’ earplug and microphone is also equipped with LEMO connectors.”

 

According to the Davide Spagnol, Sauber has been using LEMO solutions for 25 years. The two Swiss technological groups – sharing the same quest for excellence and a true passion for motorsport – have further strengthened their cooporation this year. They have signed a partnership contract on exchanging products and engineering in view of developing new solutions.

 

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Data Visualisation – 5 Ways to Easily Improve Your Operations

Written by Brainboxes

Wherever you are on your digital transformation journey, data visualisation makes it easy to optimise operations.

Big Data – shorthand for the billions of transactions datasets generated daily – is key in industry, but simply collecting reams and reams of counts and figures isn’t enough. The data must of course be accurate and relevant. Moreover, it’s vital that it can be analysed in the right way to enable businesses to make the best data-driven decisions.

The actionable insights are already there, contained in the data. Data visualisation – viewing information in clear graphical forms – takes the guesswork out of analysing big data by cutting out the noise and making it easier to spot trends, patterns and unusual values (outliers.) Often complex statistical analysis isn’t required; simple data visualisation allows humans to understand the big picture unclouded by individual data points.

 

Data visualisation can gather data from different sources and show it graphically in one place, making it easier to identify organisational opportunities, shine a spotlight on inefficiencies, and help solve other common challenges on the factory floor.

1. Reduce costly errors

To err is human; the ability to spot inevitable mistakes in real-time and respond quickly can make a huge difference.

Using data visualisation to show data from varied sources on a centralised visual dashboard allows supervisors to see everything at a glance (shift productivity, machine downtime, outputs, etc.), making it easier to keep track of every part of the manufacturing process and action fast responses.

 

2. Streamline the supply chain

Data visualisation means you can take data at any given time, and compare it against historical performance data. With historic data visualisation, it’s easier to track ROI and delivery rates, identify where resources are allocated, and manage Overall Equipment Effectiveness to optimise supply chain efficiency.

 

3. Balance quality control with cost-cutting

A visual data model makes it easy to see where resources are spent and proactively identify potential flaws; ensuring that all processes are designed to meet quality assurance standards in the most cost-effective way. Quality doesn’t always have to come at a price; some of the largest quality gains can be made by simple changes highlighted by data visualisation.

 

4.  Identify & eliminate inefficiencies

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is the measurement and management of critical processes, often in real time. Data visualisation lets you discover datasets related to resources, materials, productivity, and shift performance in a comprehensive database. This will enhance ERP, allowing decisions to be made more rapidly and with fewer errors.

 

5.  Data visualisation with free open-source software

Even without the facilities to capture data, it’s possible to prove concepts without wiring sensors, by using free-to-start, open-source software (InfluxDB and Grafana) and Brainboxes BB-400 Industrial Edge Controller.

In industry, it’s common to count how often something changes, store the information, and then review and analyse the information in a graph. For example temperature, parts counts, or machine errors. Node-RED can be used to send data to InfluxDB which can then be visualised in Grafana.

Watch the video above for an easy-to-follow tutorial, that will walk you through sending data from an edge controller to a database in InfluxDB and how to produce graphical visualisations of the data.

 

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Attacks on Mission-Critical Power Infrastructure: Why Cybersecurity Is Necessary

Written by Zane Blomgren

Cyberattacks on utilities are on the rise. To protect mission-critical power infrastructure from threats and vulnerabilities, don’t forget about the cybersecurity basics.

When mission-critical power infrastructure goes down, there’s always an impact: disruption to business, communications, transportation and even vital medical care.

As long as countries have had energy grids and power infrastructure, they’ve been vulnerable to incidents that cause downtime. Decades ago, these events may have involved a tripped transmission line, an incorrect setting on a protective relay, an act of vandalism or nasty weather.

Today, utilities continue to grapple with these threats while juggling new pressures, including cyberattacks. These malicious and deliberate attempts at disrupting or destroying data and/or information systems may be spearheaded by other countries, hacktivists, lone hackers or even organized criminals.

