The Information Superhighway is no dream of the future. It is in place now,
even though it continues to evolve. New generation home buyers consider
technology a natural part of their daily lives. As a construction industry
professional you need to ensure that the homes are equipped for present and
future digital needs of the home owner, thereby enhancing your reputation and
competitive advantage.
Today's homebuyers expect their new homes to be digitally ready and
accommodate:
- Multiple cable television points
- Multiple Internet delivery points
- Facility for installing security devices
- Video distribution options
- Multiple phone lines
Traditionally, homes have been wired for three things only-power, telephone
and couple of cable TV outlets and you have the whole sum of wiring for most
homes. Some people have an audio system, again with its own set of wires and
Internet cables running on the walls. Put it all together and you have a bunch of
wires running throughout the house, each group doing its own thing, none of them
talking to each other or, for the most part, not being good for anything else.
Homes need an improved wiring method to handle data, entertainment,
telephony and security for now and into the future. Conventional TV and phone
cables and installation methods cannot support today's technology and are
becoming obsolete.
The solution for today and tomorrow's digital needs is SMART WIRING™.
Smart Wiring™ uses CAT5E and RG6 wired in a star configuration from a
service enclosure known as Home Distributor Box (HDB). HDB encloses
equipments such as modems, network routers & hubs, video and audio
distribution hubs.
Smart Wiring™ is simply a way of wiring your home that allows it to take
advantage of the latest high speed communication technologies and
entertainment systems and also, those that are due in the foreseeable future.
Smart Wiring for the homes offer huge advantages to modern Indian households
that are now increasingly dependent on electricity. Smart Wiring enable Telephone
system distribution within the Home, including intercom and conferencing features
and broadband Internet access at any location around the home, Interconnection
and sharing of Ethernet devices such as personal computers, printers, network
media players, etc., Access to Internet-based entertainment such as on-line games,
Internet protocol TV (IPTV), Internet radio, on-line videos, VoIP calling options,
chats, messaging and unified communication system. It allows access to Television
content-free-to-air (FTA) TV and digital pay TV (satellite/cable TV), Distribution
of TV signals or digital media streaming and audio/ video from the home
entertainment centre or media throughout the home. Simply put, smart wiring is
the easy way to make your home technology friendly.
Given the importance of Home security, A Smart Wired™ Home is embedded
with intruder detection, back-to-base monitoring or CCTV (Closed Circuit
Television) and security-enable doors and have video door phones viewable in any
room in the home, Automated gates, door controls, motorized window covering,
Security enabled windows, doors as well as perimeter with motion sensors and
alarm system in the event of any intrusion. Most importantly it provides Intelligent
Lighting Control and Energy Management System and complete Home
automation-automatic/remote control of electrical appliances, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning), centralized controls for
thermostats, motors, pumps, water level controllers, automatic
lawn/garden irrigation, gas and fire alarm system. Certain
events can be scheduled to take place at a preset time (such as the
lights coming on before you get home from work), while others
can be triggered by movement, temperature and light levels (for
instance, blinds closing when the sun is too bright).
At the heart of the Smart Wired Home is the Home
Distributor that acts as the interface for the service provider to
deliver his services and the Home Owner to manage the same
within the home efficiently. Generally, the Home Distributor
(HD) is a wall mountable distribution box that houses the
termination hardware for all the wiring. The wiring primarily
consists of CAT6 UTP cabling system as well as Coaxial cabling
system from the Home Distributor to the various identified
locations within the room. Instead of wiring specifically for
each service or application, the home is wired with a uniform
structured cabling system that is capable of supporting existing
and emerging technology. The Home distributor has provision
for also mounting equipment such as a small Ethernet switch,
Wireless router, DSL modem, automation control equipment,
media gateway or similar content delivery equipment or control
systems. Provision can also be made for Uninterruptible Power
Source at the Home Distributor.
BENEFITS OF SMART WIRING
A Smart Wired™ Home, when planned and installed as part of
the base build, has key benefits for the home owner, property
developer and the service provider.
Benefits of Smart Wiring to customers include: - Standardized wiring infrastructure in homes providing
better aesthetics and convenience.
- Flexibility to access various services inside the Home
- Reliability and availability of all services with minimum
disruption
- Ease of management and administration of moves, adds and
changes
- Better quality and value for money
Benefits to the service provider include: - Open platform for service delivery
- Plug and Play provision within the Home
- Quick and easy deployment of services
- No additional investment on infrastructure within the home
- High quality, robust and reliable cabling platform
Benefits to the property developer include:- Uniform provision as part of base build for all clients
- Good value proposition at minimal initial cost to the
customer
- Capability to deliver key services to customer on move-in day
The Smart Wiring concept:
Apart from being backward compatible to support legacy
systems and existing technologies, will also sufficiently future
proof the home for deployment of new and emerging
technologies in the information, communication and
entertainment areas as well as the integrated building
management system. There is no limit to the extent of
flexibility, convenience, automation and Integration one can
achieve in a Smart Wired™ Home. Going forward, the
options, flexibility as well as convenience will move to the next
level and this would include but not limited to:
- Programs, pre-sets and control of various systems and
devices using wireless remote equipment
- Controlling home appliances from remote locations over the
Internet
- Remote management of the entire home automation system
over the Internet or through mobile communication
Based on the above factors, it is evident that all new
residential property development benefit from installing
Smart Wiring as part of the Base Build to be able to deliver the
required services to the home occupant with good aesthetics
and great convenience.
The Smart Wiring concept is applicable to single dwelling
units as well as multi dwelling units that house a cluster of
apartment homes. New Home buyers should hence inquire and
understand the kind of Smart Wiring that is being provisioned
in the homes that they intend to buy so that they are ready for
deployment of emerging and future technologies in their
homes at their convenience.
About the author: Manas Kundu is Director, Energy Solutions,
International Copper Promotion Council (India).