In this edition we have as a guest a great friend and professional, Eng. Felipe Arguello, who began his professional career in the security sector in vertical segments, which include integration, distribution, and manufacture of advanced access control systems, fire systems, and CCTV systems.by Eduardo Vargas
Felipe Arguello has 18 years of experience in the security industry implementing countless engineering projects, holding important positions for multinational companies in the area of security, and advising the most recognized local and international corporations in Latin America.
Arguello, civil engineer and fire engineer, belongs to important associations such as ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers), SFPE (Society of Fire Protection Engineers), ASIS and NFPA; He has also received distinguished international awards and published outstanding articles and technical documents in the most important magazines of the medium.
With this in mind, I give way to our experience talk with our colleague, who will share his experience and his point of view on the new perspectives for fire alarm systems, as far as Internet technology in the Latin American market is concerned.
Eduardo: Felipe, in Latin America in the security market we have different types of technologies, today, that expand the benefits previously offered by fire systems. I personally believe that there has been a lot of evolution in fire systems due to Internet technology, because this technology has progressed rapidly taking giant steps of innovation in very short cycles of time. It can be said that at present a year of Internet can be considered less than 90 days. Since we are in the era of evolution and technological advancement, I would like you to share with us the new perspectives for fire alarm systems, according to what Internet technology offers today.
Felipe: Eduardo, first let me thank you for the opportunity to share my experience on this important issue; which is in itself a means of communication that Internet technology has presented to us in the security industry for the Latin American market.
I agree with you that Internet technology has brought us many challenges in various disciplines, progressing rapidly and innovating in very short cycles of time, in addition to helping the remarkable growth that the fire alarm system industry presents today.
It should be noted that the prices of hardware and software components are constantly reduced and in a very fast way; therefore, it becomes more and more attractive to benefit from this technological progress, and incorporate the usual Internet technology in products and applications that until now have had to leave this in the hands of proprietary technological solutions from different manufacturers.
A good example is the telecommunications industry. Communications systems based on traditional switch technology are facing strong competition from new systems, which use new standardized protocols such as Voice-Over-IP, (for example: the ITU H.323 standard defines how to send voice packets via the Internet using Internet Protocol (IP) and Internet technology in general).
These new systems reduce infrastructure costs using the same voice and data communication technology; they also take advantage of IP technology's steep innovation curve in terms of cost/benefit ratio. For example, a Fast Ethernet electronic board or card reduced its price by more than 50% last year, while the prices of old PBX (Private Branch Exchange) switches were only reduced by about 7%, according to Cisco Systems Inc. As a result, large manufacturers of communication systems lose market to new manufacturers in the IT business segment .
E: Felipe, what does this mean for fire alarm systems and building automation systems?
F: Eduardo, the harsh reality is that there is a challenge ahead coming from the IT business, which if not faced will create a problem for us. But let's look at this in a positive way; it is not only a challenge, as this offers new opportunities. Internet technology opens up new perspectives not only for building automation systems (HVAC), but also for fire alarm, intrusion alarm, video and access control systems, which also demand high reliability.
There are two main aspects to consider the use of IT technology in fire alarm systems: first Internet technology for communication systems and second Internet technology to provide new services.
E: What can we consider in Internet technology for communication systems?
F: First the technology can be used for internal communication between system components. This will become more attractive for two reasons: the costs of hardware components will fall dramatically due to scale production, for example an Internet protocol processor will cost less than five dollars in the near future. On the other hand, the software applications that are available in the market, and the numerous software packages that are currently offered based on Internet protocol suites, will implement interesting services of all kinds, such as encryption, authentication, etc. This will save great efforts of development of proprietary software.
To understand the situation properly it would be helpful to take a look at the following table of the layers of the OSI-7 communication model (see page 128).
If two devices want to communicate, it is necessary to use a common protocol so that each one understands each other, for example speaking the same language. Messages when exchanged have specific application content and the protocol to be used belongs to the application layer of the OSI layer model.
To transport the message from one device to another, the lowest protocol services are used; this means that if we want to use Internet technology for system communication, we should use the Internet protocol (IP, Layer 3) and probably TCP or UDP (Layer 4). This decision would allow us to use a large number of software components based on TCP/IP or UDP/IP, available on the market as described above.
However, this decision alone does not guarantee that the two devices will understand each other. It is necessary to use a common protocol at the application layer level. There are several possibilities to choose from. There is a general trend at this time not to choose proprietary protocols and to choose more common or standardized protocols (for obvious reasons), BACnet is one of the common language candidates between devices. Deviating a bit from the OSI Model, BACnet defines its own network layer and uses UDP/IP as one of the possible data link layers.
When a common protocol layer has been found then the other question is what to use under IP as a data and physical link layer; without a doubt Ethernet will be the best selection. Ethernet is a standard recognized worldwide by IEEE and ISO, widely used in office environments and is also penetrating the industrial environment. Long exposure to Ethernet technology has led to the expansion of the knowledge base and resources. However, for industrial use, Ethernet has some shortcomings which are indicated by some critics, although today they can be avoided.
As Ethernet is used today in office environments, an access to the medium known as CSMA/CD (carrier sense multiple access with collision detection) is used, which cannot guarantee a deterministic behavior of the network, which can be solved using the appropriate network topology called Switched Ethernet technology. Switches allow each device connected to the network to operate in full-duplex mode with guaranteed bandwidth. In this way, the behavior of the network can be guaranteed in real time. Additionally, there are several options for assigning priority levels to messages; in fact, it is possible to build networks with guaranteed response time with Ethernet technology which has been tested in industrial environments in automation applications.
In addition, it is certain that the real-time behavior of the Internet (including Ethernet technology) will be improved due to the high demand that exists to transport video in real time via the Internet.
The basic Ethernet bandwidth is 10 Mbit/s which is much higher compared to other current bus systems in alarm systems. If that's not enough, Fast Ethernet with 100 Mbits/s bandwidth and Gigabit Ethernet with 1 GBits/s bandwidth are available. The IEEE has already begun work on the development of 10 Gigabit/s and 100 Gigabit/s Ethernet.
E: What can we summarize in terms of the evolution and impact that Internet technology has presented us in terms of benefits and challenges today?
F: Dear Eduardo, yet we have not talked about how the Internet influences the service, design and benefits for fire systems, which I leave open so that readers can request more information through the magazine. We must recognize that if manufacturers of alarm, fire, video and access control systems do not incorporate the opportunities of Internet technology to offer new services to their customers, then they will be displaced by IT technology vendors, which will begin to offer more services related to security and protection of lives. There is a clear trend that by releasing technology are released or applications and services are created.
Customers, of course, with systems based on open standards will benefit, reducing costs, reducing risks and protecting their investments.
The experience in the use of Internet technology in industrial automation systems has allowed to produce reliable, robust solutions, with real-time behavior that are equally suitable in the use of alarm systems.
Internet technology opens up new perspectives for manufacturers, installers and service companies of alarm systems. Internet technology arrived a decade ago and is expected to be, at least, another decades among us.
Soon we will be seeing IP smoke detectors, IP cameras detecting smoke and other advances at affordable prices, which will undoubtedly impact the way in which lives and properties are protected and protected.
E: Felipe, I share with you the need for manufacturers, IT technology providers and end users to become aware of Internet technology and what it allows, in addition to the many advances and opportunities represented by taking this technology and its benefits, which offer greater tools that will benefit us all.
I thank you very much for your participation and I greatly appreciate having given me your time and expertise for our readers.
Leave your comment