According to research conducted at the end of last year, 2022 set an all-time high for the number of cyberattacks on utilities that took place in a single year.

When it comes to the threat actors that utilities will face tomorrow … who knows? But, no matter the cause, losing power will always be bad news.

As utilities continue their digital journeys, connecting systems to networks to make equipment and data more accessible, their attack surfaces swell while cyberattacks grow. The opportunity for remote assaults also increases. Bad actors from halfway across the world can use remote connectivity with high levels of intelligence and craftiness to bring down mission-critical power infrastructure.

While the industry continues to advance, and cyberattacks become more frequent, securing power infrastructure ecosystems and boosting cyber resilience are the only ways to prevent widespread and potentially disastrous outcomes.

 

A tale: How I realized the value of cybersecurity for utilities

In a previous role several years ago, I remember visiting one power facility in particular. Before I could set foot onsite, I went through an extensive background check. Upon arrival, I walked through a gate secured by armed guards. Before touring the facility, I went through training. As I explored the facility, the staff pointed out a light near the doors: When illuminated, it indicates the possible presence of a physical breach to the facility—my guide used an active shooter as his example. It was clear to me that the plant placed lots of value on its critical infrastructure and was taking steps to protect it. Everyone seemed to have a heightened level of awareness regarding potential threats.

That evening, when I returned to my hotel room, curiosity got the best of me. After doing some simple research, I discovered that some critical infrastructure equipment was openly exposed, using insecure protocols and lacking authentication or security measures to protect them. It was eye-opening—and a good reminder that security at every level is critical to mitigate the potential for negative outcomes.

Rewind to the early 2000s and cybersecurity in the form of Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) began to form, bringing cybersecurity up as well as physical security.

The lesson? Don’t forget about the basics. With innovations like artificial intelligence, robotics and virtual reality on the horizon, now is the time to make sure you have the right foundation in place. Otherwise, your advanced technology and processes will fail. Here are some pointers.

 

1. Use NERC CIP as your compass

The Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards ensure that electric utilities have the right physical and cybersecurity measures in place to protect their critical infrastructure from threats.

While these are compulsory with some real consequences for non-compliance, understand the intent behind the requirements, give thought to what protection is intended and work hard to deliver that protection. They have helped the industry make dramatic improvements to protect critical infrastructure by providing prescriptive guidance in categories like:

  • Control center communications
  • Incident response
  • Network security
  • Personnel and training
  • Physical security of cyber assets
  • Recovery plans
  • System security controls
  • Vulnerability management

These standards provide the framework to secure your critical infrastructure.

 

2. Build and rely on your professional network

While you don’t have to give away trade secrets, having a trusted network of like-minded peers in the power transmission and distribution industry can be valuable to your cybersecurity practices.

It provides a chance to talk about what’s working and what isn’t, share the threats you see in the new digital landscape, explore what other utilities are trying and learn and discuss best practices.

If you don’t have a group of colleagues that you currently network with, consider establishing one to support:

  • Information sharing and collaboration on identifying and mitigating cyber threats
  • Sharing access to resources, tools, training and expertise that can help advance the industry
  • Acquiring advice on tough challenges or new situations

 

3. Explore and prepare your power infrastructure

Good power infrastructure is the foundation for everything: reliability, operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, safety and even sustainability.

The future of utilities is all about connectedness. Your mission-critical infrastructure needs to be ready to support innovations like:

  • Cross-enterprise device integration and data flow for real-time transparency, monitoring and performance alerts
  • Remote monitoring, operation and inspection
  • Seamless communication and collaboration across the utility, from the corporate office to the field
  • Predictive maintenance to optimize equipment repair and replacement
  • Smart scheduling for equipment and labor to improve resource allocation
  • Gain more intelligence and insight from substations to improve decision-making

As technologies and applications like these continue to roll out, they will need to be supported by robust, high-performance telecommunications systems that can manage heavy increases in network traffic and bandwidth consumption.

