A Structured Cabling Solution

Suelin GungOctober 18th, 2014

CS/SE 6361

Contents

• Background• Explanation of Structured Cabling System• Terms Used in SCS• The fact• Observations• AS-IS Problems• How to Address Them• What TO-BE• Challenges with the Solution• Market Advances• References

Background· A circuit is a path between two or more points along

which an electrical current or a signal can be carried· The total distance of a circuit can span over multiple

racks/rooms/buildings/cities· An intelligent SW system needs to know the end points

of each segment when building a circuit

What is a Structured Cabling System

A structured cabling system (SCS) is a set of cabling and connectivity products that integrates the voice, data, video, and various management systems of a building (such as safety alarms, security access, energy systems, etc.)

Terms used in SCS

• Patching – connection from the front of a port to the front of another port

• Cabling – connection from the back of a port to the back of another port

• Zone – is referred to a group of racks that are monitored by a controller

• Patching is not supported across different zones due to cable length and for better control

The fact

• Typical cost for building a structured cabling system in data center or in an enterprise environment. ~50% spent in operation

• Main operational effort Resides in planning, executingand alternation

• As part of execution, technicians build circuit paths by connecting cables from equipment to equipment.

Observations

• For an intelligent system, the start and the end of a cable run is essential to the monitoring software

• Technician working in one location (such as a rack) would prefer to complete all works for that location at the same time before moving to the other location

So what are the problem(s)Technically:• In the current system , when building a circuit, a technician must work on

one cable at a time, that is, inserting one end of a cable in one rack is followed by inserting the other end of the same cable in another rack before the technician can move onto the next cable.

• This limitation is dictated by the system software such that one end of a cable insertion in one rack must be followed by the insertion of the other end of the same cable in another rack.

• This limitation proved to be burdensome for technicians especially when the two connecting racks are spaced far apart.

So what are the problem(s) cont’

Managerial:• RFID, Serial ID solutions are patented• Common mode is too costly• Anything breakthrough technology available?• What is the work around?

How to address them

To be addressed in Phase II

What do we want the solution to be

• Connection is automatically confirmed after each insertion

• If the other end of the cord is inserted to a port, the system records their locations in the database as one connection

• If the other end of the cord is not inserted to a port, the system records this port is connected to an unknown port

Challenges with the solution

• Technology breakthrough• Cost• Time• Market penetration

Market advantages

• Faster circuit building cycle• Less human power required

References

• The International Engineering ConsortiumWeb ProForum Tutorials http://www.iec.org