For example, most utilities have relied on TDM (time-division multiplexing) as their backbone technology to transmit data across networks. As smart grids and smart substations become prolific, however, TDM is becoming obsolete. It can’t support modern communications protocols or keep up with bandwidth requirements.

MPLS-TP (multiprotocol label switching – transport profile) is the best option to replace TDM. It can support legacy systems and next-gen smart grid applications and transport most forms of traffic, including traditional serial-based technologies and IEC 61850 packet-based intelligent electronic devices.

 

Belden: your partner in protecting mission-critical power infrastructure

Belden’s in-house industry experts have decades of experience in helping utilities prepare for the future while maximizing current investments in legacy technology. Our digital automation consultants, solution consultants and solution architects understand the intricacies of the utility market, have worked in the field and have experienced your challenges first-hand.

After understanding your situation and environment, our Customer Innovation Center works closely with you to assess network strengths, deficiencies and workflows; define your goals; outline your best opportunities to increase value and meet KPIs; and present a holistic view of implementation costs and a blueprint that acts as your digital transformation guide.

 

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NetModule’s Success Story – Rhaetian Railway’s WiFi Solution

Written by NetModule

The Project

The Rhaetian Railway transports twelve million passengers on adventurous journeys through Graubünden every year. One third of the 385-kilometre-long route network is 1500 metres above sea level. One third is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thanks to the panoramic Bernina Express and Glacier Express trains and with the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula/Bernina Landscape being named a UNESCO World Heritage, the railway enjoys a global reputation.

In 2016, onway ag (formerly WLAN-Partner AG) installed Public-WiFi at the Rhaetian Railway (RhB) station in St. Moritz as part of a pilot project. Further stations in the RhB network followed. This powerful WiFi is now also being made available to passengers on the train. The RhB already had its own infotainment solution in the Bernina and Glacier Express vehicles. In establishing an internet connection, the company sought to meet the following requirements:

  • Passengers can connect to the infotainment via WiFi and still access other activities online, such as chats, social media, etc.;
  • All requirements of the Federal Act on the Surveillance of Post and Telecommunications Traffic (SPTA) are met (e.g. identification obligation);
  • Fleets can be managed via the same solution.

 

Requirements

The following points convinced RhB that onway’s solution with NetModule hardware was the most suitable:

  • Ongoing legal protection of all Public-WiFi internet access points via the same portal and system – continuous flow of information for both trains and stations;
  • Passengers only need to register once in a six-month period using an SMS token;Security, reliability and speed
  • Central management system for monitoring and managing the entire fleet;
  • Ability to offer different usage models for passengers and company employees.of additional devices

 

Solution

On the hardware side, our certified mobile railroad routers of the NB3800 series were used at RhB for easy networking of large fleets. Our NetModule routers were chosen in this project due to the quality, stability, functionality as well as the modularity of the network components. All data traffic from the vehicle is consolidated using these vehicle routers and routed through a secure VPN tunnel via the mobile network to onway’s data centre.

The VPN tunnel terminates here. The data centre fulfils all central functions such as user authentication, filtering and monitoring user traffic, as well as limiting bandwidths and fulfilling the legal requirements according to the SPTA.

 

onway ag

Since 2004, the onway ag team has been supporting its customers in the evaluation, planning, implementation as well as operation and support of their WLAN/Network-Access-Control-Solutions and has already successfully implemented more than 100 projects. NetModule AG supports onway ag with its products in the industrial, bus and railroad sectors through its long-standing partnership.

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Lightware Saves UAVs From Hard To Detect Power Lines

Written by Nadia Nilsen

“Drone lands on power lines resulting in a power outage for thousands” is certainly not the first or the last news headline of its kind. Overhead power lines pose a serious risk to UAV operations. These incidents could not only result in the loss of the drone and its payload but could also cause injury to people and animals and damage infrastructure and property. Retrieving the drone from high-voltage power lines is also a dangerous task. As a UAV operator, it’s crucial to avoid flying into these obstacles at all costs.

 

Power lines are notoriously difficult to detect. Distribution lines are relatively small, ranging from 0.2 inches (5mm) to 0.8 inches (20mm) in diameter, and are often black, brown, or gray in color. Against a complex and dynamic background, they are difficult to see even with perfect human vision. Moreover, power lines can vary in height depending on location and terrain, making their presence hard to predict. Low visibility or lighting conditions can exacerbate these challenges, making it even more difficult to detect overhead power lines from a distance or at high speed.

 

Power lines are not the only overhead lines that pose a risk to UAVs. Telecommunication lines, internet lines, bridge cables, train and trolley cables and overhead crane wires are just a few other examples. For UAVs to become truly autonomous in a complex world and unlock the full commercial potential of this technology, they need a reliable way to detect and avoid these everyday obstacles.

 

Stereoscopic cameras and computer vision have been woefully unsuccessful in solving this problem. Radar has limited resolution and may not be able to accurately detect small and thin power lines or identify the exact location of the power lines to avoid them. High-resolution radar systems can be expensive, and using them solely for detecting power lines may not be cost-effective. Ultrasonic sensors have a limited range, low resolution and can be negatively impacted by changing environmental factors like wind and temperature.

 

The best technology for detecting these burdensome hazards is LiDAR. With its small beam divergence, LiDAR can pinpoint the location of overhead lines to ensure they can be avoided. LiDAR is unaffected by low visibility or lighting conditions as it generates and pulses its own light source. LiDAR’s relatively long range allows for detection well ahead of a potential collision, even if the UAV is traveling at a high speed.

 

LightWare’s professional-grade microLiDAR® sensors offer all of these benefits in a small form factor with low power consumption at an affordable price point, making them ideal for integration onto drones. These sensors allow for wide adoption, especially in cases where multiple sensors are required to be installed per drone.

 

To detect overhead lines with a narrow LiDAR beam, the key factor is the update rate of the sensor. Imagine you are a fast-moving drone and need to detect a small obstacle with a narrow LiDAR beam. It may seem easy to miss, but with a high update rate scanning LiDAR, it’s nearly impossible to miss. Let’s look at some numbers: if you’re traveling at 60 mph (97 km/h) and pass under a power line with a vertically mounted LightWare SF30/D microLiDAR reading at 20kHZ, then the sensor will hit a passing 0.2 inch diameter line over 360 times and a 0.8 inch line over 1 400 times!

 

The ability to detect power lines not only ensures safe operations of UAVs, but also unlocks commercial opportunities such as fully autonomous power line inspections and other beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) missions. Customers of LightWare are already using the SF40/C and SF45/B microLiDAR sensors to maintain a safe distance from and follow power lines while capturing high-resolution photos for later analysis.

 

Our team recently ran some tests to see how accurately the SF30/D and SF45/B microLiDAR® sensors detect overhead power lines. The experiment was conducted by holding the sensor outside the window of a moving vehicle pointed directly toward the open sky.

 

The results of this experiment showed that LighWare microLiDAR® sensors were not only detecting the main power lines but also picking up the static lines that run above them. These cables are used for lighting protection and are much thinner than the power lines. To no surprise, the SF30/D and SF45/B microLiDAR® sensors easily managed to detect all the power lines.

Data was logged using LightWare Studio. The objective was to detect the presence or absence of the overhead power lines using the SF30/D and the results show the bundles of power lines as well as the lightning cable that are a few meters above the bundles.

 

Data was logged using LightWare Studio. The next sensor for testing was the SF45/B, which was used for horizontal or vertical detection and avoidance. This test was to determine the type of readings one would receive from the SF45/B when scanning power lines.

 

As a global pioneer in LiDAR, LightWare has a proven track record of delivering technology that exceeds industry expectations.

 

Talk to LightWare’s technical support team to help you solve these and other challenges with LightWare microLiDAR sensors.

 

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Increase Safety in Material Handling Applications

Written by Lauren Robeson Menting

While the supply crunch has eased a bit for some industries, logistics facilities remain busy hubs. Filled with autonomous mobile robots, automated guided vehicles, employees, and goods, there’s no shortage of activity and moving parts.

Keeping employees safe from these moving parts – and making sure damage isn’t done to your facility or the goods it stores, hampering production and delivery – is essential. Wireless connectivity solutions can help ensure that safety is maintained in material handling applications – read on to discover factors you should consider when selecting a wireless product for your facility.

 

Industrial vs. Commercial

You probably wouldn’t look at your home Internet service and figure the same coverage would work as well for a major facility. Likewise, you shouldn’t equip your facility with commercially available wireless radios that are synonymous more with walkie-talkies than major factories.

There are a few reasons why industrial wireless radios have the edge here:

· Robustness: Industrial radios are designed to withstand inhospitable environments. Some industrial wireless radios can also ensure adequate connectivity even in facilities that are crowded with signals.

· Integration with your PAC: A typical setup will have one primary radio that connects to your control system, with access points on mobile equipment and at other locations as your application requires. Industrial wireless radios allow for streamlined integration with your PAC, ensuring radios’ real-time data is directly transferred to your control system.

· Security: Industrial radios can provide more security than commercial models, keeping proprietary information safe and bad actors out.

 

Fast, Precise Connectivity

You also want to make sure that the wireless radios you choose can give your employees, control system, and other radios real-time information as to their rapidly changing location.

Industrial radios allow mobile equipment to send their location to the primary radio and other access points in real time, which helps ensure other equipment won’t hit it – and, most importantly, employees know where heavy equipment is at all times to increase their safety.

Pairing wireless radios and a functional safety protocol (such as CIP Safety or PROFIsafe) is an especially wise idea for applications involving mobile equipment.

 

Flexibility for the Future

Opting for a wireless radio that can be easily implemented can help keep your employees safe when new equipment is added. A streamlined installation and configuration process ensures that this work won’t fall by the wayside when adding new moving machinery.

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Achieving 4K/UHD without Moving to IP: How We Made it Possible

Written by Linda White

Sometimes creating a full-blown network just to connect a computer and printer is overkill. In other words: Depending on what you need, it’s possible to overdo your technology and/or infrastructure.

In broadcasting, for example, viewers may be demanding 4K resolution – but not every production calls for IP in order to transmit 4K/UHD signals.

 

When 4K/UHD was first introduced to broadcasting – promising four times the resolution of 1080p – existing coax cables and SDI technology (a digital video interface standard used since the early ’90s) couldn’t support it in a single link. 4K resolution used in production and digital cinema called for higher bandwidth, resolution and pixels than what coax could support. Instead, IP and fiber became the preferred method of achieving 4K quality for production and UHD for broadcast signal transmission.

 

The only way around this was to use four coax cables – each supporting 3 GHz – to send one 12 GHz UHD signal (this is referred to as a quad-link configuration).

 

This fix may have gotten the job done in terms of transmitting 4K/UHD signals, but it was expensive, bulky and cumbersome for broadcasters to manage. Quad-link configurations take up lots of space, max out weight limitations in mobile applications and increase cable expenses by requiring four cables for a single link.

 

Although some very large broadcasters and media companies were able to make the move to IP or fiber right away to support 4K/UHD signals, smaller broadcasters across the country were left in a bind. They, too, wanted to provide viewers with high resolution and 4K/UHD content – but weren’t quite ready to make the move financially.

 

After hearing from a number of broadcasters about their frustrations with this dilemma, we knew there must be a way to help them find middle ground. And that’s where Belden’s 4K UHD Coax Cable for 12G-SDI enters the picture.

 

This cable supports a bandwidth of 12 GHz and maximizes 4K/UHD transmission distance over a single link, decreasing the bulk and expense associated with dual-link and quad-link configurations. The 4K UHD Coax Cable for 12G-SDI also exceeds return loss specifications for the performance required for such high-speed signals.

 

Using this solution, broadcasters can now continue using SDI standards and coax cable instead of IP or fiber solutions – while still achieving a 4K/UHD picture (and without dealing with four cables to transmit one signal).

 

Instead, broadcasters simply plug in one coax to send a high-quality, 4K/UHD signal. Instead of rushing to take on a new level of broadcasting complexity, this innovation allows them to shift to IP or fiber when they’re ready – and when it makes financial sense to do so.

 

Creating the cable was only one part of the equation, however: Equipment manufacturers also had to be ready to support the required connections. Although many broadcasters wanted to use the cable, much of the camera and broadcast equipment on the market lacked I/O to accommodate it.

 

To make this happen, production and broadcast leaders sent an open letter to equipment manufacturers with a plea: to include 12G-SDI ports as standard features on all video equipment capable of working in 4K/UHD mode.

 

As a result, if you take a close look at today’s broadcast equipment used around the world, you’ll find 12G-SDI ports integrated to support this innovation that began with Belden. Broadcasters now have a way to give viewers the resolution they want without having go compromise on quality, embark on a complete technology overhaul or make a large capital investment.

 

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Hirschmann OpEdge-8D is Now Qualified for AWS IoT Greengrass

Written by Belden

Qualification for AWS IoT Greengrass brings new level of connectivity, communication and management of applications and workloads that run on the OpEdge-8D device.

St. Louis, Missouri – June 15, 2023 – Belden, a leading global supplier of network infrastructure and digitization solutions, is pleased to announce that the Hirschmann OpEdge-8D is now qualified for AWS IoT Greengrass. The Amazon Web Services (AWS) Device Qualification Program helps AWS Partners qualify devices that work with AWS. This, in turn, helps customers to gain confidence, choice, and selection for hardware as they explore, build, and go to market with Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. Qualified devices – like the Hirschmann OpEdge-8D – are listed in the AWS Partner Device Catalog to enable customers to quickly find hardware offered by AWS Partners for simplified project and solution integration.

AWS IoT Greengrass is an open-source edge runtime and cloud service for building, deploying, and managing device software across multiple fleets. These advancements to the Hirschmann OpEdge-8D will bring a new level of simplicity and convenience to the management of applications.

The Hirschmann OpEdge-8D is an industrial-grade edge gateway with a compact, DIN rail mount form factor that provides customers with a secure operating system (OS) and easy-to-use user interface (UI) for managing the networking and security features of the device, as well as user-defined containers and Virtual Machines (VMs). OpEdge-8D is also integrated with the Belden Horizon console for device management, secure remote access, and edge application orchestration at scale. Collectively this technology can be leveraged to connect Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) systems to support use cases where OT data needs to be processed to derive valuable insights for the user.

Jeremy M. Friedmar, Director of Product Management for Edge Solutions at Belden Inc. expressed his enthusiasm for the certification. “Belden is thrilled to have achieved qualification for AWS IoT Greengrass on our Hirschmann OpEdge-8D as an AWS Partner,” said Friedmar. “The Hirschmann OpEdge-8D is already recognized as the premier solution for the deployment of edge computing near OT data sources, and this certification makes us a credible transporter of operational data to a critical data destination of our users.” The OpEdge-8D is suitable for use in any industrial setting, including manufacturing, energy, transportation, and machine building.

“We look forward to working with AWS as we continue strengthening our industrial solutions in our served markets,” said Friedmar.

To learn more about the Hirschmann OpEdge-8D as listed in the AWS Partner Device Catalog, visit here.

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